Sweet Mess: Pastry Competition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Overview
Components
Setup
- Super Leftover Tile Variant
Player Setup
Player Board (Your Bench)
Round Overview
- Your Turn
1. Choose an Action Box
2. Reserved Recipes
3. Advance Recipes
- Complete Recipes
4. Claim Awards
5. End of Turn
- Refill Recipes and Trigger Events
- Bench Cleanup
End-Game Signal
Final Scoring
Hand Tokens Module
Bench Benefits Module
Solo Mode
Credits

Game Overview

Throughout the competition, you will gather Ingredients from Bowls, Prepare Recipes, and Complete them to claim Awards. The more Recipes you Complete, the more skillful you become and the more points you will receive. You can use special kitchen Tools and Golden Tokens to gain tactical advantages. Ready… Set… Bake!

Components

1 Main board
4 Player boards (Benches), in 4 player colors
4 Leftover tiles
1 Toque tile
16 Bowl tiles
91 Ingredient tokens, 13 of each type: Crust (yellow), Cherry (red), Chocolate (brown), Cream (white), Jello (green), Candy (purple), and Super Ingredient
24 Stored Ingredient tokens, 4 of each type
Level I Recipe deck: 24 Level I Recipe cards; 5 Level I Event cards
Level II Recipe deck: 24 Level II Recipe cards; 5 Level II Event cards
6 Chef cards
24 Tool cards
28 Golden Tokens: 24 "1s" and 4 "5s"
18 Award tokens, 6 of each type
4 Reserve tokens
4 Action markers, in 4 player colors
1 Scorepad
1 First Player/Time's Up token

Bench Benefits Module: 18 Bench Benefits cards

Hand Tokens Module: 4 Hand tokens

Solo Mode: 1 Chef-o-Tron board (Bench), 14 Bot cards, 2 Arm tiles, 1 Forcefield token

Setup

Place the main board and the three Leftover tiles on the table, as shown.
Set aside the Super Ingredient Bowl tile for now.
Shuffle the 15 Bowl tiles, randomizing the fronts and backs. Then ensure that there are no fewer than 2 of a given kind and no more than 3 (i.e., there should be 2 or 3 of each type of Bowl face up—no more, no less).
Set up the Bowl area by randomly placing the 15 Bowl tiles in a grid—with the set-aside Super Ingredient Bowl as one of the four center tiles.
Form a general supply area with all of the Ingredients, Stored Ingredients, and Golden Tokens, grouped together by type.
Place Ingredients from the supply on top of the Bowl tiles, as follows:
- For Bowl types that appear two times: place 2 Ingredients of the Bowl's type on the Bowl.
- For Bowl types that appear three times: place 1 Ingredient of the Bowl's type on the Bowl.
- Place 1 Super Ingredient on the Super Ingredient Bowl.
Place the Toque (chef's hat) tile nearby, and place a Golden Token on each box, as shown.
Group the Award tokens by type into three stacks and sort each stack in descending order—with the highest values on top.
Shuffle the Tool cards into a face-down deck and place it on its indicated space on the main board.
Shuffle the Level I Recipe deck and place the top 4 cards face up along the bottom row of the main board, starting in the rightmost display space. Then repeat this process with the Level II Recipe deck, filling the top row. Note: If you draw any Event cards while filling the Recipe display, set them aside. Once setup is complete, shuffle the set-aside Event cards back into their respective decks.
Give the First Player token to the player who most recently baked something.

Super Leftover Tile Variant

Setup: Swap the Super Leftover tile with the Leftover tile farthest from the main board.

Gameplay: When you Pick Leftovers from the Super Leftover tile, gain 1 Super Ingredient from the supply if the icon is showing (page 5).

Player Setup

Every player takes one of each of the following:

Player board placed in front of yourself (now referred to as your Bench).
Reserve token kept near your Bench.
Chef card dealt at random and placed near your Bench. Choose one side to keep face up for the rest of the game (see Chef Cards below).
Ingredient matching your Chef card's Ingredient type placed in any Ingredient space on your Bench (see below).
Super Ingredient placed in any Ingredient space on your Bench (see Chef Cards below).
Award Shelf tile kept to the right of your Bench.
Action marker placed on the middle action box (as shown).
Tool card dealt at random and placed to the left of your Bench, face down (see Tools below).

Player Board (Your Bench)

a. Ingredient spaces: Each group of Ingredient spaces on your Bench has requirements you must follow.
- Up to 4 identical Ingredients can be placed here.
- Up to 4 different (non-matching) Ingredients can be placed here.
- Two groups of 2 identical Ingredients—and the two pairs must be different (indicated by an icon between the two spaces).
Whenever you gain Ingredients, you must immediately place them in legal Ingredient spaces. Once you place an Ingredient in an Ingredient space, you may not move it to another space. If you cannot legally place an Ingredient, you may not take it. Note: Any Ingredients you cannot take must be left on the Bowl; do not discard them.
b. Golden Token spaces: You may have up to 9 Golden Tokens. The "5s" represent five single Golden Tokens and you may make change at any time. Note: Excess Golden Token gains are forgone.
c. Action boxes: On your turn, you will choose a box to perform actions (see below).
d. Turn summary:
- Reserve a Recipe or Prepare a Reserved Recipe
- Advance Recipes
- Claim Awards
e. Stored Ingredient spaces: You may place up to 6 different Stored Ingredient tokens here (see Store Ingredients below).
f. Bench slots: When you first place a Recipe below a slot, immediately gain the bonus shown above it. Note: You do not gain the slot bonus when you Advance Recipes (see below).

Round Overview

The game is played over a number of rounds until the end game is signaled (see End-Game Signal below). Every round consists of each player taking a turn, starting with the First Player, proceeding clockwise around the table.

Your Turn

On your turn, do the following in order:

Choose an Action box and perform one or two actions (see below).
Reserve a Recipe or Prepare a Reserved Recipe (optional, see Reserved Recipes below).
Advance every Recipe below your Bench one slot to the right (see Advance Recipes below).
Claim Awards (optional, see Claim Awards below).
End of Turn: Refill the Recipe display, trigger Events, and add new Tool cards to your hand, only as needed (see End of Turn below).

1. Choose an Action Box

Move your action marker to a new action box, then perform either of the actions in that box. After you perform one action, you may spend 1 Golden Token to perform the other action in the same box.

Moving your action marker is mandatory; you may not perform actions from the same box two turns in a row.
You may perform one of the actions in an action box, then use a Golden Token gained during the first action to pay for the second.

The Actions

Pick Ingredients: Take up to 4 Ingredients from a single Bowl and place them in legal spaces on your Bench (see Player Board above).
Draw a Tool card: Draw 1 Tool card and place it to the left of your Bench, face down (see Tools below).
Advance: Advance each Recipe below your Bench one slot to the right. Note: When you Advance a Recipe to the right of slot 0, Complete it (see Advance Recipes below).
Pick Leftovers: Choose one Leftover tile, then perform the following steps:
1. Gain 1 Golden Token from the supply if the Golden Token icon is showing (i.e., it is not covered by an Ingredient).
2. Take up to 3 Ingredients from this Leftover tile and place them in legal spaces on your Bench (see Player Board above).
  - Each Leftover tile can have up to 3 Ingredients on it: 1 per space.
  - You may choose this action to gain a Golden Token from a Leftover tile that has no Ingredients on it.
Prepare Recipe(s): Prepare 1 or 2 Recipes (see Reserved Recipes below).

Make a Mess

When any player removes the last Ingredient from a Bowl (as a result of any effect), immediately Make a Mess as follows: Add 1 Ingredient of the given Bowl's type to each orthogonally adjacent Bowl (with a limit of 4 Ingredients per Bowl), then add 1 Ingredient to each diagonally adjacent Leftover space (with a limit of a single Ingredient per Leftover space). Skip any spaces that are already full to their limits. After Making a Mess, flip the empty Bowl over.

Always begin filling from the "north" (where the main board is) and proceed clockwise.
Each Bowl illustration shows a few bits of the Ingredient type on the reverse of the tile.

Substitute Ingredients: If an Ingredient type is no longer available in the supply, use the next available Ingredient shown clockwise from the missing Ingredient as a substitute. Example: If you need to place Cherries, but there are no Cherries left in the supply, use Jello instead. If there are no Jello Ingredients, use Candy, and so on.

Bowl and Leftover Limits: Each Bowl can hold a maximum of 4 Ingredients. Each Leftover space can hold 1 Ingredient. Do not add any further Ingredients to full Bowls or Leftover spaces.

Tools

You may play any number of Tool cards during your turn. When you play a Tool, choose one of its shown effects to activate, then discard the card on the Tool discard pile, face up. Note: If the Tool deck is empty, shuffle the discarded Tool cards to form a new draw deck.

Gaining Tools: Any time you gain a Tool card, it does not go into your hand; instead, it gets placed to the left of your Bench, face down. At the end of your turn, add all of your face-down Tool cards to your hand. Note: You may look at your face-down Tool cards at any time.

Hand Limit: If you have more than 3 Tool cards at the end of your turn, discard down to 3—without using their effects.

Prepare a Recipe

To Prepare a Recipe from the display, perform the following steps:

Spend the Ingredients shown on any Recipe card in the display by discarding them from your Bench (to the supply).
Take the Recipe card from the display and place it in a vacant slot below your Bench.
Immediately gain the bonus shown above the slot (see Bench slots above).
- Ignore any bonuses shown on the Recipe card; they are resolved when you Complete a Recipe (see Advance Recipes below).
- The rightmost slot does not give a bonus.

Super Ingredients: Super Ingredients are wild Ingredients that you may use to substitute for any other type of Ingredient. When you place a Super Ingredient on your Bench, it may go in any vacant space. Note: If you are to gain a Super Ingredient but there are none left in the supply, you may gain any other available Ingredient instead.

If you Prepare (or Reserve) a Recipe with the Golden Token icon from the display, immediately gain 1 Golden Token.

Gray Ingredient Requirements: Groups of gray Ingredient requirements on a Recipe must be met with the same type of Ingredient. In addition, these Ingredients must be different than the other types of Ingredients shown on the given Recipe card. The non-equal symbol is a reminder of this rule. Example: To Prepare this Recipe, you must use 1 Crust, 1 Cream, and a set of 3 matching Ingredients (such as 3 Cherries). However, you may not use 3 Crust or Cream.

Store Ingredients: When you activate this effect, you may discard an Ingredient from your Bench to take a Stored Ingredient token from the supply and place it on your Bench's corresponding Stored Ingredient space. The Ingredient you discard must be of the same type as the given Stored Ingredient token (or a Super Ingredient).

Stored Ingredients are permanent and never discarded.
You may not have more than one of each type of Stored Ingredient.
When you Prepare a Recipe, you may use a Stored Ingredient to substitute for one of the corresponding required Ingredients shown on the given Recipe card.
You may use multiple Stored Ingredients on the same Recipe card.
You may use the same Stored Ingredient on more than one Recipe card (even on the same turn).
Each Stored Ingredient is worth 1 Victory Point at the end of the game.

Example: You may Prepare this Recipe by discarding 1 Crust and 2 Chocolate from your Bench, and the rest is covered by your Stored Ingredients.

Chef Cards

During setup, you must choose one side of your Chef card to use for the entire game. One side allows you to treat a certain type of Ingredient as any other basic type of Ingredient when Preparing a Recipe. Example: This Chef card allows you to treat a Cream as any other Ingredient.

The other side allows you to treat 1 Super Ingredient as 2 of a certain type of Ingredient when Preparing a Recipe. Example: This Chef card allows you to treat Super Ingredients as 2 Creams.

You may use your Chef card's effect once per Recipe you Prepare (including when you Prepare a Reserved Recipe).
You may not use these effects to swap or add Ingredients on your Bench spaces (i.e., you must immediately use them to Prepare a Recipe).
If you use 1 Super Ingredient as 2 of another type of Ingredient, you may not split them to use on two different Recipes (any remainder is ignored).
You may not use Stored Ingredients to activate these effects.

2. Reserved Recipes

You may either Reserve a Recipe or Prepare a previously-Reserved Recipe (but not both).

Reserve a Recipe: If you do not already have a Reserved Recipe, you may Reserve one as follows:

Discard any Tool card from your hand (without using its effect).
Take any Recipe card from the display.
Place it below any vacant Bench slot.
Immediately gain the bonus above the slot.
Place your Reserve token on top of the Recipe card.

Prepare a Reserved Recipe: If you already have a Reserved Recipe, you may Prepare it by spending its required Ingredients, then return the Reserve token to your supply.

3. Advance Recipes

Advance each Recipe card below your Bench one slot to the right.

When a Recipe is Advanced past slot 0 (out from below your Bench), immediately Complete it (see below). Note: You do not gain the bonus for Advancing your Recipes along your Bench slots (i.e., you only gain an immediate bonus when you first place a Recipe below a Bench slot.)

If a Recipe has your Reserve token on it and it is Advanced past slot 0, remove the card from the game. Do not gain any of the points or bonuses shown on it. Then, return the Reserve token to your supply.

Complete Recipes

Place Completed Recipes near your Bench, face up. If you Complete a Recipe showing a bonus (in the blue banner), immediately gain the given bonus. Note: You will score the Victory Points shown on each Recipe during Final Scoring (see below).

4. Claim Awards

You may claim Awards for your Completed Recipes. Each face-up Completed Recipe can be used once to claim an Award.

Bottom Shelf Awards: To claim and place an Award on the Bottom Shelf of your Award Shelf tile, you must have 2 matching Recipe icons on your face-up Completed Recipe cards. To indicate that you have used a Recipe to claim an Award, flip the card face down. Take the topmost Award token of the corresponding Recipe type from its stack and place it on any vacant space in the Bottom Shelf of your Award Shelf tile. Each Award token you place on the Bottom Shelf must be of a different Recipe type.

Toque Bonuses: When you place an Award on the Bottom Shelf of your Award Shelf tile, immediately choose any Toque bonus box and gain the bonus shown. If there is a Golden Token on the box, add the token to your supply (i.e., the first player to choose a given Toque bonus also gains a Golden Token).

Top Shelf Awards: To claim and place an Award on the Top Shelf of your Award Shelf tile, you must have 3 matching Recipe icons on the face-up Recipe cards. To indicate that you have used a Recipe to claim an Award, flip the card face down. Take the topmost Award token of the corresponding Recipe type from its stack and place it on the matching space in the Top Shelf of your Award Shelf tile (granted the space is vacant). During Final Scoring, you will gain 5 Victory Points for each Award you have on the Top Shelf of your Award Shelf tile (in addition to the points shown on the Award tokens themselves).

The three Recipe icon types are: cake, pie, and confectionary.

Fudging Recipe Types: When claiming an Award, you may use any 2 Recipe icons to substitute for any other single icon (i.e., any 2 icons can be used to make 1 wild).

5. End of Turn

Refill Recipes and Trigger Events

At the end of your turn, perform the following steps:

Refill the Recipe display by sliding any remaining Recipes to the right to fill each vacant card space, only as needed. Then, refill any vacant card spaces with face-up Recipes from the corresponding deck in that row.

Event cards: If you draw an Event card when refilling the Recipe display, immediately trigger its effect (see Events below). Then, discard the Event card (into the game box). After resolving the Event, continue refilling the Recipe display.

Note: If a given deck of Recipe cards is empty, use cards from the other deck to refill the spaces.
Take any face-down Tools cards from beside your Bench and add them to your hand (see Tools above). Note: If you now have more than 3 Tool cards in your hand, discard down to 3.

Bench Cleanup

After you have completed all of the other steps of your turn, you may discard any unwanted Ingredients from your Bench to the supply.

End-Game Signal

As soon as a player has claimed 3 Awards, immediately flip the First Player token to the Time's Up side. Once the current round is completed, play one additional round, then proceed to Final Scoring.

Final Scoring

Score each of the following:

Victory Points printed on each of your Prepared and Completed Recipe cards. Note: Score all of your Recipe cards, including those which are below your Bench or face down. However, if you have a Reserved Recipe, discard it without scoring it.
Victory Points as printed on your Awards. In addition, score 5 Victory Points for each Award on the Top Shelf of your Award Shelf tile.
1 Victory Point for each Stored Ingredient on your Bench.
Sum together the number of remaining Ingredients you have, along with your Golden Tokens and Tool cards. Divide this number by 3 (ignoring any remainder) and score that amount of Victory Points.

The player with the most Victory Points wins!

If there is a tie, the tied player who Completed the most Level II Recipe cards wins. If there is still a tie, the tied player who Completed the most Level I Recipe cards wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most Prepared Recipe cards wins. Otherwise, the tied players share victory.

Hand Tokens Module

Setup: Place one Hand token per player between the four center Bowls. Leave any unused Hand tokens in the box.

Gameplay: Any time you choose to perform a Pick Ingredients or Pick Leftovers action, you must first move your Hand token 1 or 2 spaces in a single orthogonal direction (horizontal or vertical). After moving your Hand token, perform the Picking action as usual; however, you may only Pick Ingredients from a Bowl that is adjacent to your Hand token. To Pick Leftovers from a given side, you must have your Hand token next to a Bowl that is adjacent to the Leftover tile you wish to Pick Ingredients from.

Multiple Hand tokens may move through/occupy the same space.
A corner space allows you to Pick Ingredients from either of the two adjacent Leftover tiles (but not both).
You may not pick Leftovers if your Hand token is in the center space.

Example: From this position, you may Pick Ingredients from one of the four adjacent Bowls, or you may Pick from either of the two adjacent Leftover tiles.

Bench Benefits Module

Setup:

Shuffle the Bench Benefits cards together to form a deck with the Ingredients side face up.
Draw a card and place it to the right of the deck, Ingredients side face up.
Draw another card from the deck and place it to the right of the previously placed card, benefit side up.

Gameplay: If at the end of your turn, you have the 4 Ingredients shown on the left and middle Bench Benefits cards, immediately gain the benefit indicated on the rightmost card. Then, flip the middle card and place it on top of the rightmost card, benefit side up. Lastly, take the top card from the deck and place it on the now-vacant middle space, Ingredients side up.

You must have all of the necessary Ingredients in your Bench's Ingredient spaces (i.e., do not count Stored Ingredients).
Do not discard the Ingredients; you just need to have them in your supply.
You may not use Super Ingredients.
You may not use Chef card effects.
You may only gain one Bench Benefit per turn.
If the deck runs out, shuffle the used cards from under the rightmost pile into a new draw deck.

Solo Mode

You must compete against Chef-o-Tron, a highly efficient chef bot. Its actions are determined by a 14-card Bot deck. Chef-o-Tron has its own Bench to hold and Store its Ingredients. Chef-o-Tron's two Arms move along the right and left sides of the Bowl area, programmed by the latest Bot card drawn. When an Arm is activated, it Picks all of the Ingredients from the most full Bowl in the Arm's row. In addition to Picking Ingredients, Chef-o-Tron will often use special effects to benefit itself—and hinder you.

Once Chef-o-Tron Picks Ingredients and carries out any additional effects, it usually attempts to Prepare one Recipe from the display. If successful, Chef-o-Tron immediately Completes the Recipe and tries to claim an Award. The end of the game is signaled when either you or Chef-o-Tron claim a third Award, as usual—or when the Bot deck runs out. Ready . . . Set . . . Bake!

Setup

Set up for a 2-player game with the following modifications:

Create a play area for Chef-o-Tron by placing Chef-o-Tron's Bench and Award Shelf on the table near each other, within easy reach. Note: Chef-o-Tron's Award Shelf is on the back side of one of the standard Award Shelf tiles.
Before shuffling the Recipe decks, take one random Event card from each deck (without looking at them) and place them face down near Chef-o-Tron's play area, with the Level I Event card on top of the Level II card.
Shuffle the 14 Bot cards to form a face-down Bot deck.
Place the First Player token and Forcefield token in Chef-o-Tron's play area. Chef-o-Tron will be the First Player.
Place the white claw Arm tile to the left of the Bowl area, pointing rightward, toward the Super Ingredient Bowl.
Place the blue scoop Arm tile to the right of the Bowl area, pointing leftward, toward the Super Ingredient Bowl.

Chef-o-Tron's Turn Summary

Draw a Bot card
Move/activate the Arm
Pick Ingredients
Perform the Bot card's primary effect
Check Ingredient limits
Prepare a Recipe / draw Event
Claim an Award

Chef-o-Tron's Turn

Draw the top Bot card from the deck and place it in a discard pile, face up. This card will dictate Chef-o-Tron's actions until its next turn.
Move the Arm shown on the card the indicated number of spaces, up or down its side of the Bowl area. Always move in the direction indicated by the arrows on the given Arm tile, "looping" from top to bottom or bottom to top, as needed. The Arm shown is considered the active Arm until another Bot card is drawn. Note: The two Bot cards marked 0 do not move the Arms; instead, the given Arm will activate from where it is currently.
Chef-o-Tron selects the Bowl that has the most Ingredients in the row that the active Arm points toward. If there is a tie for most Ingredients, it selects the tied Bowl nearest the Arm tile itself. Chef-o-Tron Picks Ingredients from the selected Bowl and keeps them on its Bench, and then Makes a Mess (see Make a Mess above).
Perform the primary effect shown on the Bot card (see Bot Card Primary Effects below). If it is impossible to resolve a given effect, Chef-o-Tron gains 1 Golden Token from the supply instead (see Failed Effects below).
If Chef-o-Tron now has more than 3 of any particular type of Ingredient, it exchanges the excess for an equal number of Super Ingredients from the supply. Chef-o-Tron's Bench may hold any number of Super Ingredients.
Perform the secondary effect shown on the Bot card (in the lower right corner). This is usually an attempt to Prepare and Complete a Recipe from the display.
- If the Bot card shows a Level I or Level II Recipe, Chef-o-Tron tries to Prepare a Recipe of the given level, if possible. If it cannot Prepare a Recipe of the indicated level, it tries to Prepare a Recipe of the other level instead.
- If Chef-o-Tron cannot Prepare a Recipe of either level, it gains 1 Golden Token instead (see Failed Effects below).
- Of the Recipes in the display that Chef-o-Tron can Prepare, it selects the one with the highest point value (in the upper left corner of the card). Note: If there is a tie for the most points, it selects the tied card based on the active Arm (see Breaking Selection Ties below).
- Take the Recipe and place it near Chef-o-Tron's Bench, face up. It is considered Completed.
- If Chef-o-Tron Prepares a Recipe from the rightmost column of the display, it takes the Golden Token, as usual.
- Whenever Chef-o-Tron Completes a Level I Recipe, and cannot gain the bonus shown, it gains 1 Golden Token instead (see Failed Effects below).
- When preparing a Recipe, Chef-o-Tron will use as many Stored Ingredients as possible, and it will only spend Super Ingredients if necessary.
- If there is a tie for possible Ingredients to use to meet gray Ingredient requirements, select the tied Ingredient based on the active Arm (see Breaking Selection Ties below).
- Return all its spent Ingredients from its Bench to the supply.

Example: The white claw Arm is active and moved one row down to this position. There are two Bowls with 3 Ingredients each. Chef-o-Tron selects the Chocolate Bowl because it is closer to the active Arm. It Picks all 3 ingredients, adds them to its Bench, and then Makes a Mess.

Example: Chef-o-Tron Prepares and Completes a Level II Recipe. It spends the Candy for the gray Ingredients since the white claw Arm is active and Candy is nearer the left side of the Bench.

Failed Effects: Golden Tokens

Chef-o-Tron gains Golden Tokens whenever it fails to perform primary or secondary Bot card effects—or when it cannot benefit from Events or other rewards as a player would. For instance, because Chef-o-Tron does not gain or use Tool cards, each time it would draw one, it gains a Golden Token instead. In short, whenever Chef-o-Tron cannot successfully perform an action or benefit from an effect, it gains a Golden Token. Chef-o-Tron's Bench may hold any number of Golden Tokens. Each one is worth 1 Victory Point at the end of the game.

Breaking Selection Ties

Whenever Chef-o-Tron must choose between two or more equally qualified options, it selects the one based on the current Arm shown on the face-up Bot card. If the white claw Arm is active, Chef-o-Tron selects the leftmost tied option; if the blue scoop Arm is active, Chef-o-Tron selects the rightmost tied option.

End-Game Signal (Solo)

The end of the game is signaled when you or Chef-o-Tron claim 3 Awards, as usual. Once the current round is completed, play one additional round, then proceed to Final Scoring. Exception: If the Bot deck runs out, it signals the end of the game early. In this case, finish playing the current round, then proceed to Final Scoring (without playing an additional round).

Difficulty Settings

Normal Mode: Ignore any primary or secondary effects on the Bot cards that are on a pink background (i.e., only perform the effects shown on white backgrounds).

Hard Mode: Perform all the effects on the Bot cards (white and pink backgrounds).

Note: For additional challenges, see the gameplay variants below.

Final Scoring (Solo)

Perform Final Scoring, as usual (see Final Scoring above); however, Chef-o-Tron scores 1 Victory Point for each of its Golden Tokens (instead of including them with remaining Ingredients). Chef-o-Tron scores 5 Victory Points for each Award on the Top Shelf of its Award Shelf tile (as usual), and it scores 3 Victory Points for each Award on its Bottom Shelf.

À la Mode: Gameplay Variants

You may use any combination of the following variants in normal or hard mode.

Bananas: In step 5 of Chef-o-Tron's turn (when it checks its Ingredient supply limits), Chef-o-Tron exchanges any Ingredients of the same type in excess of 2 for an equal number of Super Ingredients from the supply.
Nuts: Chef-o-Tron scores 2 Victory Points for each of its Golden Tokens at the end of the game.
Extra Nuts: Chef-o-Tron scores 3 Victory Points for each of its Golden Tokens at the end of the game.
Master Fudger: When claiming an Award, Chef-o-Tron treats all Recipe types as wild.
Bench Buster: Play the game with the Bench Benefits module. However, Chef-o-Tron checks only the two Ingredients on the middle card. If it has these Ingredients in its supply, it immediately gains the benefit as a player would. Note: If Chef-o-Tron cannot gain the benefit shown, it gains 1 Golden Token instead (see Failed Effects above).
Heavy Handed: Play the game using the rules for the Hand Tokens module (see above). Note: This has no effect on Chef-o-Tron.

Bot Card Primary Effects

Repeat the Arm movement and Bowl selection steps based on this Bot card. However, instead of Picking Ingredients again, place the Forcefield on the selected Bowl. The Forcefield prevents all actions and effects from affecting the Bowl it is on (e.g., neither you nor Chef-o-Tron can Pick from it, and it is not affected by Events, etc.). If, when Making a Mess, an Ingredient would be placed on the Bowl with the Forcefield, the Ingredient is instead placed on the source Bowl after it is flipped (the Ingredient "bounces off" the Forcefield).
Chef-o-Tron Picks Leftovers. It selects the side of Leftovers that has the most Ingredients. If tied, it selects a side where it would also gain a Golden Token. If still tied, select the tied side that is closest clockwise from the active Arm tile.
Remove 1 Ingredient of your choice from your Bench and place it on Chef-o-Tron's Bench.
Remove 1 Super Ingredient from your Bench and place it on Chef-o-Tron's Bench.
Chef-o-Tron discards the leftmost/rightmost Ingredient from its Bench which matches a Stored Ingredient it does not yet have. It selects which Ingredient based on its active Arm (see Breaking Selection Ties above). Then, it takes the corresponding Stored Ingredient token and places it on its Bench.
Chef-o-Tron gains 2 Super Ingredients from the supply.

Bot Card Secondary Effects

Prepare and Complete 1 Recipe from the Display, preferring the level shown on the Bot card.
Draw and resolve the top card from the two set-aside Event cards. Then, discard the card (into the game box).

The Actions (Solo Reference)

Pick Ingredients: Take up to 4 Ingredients from a single Bowl (see The Actions above).
Draw a Tool card: Draw 1 Tool card and place it to the left of your Bench, face down.
Pick Leftovers: Choose a Leftover tile, then perform the following steps:
1. Gain 1 Golden Token from the supply if the Golden Token icon is showing (i.e., it is not covered by an Ingredient).
2. Take up to 3 Ingredients from this Leftover tile (see Make a Mess above).
Advance: Advance each Recipe card below your Bench one slot to the right. Note: When you Advance a Recipe to the right of slot 0, immediately Complete it (see Advance Recipes above).
Prepare Recipe(s): Prepare 1 or 2 Recipes (see Reserved Recipes above).

Events

Flip the Super Ingredient Bowl to show its Super Ingredient side (unless it is already showing this side). Place 1 Super Ingredient on each Bowl that is orthogonally adjacent to the Super Ingredient Bowl. Note: If the Super Ingredient Bowl has Ingredients on it, place them back on top after flipping it.
Each player Advances all of their Recipe cards one Bench slot to the right (see Advance Recipes above).
Each player may gain 1 Stored Ingredient token (see Store Ingredients above).
Each player gains 1 Super Ingredient from the supply.
Each player gains 1 Tool card (see Tools above).
Make a Mess from every corner Bowl without flipping the tiles (see Make a Mess above). Note: Begin with the upper left corner Bowl and proceed clockwise. Do not remove any Ingredients already on the corner Bowls.
Place 1 Cherry, Candy, and Cream from the supply on each empty Bowl. Note: Begin with the upper left empty Bowl and proceed across and downward.
Each player gains 1 Golden Token from the supply.
Place 2 Ingredients on every empty Bowl, matching each given Bowl's type. Note: Begin with the upper left and proceed across and downward.
Place 1 Chocolate, Jello, and Crust from the supply on each empty Bowl. Note: Begin with the upper left empty Bowl and proceed across and downward.

Note: If player order matters when resolving an Event, begin with the active player and proceed clockwise.

Tool Card Icons

Icons printed on Tool cards indicate the following effects:

Gain any 1 Ingredient from the supply (other than a Super Ingredient).
Take up to 2 Ingredients from a single Bowl.
Take 1 Ingredient from two different Bowls.
Gain 1 Super Ingredient from the supply.
Gain 1 Golden Token from the supply.
Take up to 2 Leftover Ingredients from any Leftover tile(s).
Discard 1 Super Ingredient to gain any 2 Ingredients from the supply.
Discard 1 Ingredient of any type to gain 2 Super Ingredients from the supply.
When claiming an Award, you may spend 1 Golden Token to meet the requirement of any single Recipe icon (i.e., you may use a Golden Token as a wild Recipe icon).
Discard an Ingredient to take a matching Stored Ingredient token and place it on your Bench's corresponding Stored Ingredient space (see Store Ingredients above).
Prepare any face-up Recipe in the display (see Prepare a Recipe above).

Credits

Game by: Zax, Yoma, Jonny Pac

Art by: Yoma, James Churchill

Graphic Design by: Yoma, Daniel Cunningham, 221B ESTUDIO, zinia redo

Rulebook Writing: Jonny Pac, Jonathan Bobal

Rulebook Layout: Jonathan Bobal, 221B ESTUDIO

Development: Jonny Pac, Laskas, John Shulters

Solo Mode: Carsten Burak, Jonathan Gilmour

Solo Development: David Digby, Jonny Pac

Proofreading: David Digby, Bruce Fletcher, Clark Pease

Primary Playtesting: Dale Keefer, Ricardo Goncalves, John Guthrie, David Houck, Sarah Graybill, Jeff LaFlam