Tabletop Inc. Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Objective
Box Contents
Set Up
Gameplay
Actions
End Game Scoring
The Muman-Bot (Solo Mode)
Freelancer Card Reference
Special Ability "WOW" Card Reference
Disadvantage "POW" Card Reference
Specialist Card Reference
Iconography / Page Reference

Game Objective

In Tabletop Inc, you are aiming to be the most successful board game publisher in this alternate reality. To do this you will be assigning your workers to various jobs to make the greatest board games imaginable! The player with the most victory points at the end of the game is the winner.

Box Contents

Gameboard
Award Cards (x6)
Zap Cards (Solo) (x15)
Specialist Cards (x14)
Wow Cards (x13)
Founder Cards (x6)
Skill Cards (x14)
Objective Cards (x32)
Freelancer Cards (x16)
Item Cards (x28)
Pow Cards (x14)
Mechanism Tokens (x24)
Award Tokens (x9)
Component Tokens (x24)
Research Tokens (x38)
Corporation Cards (x24)
Prediction Cards (x90)
Score Markers (x6)
Playtest Tokens (x38)
Mini Game Boxes (x22)
Specialist Standees (x14)
Inspiration Tokens (x35)
Muman Tokens (x24)
Coins (x40)
Time Tokens (x35)
Hourglass Miniature
Player Tables (x6)
Card Easels (x6)
Board Game Shelves

Not all contents shown. Actual contents may vary from image. For more information visit www.cotswoldgames.com

Set Up

Place the gameboard in the center of the table. Both sides of the board are the same in terms of gameplay so choose the one that you prefer.
Give each player a board game table, 4 worker Mumans of their color and their deck of prediction cards. Set these items out as shown below.
Place the score marker for each player onto the 0 space of the score track.
Assemble a corporation name plate easel for each player and place their corresponding name plate card onto it.
Shuffle the Award cards and give one to each player.
Give each player a corporation card deck for each of their opponents. This will contain a card with the corporation name of each of their opponents. Note: In a two player game this step is skipped.
Shuffle the Skill, Item, Objective, Freelancer and Specialist card decks individually and place them face-down into their corresponding spaces. Take the top 4 cards of the item deck and place them faceup in the spaces to the right of the deck. Do the same with the top 3 cards of the Specialist deck and the Freelancer deck.
Place all of the specialist standees by the side of the gameboard near the Specialist deck.
Take the inspiration, time, money, playtest and research tokens and place them to the side of the game board, this makes up the general supply.
Take the Game Box tops and bottoms and place them near the main board.
Take the component and mechanism tokens, arrange them by their number and place them to the side of the board.
Assemble and place the award shelving unit near the board.
Take the award tokens and place three level 3 awards onto the top three shelves, three level 2 awards onto the middle and three level 1 awards onto the bottom three shelves.
[Optional Step] Shuffle the POW and WOW decks and deal two cards to each player. Players choose one of each of these cards and place them onto their game tables. All unused cards are placed back into the box. These cards are not recommended for your first game. [Alternative*] Give each player their Founder Card and place this into the WOW space of their player board. Leave the POW space empty. This is a good option for your first game.
Give each player one objective card from the objective deck. Place this card face-up for all to see.
Place the hourglass token onto the track around the main game board. It is placed onto the space indicated for your player count.
The last player to win a board game goes first then, in clockwise order, the second player takes 1 dollar, the third player takes 2 dollars, the fourth player starts with 1VP, the fifth player with 1VP and a dollar and the 6th player with 1VP and 2 Dollars.

Founder Cards: These cards have no special powers and are used in simpler games instead of POW and WOW cards. They are a good option for your first game.

Use of the POW and WOW cards is optional. If it's your first game just use your Founder card (see above).

Optional: Give each Player a reference card.

Awards go into the Award shelf:

Top Shelf: Level 3 Awards
Middle Shelf: Level 2 Awards
Bottom Shelf: Level 1 Awards

Fancy a longer game? Games of Tabletop Inc are designed to be fun and fast paced, lasting about 20-30 minutes per player and always leaving you wanting more. If you'd like to extend the gameplay then simply move the timeline token back a few spaces at the start of the game! Each space you move it back will add about 1-2 minutes to the game length.

Note: These cards and some boxes can be stored on the board if using the factory side. Not all boxes are shown.

Gameplay

Starting with the player who last won a board game and moving clockwise, players will take turns to place one of the workers from their pool of available workers onto an action space. Alternatively they can use their turn to return all their workers back to their pool and make lucrative predictions about their opponents' plans.

This turn-based game continues until the hourglass time token has reached the zero space of the track (around the edge of the main game board). See the 'End Game Trigger' section in the red box below.

End Game Trigger

Each time you collect your workers (page 11) you move the hourglass miniature one space backwards along the track for each worker you collect. If the token passes into or over one of the bonus spaces when you are moving the hourglass token you immediately take the indicated bonus.

When the hourglass reaches the 0 space, all other players take one final turn before end game scoring occurs (page 12).

This bonus space gives you a Research Token. (Page 8).
This bonus space gives you an Action Bonus. (Page 8).
The hourglass token starts on the time track in the space relevant for your player count.

Placing Workers into Action Spaces

For most of your turns you will be placing your workers onto action spaces in order to perform actions. Action spaces are indicated by this shape:

Action Spaces are indicated by these white muman shapes. Place your worker here to take the action.

Each of the actions are described between pages 6 and 11 but you will also notice a series of icons within the action spaces. These are bonuses you receive for placing your worker in this specific space:

If you place a worker into this action space you immediately gain a dollar (money) as a bonus.

Many actions have a Safety Cost to take them. Actions that have safety costs to take them will have this yellow hard hat box BELOW the action space (see below). The cost to take this action is indicated by the items inside the hard hat and this must be paid before the action is taken.

Example: This space (left) for example, has a safety cost of one inspiration token but will gain you a bonus of one research token.

Action spaces with a safety cost are colored in yellow.

Some action spaces are listed in boxes marked 4+. These spaces can only be used in games with 4+ players and are ignored in games of 1-3 players.

The color of the box can be used as a reminder of the type of action it is:

Red: Employee related actions
Green: Resources related actions
Blue: Game creation related actions

Worker Skills

Every employee you hire specializes in at least one of three elements of board game creation: Box design, Component design and Mechanism design. These skills are indicated by these symbols:

Box Design
Mechanism Design
Component Design

You are only permitted to create Boxes, Mechanisms and Components that you have the required skill points for. So, to have a level 4 Component you must have 4 Component skill points around your table.

Every Special Ability "Wow" Card contains one of each of these skills. So from the start of the game you are allowed to make Level 1 Boxes, Components and Mechanisms.

Founder cards (used in your first game) also have 1 of each skill type but no special abilities.

Example: This player can produce games with Level 2 Components, Level 3 Boxes and Level 2 Mechanisms.

Actions

There are multiple actions that can be taken by placing a worker onto the main game board. Each action is denoted by a specific icon and explained in the following pages.

For example, the Hire Specialist action (explained below) is taken by placing a worker into the action spaces in the top left of the gameboard here. Each action has a unique icon which will feature in white boxes on the main game board.

Gain Basic Resources

Place a worker into this speech bubble to gain any ONE of the resources shown below.

There is no cost to take this action and, unlike all other actions, there is no limit to the number of workers that can take this action.

Resources in Tabletop Inc are not intentionally limited so, in the unlikely event that you run out of one, use a suitable replacement.

The resources are: Inspiration, Dollars, Time, Victory Points.

Hire Specialist

Place a worker in any one of these spaces to hire a specialist. You may hire any of the three faceup available specialists on the board, however only the far right specialist is free of charge. To hire specialists to the left of this one you must place a resource (dollar, time, inspiration, research or playtest) on each of the cards to skip over to take the one you wish. If the specialist you take has one or more resources on it, you also gain this/these when you take the specialist card. You cannot use your specialist workers until they have been given a place at your table. Do this by taking the play card action (page 7), until then keep the card in your hand. When you place the specialist worker at your table using the play card action, you take the corresponding standee to act as your new worker. Do not take the standee until the specialist has been given a place at your table.

Specialists act as extra workers who can be placed onto all actions in the same way as your other workers. Each specialist is also aligned to one of the actions on the gameboard and allows you special powers if you use your specialist on that particular action. There are two benefits for using your specialist on its related action:

Firstly, you do not have to pay any safety costs to perform the action but you still get the performance bonuses.

Secondly, each specialist gives you a specific benefit when using its corresponding action. These are listed on the cards themselves and explained in detail on page 17.

Example: This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is hiring specialist workers.

The benefit you get for using this specialist is that you can take any of the three available specialists without having to place a resource on the specialists to the right of it.

A second benefit is that if you use this Specialist to take the 'Hire Specialist' action you do not pay any safety costs in the yellow hard hat attached to the action space.

Card 3 on the track can be taken for free, but if you wanted to take card 2 you would have to place a resource (dollar, time, inspiration, research or playtest) onto card 3.

To take card 1 you would have to place a resource onto both cards 2 and 3.

You may only take one Specialist card each time you take this action.

Each Specialist Worker comes with a corresponding standee.

Play Card

The play card action allows you to take one specialist or freelancer card (employee cards) in your hand and give them a place at your table. Reminder: These cards cannot be used until they have a place at your table.

Each time you place a worker into one of the spaces (left), pay any safety cost and take the bonus associated with the space you choose, then you may take one of your employee cards and give them a space at your table. There are six spaces at your table, one on each side of the hexagonal table. If the table has a table bonus (below right), take the indicated bonus when you place the employee.

If you do not have space on your table for an employee then you cannot place one there.

Only one employee can be placed at your table each time you take this action.

If you play a Specialist card to your table, you immediately take the corresponding standee and can use it as an extra worker.

POW Cards

POW cards are unique negative attributes each player starts the game with. These take up a space at your table and limit your abilities in some way. An explanation for each card can be found on page 16. We do not recommend using these cards in your first game.

POW cards can be removed at any point on your turn by paying the removal cost listed at the top of the POW card. POW cards are permanently discarded back to the box when removed. The space they occupied at your table is now available for an employee card and their limitation no longer applies.

Table Bonuses

There are sometimes resource bonuses you gain for placing an employee into a space on your table and these are listed on the table itself. Take the bonus the moment you place your employee into that space.

The POW and WOW spaces on your table may be filled by cards from the start of the game. If so, you cannot remove your WOW card, but you can remove the POW card and free up the space (left).

If empty, then employee cards can be added to these spaces but they do not have a resource bonus.

Train Worker

Each time you place a worker here, pay any safety cost and take the bonus associated with the space you choose. Then you can take the top 4 cards of the Skills Deck (see bottom left) and purchase any one of them, pay the cost indicated in the bottom right corner of the card. Skills cards can be held in your hand or used immediately.

To use a Skill card, simply slot it behind an employee who is already at your table. Each employee cannot have more than one Skill card added to them. You cannot use a Skill card unless you have an employee available to apply the card to.

When you place the skill card behind the employee, you immediately gain the resource benefit listed on the center of the card and then your employee gains the extra skills listed at the top of the card.

You do not need to use the Play Card action to add a skills card to an employee, it can be done at any time on your turn.

Skills Cards

Skills cards have the specific skill(s) they will add to your employee listed at the top of the card. Their use benefit in the middle and their cost in the bottom right.

For example, the cost to purchase this Skill card is 2 dollars. When this skills card is used, the employee it is placed under gains one extra Component and Box skill level. You then immediately gain a time resource for using the card.

In this example, this Wow card has two box skills, two Component skills and one Mechanism skill. Only one skill card can be placed behind each employee. A player with this employee could build at a minimum level 2 boxes, Level 2 Components and level 1 Mechanisms.

If they have more employees with skills icons then these are also added to their total.

Special Ability "WOW" Cards

Special Ability cards have the WOW icon on their reverse. These cards give unique positive attributes each player starts the game with. These take up a space at your table indicated by the WOW icon. We do not recommend using these cards in your first game and instead your Founder card (Page 3) is placed into the WOW space on your player table.

Special Ability cards cannot be removed from your table for any reason.

Each Special Ability Card comes with one of each skill icon meaning that from the start of the game you can always gain level 1 Boxes, Components and Mechanisms.

Each Special Ability Card gives the player a unique ability, this is indicated in the white box at the top of the card.

A full description of each of these benefits can be found on page 15.

This card allows a player to use dollars and time tokens interchangeably.

Hire Freelancers

Freelance employees are a crucial part of your production empire, they give you access to unique powerful actions that only you can take.

Each time you place a worker in one of these spaces, pay any safety cost and take the bonus associated with the space you choose then you take any one of the three face-up Freelancers in the row.

Only the far right freelancer is free of charge. To hire freelancers to the left of this one, you must place a resource (dollar, time, inspiration, research or playtest) on each of the cards to skip over to take the one you wish. If the freelancer you choose has a resource(s) on it, you also gain this/these when you take the freelancer card. Take the freelancer card you chose and put it into your hand.

You cannot use the Freelancer until they have been given a space at your table using the play card action.

The abilities of each freelancer are explained on the cards themselves and there is a detailed explanation of each on page 14.

Many Freelancers are also worth Post-Game Victory Points (Page 10), these are gained at the end of the game if the Freelancer has been given a space at your table.

Freelancer Cards

Freelancer cards must be assigned a space at your table using the 'Play Card' Action (page 7) before they can be used. Once they are on your table they give you a unique action that only your workers are allowed to take.

The example to the left allows you to place a worker onto this card in order to gain up to 3 Playtest or Research tokens (or a mix of the two).

This Freelancer also has a Mechanism skill which will be added to your total allowing you to gain higher level Mechanisms.

This Freelancer also gains you 3 Post-Game Victory Points.

You can use the train worker action (page 7) to add a skill card to Freelancers and increase their skill levels.

Research

Each time you place a worker in one of these spaces, pay the action cost and take the bonus associated with the space you choose then you gain two research tokens.

Playtest

Each time you place a worker in one of these spaces, pay any safety cost and take the bonus associated with the space you choose, then you gain two playtest tokens.

Gain Multiple Resources

Each time you place a worker in one of these spaces, pay any safety cost and take the bonus associated with the space you choose, then you can gain up to 3 of any of the resources listed (inspiration, dollars or time). You do not have to take three of the same type of resource.

Free Action Bonus

Free Action Bonus: This icon indicates that you can immediately take any action from the main board without placing a worker. You do not get any bonuses for taking this action, nor do you pay any safety costs.

These actions do not count towards any predictions made by opposing players. See page 11.

If taking the Action Bonus to Gain a Box, Component or Mechanism (Page 9), then you still need to pay the required Inspiration, Research or Playtests respectively.

Note: You do NOT gain the bonuses indicated in these boxes (e.g. the "51" bonus box) when moving your score tracker through them. These are only applicable to the hourglass token moving in the opposite direction on the track.

In-Game Victory Points

In-Game Victory Points: This icon indicates that you immediately gain the amount of victory points indicated inside the laurel wreath. Victory points are marked by moving your score marker along the track around the outside of the main game board.

In-Game Victory Points are different from Post-Game Victory Points (Page 10) which are gained only at the very end of the game during the final scoring.

Gain Item

Each time you place a worker in one of these spaces, pay any safety cost and take the bonus associated with the space you choose. You then take any one of the four face-up item cards in the row.

Only the far right item card is free of charge. To gain items to the left of this one you must place a resource (dollar, time, inspiration, research or playtest) on each of the cards to skip over to take the one you wish. If the item you choose has a resource(s) on it, you also gain this/these when you take the item card.

Item cards have benefits on them that you can take at any point on your turn. You do not need to add these cards to your gaming table. Simply discard the card to the bottom of the item card deck at any time during your turn and then take the bonus it indicates.

Item Card Examples:

When you see the infinity symbol, the power the item card grants you is permanent. Keep this card in your player area for the rest of the game to remind you. All other item cards must be discarded after you use their power.

Discard to gain four inspiration tokens.
Discard to take the Hire Specialist Action then the Play Card Action.
Discard to upgrade a component by up to two levels.
Discard this card to take any one action from the gameboard.
Permanently adds an extra Box and Mechanism skill to your total.

Gain Game Box

Each time you place a worker in one of these spaces, pay any safety cost and take the bonus associated with the space you choose then you can purchase any of the board game box bottoms currently available. You must pay the indicated inspiration cost to gain these. There are four levels of game boxes, level 4 boxes cost four inspiration, level 3 cost three inspiration, level 2 cost two inspiration and level 1 boxes cost one inspiration.

Pay the cost and take the box bottom onto your board game table. Add any mechanism or component you own into the box.

You can only ever have one game box on your gaming table so if you do not have space for one then you cannot purchase one. You cannot buy a game box unless your workers have the required skills.

(If using the factory side of the board) When you have purchased a Game Box, replace the empty space on the main board with another box of the same value from the general supply, unless there are no boxes left, in this case, it is left empty.

Game Box skills are needed to design higher level boxes. You need skill icons equal to or higher than the level of the box you wish to gain.

Gain Component/Mechanism

Each time you place a worker in one of these spaces you choose then you can purchase a Mechanism or Component. Developing Mechanisms costs playtests and purchasing Components costs research. Pay the indicated cost for the level of Mechanism/Component you wish to purchase and add this to your gaming table. If there is already a gamebox in this space then the Mechanism/Component goes into it.

You can only ever have one Mechanism and one Component on your gaming table, so if you do not have space for them, then you cannot purchase them. You cannot buy a Mechanism/Component unless your employees have the required skills.

Component and Mechanism skills are needed to design higher level Components and Mechanisms. You need skill icons equal to or higher than the level of Component/Mechanism you gain.

Upgrade Box/Mechanism/Component

Each time you place a worker in one of these three spaces, pay the safety cost of one time token. You can then upgrade a Box, Mechanism or Component based on the space you chose to place your worker.

You must already possess a Box, Mechanism or Component in order to use this action and you cannot upgrade a Box, Mechanism or Component higher than level 4.

A major bonus of this action is that you are allowed to upgrade the Box, Mechanism or Component to a higher level than you currently have skill icons for.

For example, if you have a level 2 Box and you only have 2 box skill icons on your employees, then you can use the furthest left action space in this action to upgrade the box to level 3.

If a level of Box, Mechanism or Component has run out, it is ignored. For example, if upgrading a level 1 Box and there are no level 2 boxes left, that box is upgraded straight to level 3.

Publish Game

Each time you place a worker in this area, pay the safety cost and take the bonus associated with the space you choose. You can then publish one of your games. To do this take the game Box on your gaming table. Ensure a Component and Mechanism are in the box then choose a lid for the published game. The published game is taken off your gaming table (freeing it up for a new box, Mechanism and Component) and the published game is placed in your player area.

In order to publish a game, you must have a Box, Mechanism and Component token on your gaming table. If you do not have all three of these, then you cannot publish a game. Published games are worth victory points at the end of the game equal to the combined level value of their game box, mechanism and component. You only gain these points once an end game trigger has occurred (see pages 5 and 12).

You can also submit published games for awards (see right).

As Awards are gained by players the board game shelving unit will slowly start to fill up with published games. Will yours be one of them?

Gain Award

Each time you place a worker in one of these spaces you can take one of the nine awards that are on the board game shelves.

To do this take one of your published games which has at least the required level of box, mechanism and component listed on the award you wish to gain. Each player has different requirements to gain awards and these are indicated by the award card you received at the start of the game.

Place this box into the board game shelf in the place where the award token is and take the award token into your player area. You no longer gain the victory points for this published game but instead gain the post game victory points based on the award level you have gained (Page 12).

Each level of award requires a unique combination of Box, Mechanism and Component. These are indicated on your Award card, along with the victory points awarded for gaining this award level.

In this example a player will need a level 2 box, a level 2 mechanism and a level 1 component to earn a level 1 award. This will gain them 9 victory points at the end of the game.

Trade

To take the Trade action, place a worker into one of these spaces and pay any applicable safety cost. You may then trade any of your resources for any other of the same level. You can make as many trades as you like during the turn you took this action. Trades are made with the general supply.

Level 1 Resources - Inspiration, Dollars and Time Tokens

Level 2 Resources - Playtests and Research

Example: Caro places a worker here, she trades 3 time tokens for 3 coins and a research for a playtest. It is then the next player's turn.

Post-Game Victory Points: If you see these star symbols above a victory point icon, then this means these victory points are awarded at the end of the game rather than immediately. These end game victory points appear on awards (above) and objective cards (Page 11).

They are different from In-Game Victory Points (Page 8) which are gained immediately.

Gain Objective

Each time you place a worker in this area, pay any safety cost and take the bonus associated with the space you choose. You can then take the Objective action.

Draw the top four Objective cards from the Objective deck. Look through them and choose one card to keep and place this card face-up in your player area for all players to see. The remaining three cards are placed at the bottom of the objective deck. You do not need to take any of them and can replace all four to the bottom of the deck if you wish.

If you achieve the required objective listed on the card by the end of the game then you gain the victory points listed at the bottom right of the card. If you do not achieve the objective by the end of the game, then you will lose the amount of victory points listed in the bottom left of the card.

The items required to achieve an objective can only be used for one objective card and so if multiple objectives require the same components you will need multiple instances of that component.

Each objective card has a requirement at the top. In this example the requirement is to have 3 coins and 3 Inspiration Tokens at the end of the game. These then cannot be used to achieve the requirements of any other objective cards.

At the bottom of each card is the reward for achieving it (on the right in green) and the penalty if you do not achieve it (on the left in red). These points are only added at the end of the game during final scoring (Page 12).

This crystal ball icon indicates a prediction (see right). If you gain one of these predictions as a bonus, for example on an icon card or action space, then, if you have made any predictions that have not yet come true, you can choose one of these predictions and flip it face up as if that prediction had come true.

Collecting Your Workers

If you do not place a worker on your turn then instead you must collect ALL your workers. This action works very differently from all the rest as it does not require you to place a worker and instead to take all your placed workers back to your supply. To do this, simply take all of your workers (including any specialists you employ) and place them in your player area.

You can only take this action if you have at least one worker that has already been placed and if you have no workers left then you must perform this action.

For each worker (including specialists) you collect, move the hourglass token one space backwards on the track around the gameboard. If it crosses a bonus space, immediately take the indicated bonus (Page 5).

When you collect your workers you also have an opportunity to make predictions about your opponents. This is a key way to gain resources and victory points in the game.

Making Predictions

When you collect your workers you have an opportunity to pay up to four of your research tokens to make predictions on the future actions of your fellow players. To do this, choose one opponent's corporation card to make a prediction about. Play their corporation card face-up in front of you. You can pay up to four research tokens to make up to four predictions over actions you think this opponent will make before you next take the Collect Your Workers action.

Each prediction card represents an action on the gameboard. For example this card predicts that the player will take the 'Hire Specialist' Action. A corporation card is chosen to indicate who you are making the prediction about. Up to 4 prediction cards are then placed face-down below this card.

Resolving Predictions

If the opponent you made a prediction about performs one of the actions you predicted on their turn, flip the relevant prediction card face-up. If all of your predictions are proven to be true then you immediately collect the reward for this. Return all the prediction cards you used to make the prediction(s) back to your prediction deck and take the rewards listed below based on how many predictions you made.

1 prediction: 2 victory points
2 predictions: 4 victory points
3 predictions: 7 victory points
4 predictions: 10 victory points

Incorrect Predictions

If by the time you next Collect Your Workers, all of your predictions for an opponent have not proven correct, then you do not gain anything for this/these prediction(s). Return all the prediction cards to your deck and you can then make new predictions if you have the requisite research tokens.

End Game Scoring

The game ends when the hourglass token reaches the 0 space of the scoring track around the main game board.

The player who moves the hourglass token into the '0' space of the gameboard triggers the end of the game and gains 5 Victory Points.

When this happens, each other player takes one final turn before scoring commences.

The final scoring of the game will take into account the victory points that have already been gained on the track and those gained in any of the following four ways, score each separately:

Unpublished and Published Games: Published games are worth victory points at the end of the game equal to the combined level value of their Box, Mechanism and Component. Unpublished games (those still on your table even if they do not yet contain all three elements needed for a published game) are worth half this amount (rounded up).

For example, a published game with a game box level of 3, a mechanism level of 2 and a component level of 1 is worth 6 Victory Points. The same game if unpublished would be worth 3.

Objective Cards: If you achieve the required objective listed on an objective card by the end of the game then you gain the victory points listed at the bottom right of the card. Deduct the indicated victory points on the bottom left of the card if the objective has not been achieved.

The items required to achieve an objective can only be used for one objective card and so if multiple objectives require the same components you will need multiple instances of that component.

For example, if a player has this objective card at the end of the game, then they gain 4 VP if they have 4 Research Tokens. If they do not then they lose 2 VP.

Freelancer Cards: If you have any Freelancers placed at your table add the points indicated on these to your total.

For example, this Freelancer gains you 3 end game Victory Points.

Awards: Each player adds the points they gained from their awards. Awards are worth the amount indicated on a player's award card.

Award Cards dictate the value of an award.

Example: A player with this award card gains 9 VP for each Level 1 Award token they possess.

Award tokens are worth different amounts depending on their level and your award card.

After this has been completed, the player with the most victory points wins the game!

In the event of a tie then, of the tied players, whoever was furthest away from going first at the start of the game is the winner.

The Muman-Bot (Solo Mode)

Tabletop Inc can be played solo against one or multiple automated players, these automated players are known as the Muman-Bots. Muman-Bots can even be incorporated into multiplayer games. To control Muman-Bots you use the ZAP deck.

The ZAP cards control the Muman-Bots. Each card represents a specific action on the main game board.

Unless otherwise stated, all rules for Muman-Bots remain the same as for fleshy human players.

Muman-Bots take simplified turns, to control them take the following steps:

Draw the top card of the Zap deck, if the deck is empty then shuffle the discard pile and create a new Zap deck then draw the top card. The card drawn is the 'Active Card'.
Look at the action represented on the 'Active Card'. Place a worker of the Muman-Bot's color into the far left space of the action shown on the ZAP card. Costs and bonuses from these actions are ignored, it is merely the Muman-Bot selfishly taking up action spaces. If there are no action spaces available on this action then ignore this step.
Give the Muman-Bot the indicated victory points for the difficulty level you are playing at.

Easy: 2 victory points
Normal: 3 victory points
Hard: 3 victory points
Extreme: 4 victory points

If playing at Extreme difficulty then use the Hard difficulty victory points for all cards that do not have a separate Extreme level difficulty box.

Several boxes have a blue adjustment box at the bottom. These all work in different ways to affect the communal areas of the game (Page 13).

Example: If this card is drawn, then the Muman-Bot will place a worker on an open action space for the objective card action. These spaces are filled from left to right and top to bottom. If playing on easy mode the Muman-Bot will then gain 1 victory point. For harder modes higher amounts of victory points will be gained. Finally, discard the top objective card from the objective deck and shuffle the objective deck before placing it back into the relevant space of the gameboard.

Note: Each of the blue boxes on ZAP cards has a detailed description on page 13.

When a Muman-Bot runs out of workers they will take a turn to return all their workers in the same way as a human player. Muman-Bots also make predictions which work a little differently from human players. These differences are described on the next page.

Muman-Bot Predictions

Muman-Bots will always make 4 predictions when they return their workers, they do not need to pay any research tokens to do so.

To make Muman-Bot predictions do the following:

This step is only applicable if playing with more than 2 players total, including Muman-Bots and Human players. Randomly take one of the Corporation cards representing a human opponent of the Muman-Bot and place it face-up.
Shuffle the Muman-Bot's prediction deck then take 1 (Easy), 2 (Normal), 3 (Hard) or 4 (Extreme) prediction cards from the deck. Place these face-up for all to see. These are the Muman-Bot's predictions for the player whose corporation card was chosen in step 1. Or just for the opponent in a 2 player game.
Whenever a prediction is proven to be correct, discard the prediction card and give the Muman-Bot one Victory Point. The Muman-Bot does not therefore get the same number of victory points for their predictions as human players do, instead just getting one VP for each correct prediction.

When the time comes to collect their workers again, discard all the Muman-Bot's prediction cards and start from step 1 again.

The ZAP Cards

Award icon: Each time this card is drawn an award will be removed from the award shelf.

If the Muman-Bot that draws this award has no awards, then remove a level 1 Award from the shelf. If they have a level 1 Award then remove a level 2 award. Likewise, if the Muman-bot has a level 2 award then remove a level 3 award.

If no awards are available of the required level remove one of a lower level, if this is not possible remove a reward of a higher level and if this is not possible, then this action is ignored.

Muman-Bots do not get the points indicated on the awards they remove from the shelf, they are just taken out of the game.

Objective icon: When this card is drawn, discard the top Objective card from the Objective deck and then shuffle the deck. Place the shuffled deck back into its usual position on the game board.

Freelancer icon: When this card is drawn, remove all resources on cards on the Freelancer card track and return them to the supply. Add the cards that are currently on the track back into the Freelancer deck. Finally, shuffle the Freelancer deck then restock the track with the four new cards from the top of the deck.

Item icon: When this card is drawn, remove all resources on the item card track and return them to the supply. Add the cards currently on the Item track back into the Item deck, shuffle the Item deck then restock the track with the four new cards from the top of the deck.

Specialist icon: When this card is drawn, remove all resources on cards on the Specialist card track and return them to the supply. Add the cards that are currently on the track back into the Specialist deck, shuffle the Specialist deck then restock the track with the four new cards from the top of the deck.

Skill icon: When this card is drawn, discard the top skill card from the skill card deck and shuffle the deck. Place the shuffled deck back into its usual position on the main game board.

Card Track Refresh Variant

Add more variety to 2 & 3 player games.

If you would like to see more cards appear in the card tracks throughout games of Tabletop Inc (particularly helpful in games with lower player counts). You can add in this simple card refresh rule.

Each time a player chooses to collect their workers, before they collect them they must first remove the card in the far right space of the Specialist card track and the Freelancer card tracks. These cards are placed to the bottom of their respective decks and the cards to the left of them moved right in the usual way. Any resources that were placed on the card that was removed remain in that space and are added to the new card in the far right spot of the card track.

It is also possible to refresh the item deck track in the same way however we find most players prefer not to do this.

Generally this variant is not helpful for games with 4 or more players but this will depend on your gaming group.

Freelancer Card Reference

Place a worker on this card to take 5 resources. You can choose any combination of Time Tokens, Inspiration Tokens and Dollars.
Place a worker on this card to take any of the actions from the main game board. You do not have to pay any costs to take this action but you also do not gain placement bonuses.
Place a worker on this card to take four Playtest Tokens.
Place a worker on this card and take any one action on any Freelancer that is currently placed at your or one of your opponent's tables.
Place a worker on this card to take the Gain Objective Action (Page 11). Instead of taking one of these cards you may take up to two.
Place a worker here to add two Victory Points immediately to your total.
Place a worker on this card to upgrade a Gamebox, Mechanism or component you own by up to two levels. This can be a combination of two elements.
Place a worker on this card to take the Item action twice. You still need to pay resources for items higher up the track.
Place a worker on this card to take up to three Playtest tokens or Research tokens. You may take a combination of both resources as long as the total you take is no more than three.
Place a worker on this card and, if you currently have any predictions that have not yet come true, you can flip one of these prediction cards and act as if it had come true.
Place a worker on this card to take four Research Tokens.
Place a worker on this card to add four Victory Points immediately to your total.
Place a worker on this card to upgrade a Gamebox, Mechanism or component you own by up to two levels. This can be a combination of two elements.
Place a worker on this card and, if you currently have any predictions that have not yet come true, you can flip up to two of these prediction cards and act as if they had come true.
Place a worker on this card to add three Victory Points immediately to your total.
Place a worker on this card to upgrade a Gamebox, Mechanism or component you own by up to two levels. This can be a combination of two elements.

Special Ability "WOW" Card Reference

Having this special ability means that Level 3 Awards will gain you 21 Victory Points rather than the amount indicated on your Award Card.
Having this special ability means that you can use Time and Inspiration tokens interchangeably.
Having this special ability means that when you purchase a Gamebox you pay two less Inspiration tokens than the amount indicated on the gameboard. The minimum Inspiration Tokens you will pay is zero.
Having this special ability means that you start the game with two of each skill type rather than one.
Having this special ability means that you can use Dollars and Inspiration Tokens interchangeably.
Having this special ability means that each time you get a prediction correct you gain a victory point. This is in addition to the regular points for this. You gain these points even if you have made multiple predictions and not all are correct.
Having this special ability means that when you purchase a Component you pay two less Research tokens than the amount required. The minimum Research Tokens you will pay is zero.
Having this special ability means that you can use Dollars and Time Tokens interchangeably.
Having this special ability means that at the end of the game you do not lose victory points for any objective cards you have that you failed to get the required resources for.
Having this special ability means that Level 1 Awards will gain you 15 Victory Points rather than the amount indicated on your Award Card.
Having this special ability means that at the end of the game you gain two extra victory points than the amount indicated for each objective card you successfully completed.
Having this special ability means that whenever you earn the action bonus you instead get to take this bonus twice.
Having this special ability means that Level 2 Awards will gain you 18 Victory Points rather than the amount indicated on your Award Card.

Disadvantage "POW" Card Reference

Having this disadvantage card means that you cannot possess level 4 components unless you have discarded this card.
Having this disadvantage card means that you cannot take Level 3 Awards until you have discarded this card.
Having this disadvantage card means that you cannot possess level 4 Mechanisms unless you have discarded this card.
Having this disadvantage card means that you cannot place Inspiration tokens onto any of the card tracks (Freelancer, Specialist or Item) to gain cards higher up the track. You may still place the other resources onto these tracks.
Having this disadvantage card means that you gain one less Victory Point than the amount indicated on each of your successful Objective cards at the end of the game.
Having this disadvantage card means that you cannot make a single prediction. You may still make 2, 3 or 4 predictions.
Having this disadvantage card means that you cannot make 4 predictions at once. You may still make 1, 2 or 3 predictions.
Having this disadvantage card means that you lose one extra Victory Point than the amount indicated on each of your unsuccessful Objective cards at the end of the game.
Having this disadvantage card means that you cannot possess level 4 Boxes unless you have discarded this card.
Having this disadvantage card means that you cannot take Level 2 Awards until you have discarded this card.
Having this disadvantage card means that you can only place a maximum of four employees onto your table. They can be placed in any available space.
Having this disadvantage card means that you cannot place Time Tokens onto any of the card tracks (Freelancer, Specialist or Item) to gain cards higher up the track. You may still place the other resources onto these tracks.
Having this disadvantage card means that you cannot take Level 1 Awards until you have discarded this card.
Having this disadvantage card means that you cannot place Dollars onto any of the card tracks (Freelancer, Specialist or Item) to gain cards higher up the track. You may still place the other resources onto these tracks.

Specialist Card Reference

Note: Specialist worker powers only apply when that specific specialist worker is taking the indicated action they specialize in.

This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is gaining Objective cards. The benefit you get for using this specialist is that you may take up to two objective cards each time you use the action.
This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is upgrading Boxes/Mechanisms/Components. The benefit you get for using this specialist is that each time you take the upgrade action you may upgrade by up to two levels rather than one.
This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is hiring Freelancers. The benefit you get for using this specialist is that you can take any of the three available Freelancers without having to place any resources on the Freelancer(s) to the right of it.
This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is Research. The benefit you get for using this specialist is that you will gain four research tokens for using this worker rather than two.
This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is playtesting. The benefit you get for using this specialist is that you will gain four playtests for using this worker rather than two.
This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is hiring Specialist workers. The benefit you get for using this specialist is that you can take any of the three available Specialist workers without having to place any resources on the workers to the right of it.
This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is Gaining multiple resources. The benefit you get for using this specialist is that you can gain up to five of any of the following resources; Dollars, Time or Inspiration. You do not have to take five of the same type of resource.
This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is developing Mechanisms/Components. The benefit you get for using this specialist is when purchasing mechanisms/components, you can use playtests and research tokens interchangeably.
This is the specialist worker whose special ability is publishing games. The benefit you get for using this specialist is that each time you publish a game you also gain a dollar, a time token and an inspiration token.
This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is Getting game Boxes. The benefit you get for using this specialist is that game boxes cost one less Inspiration token than the amount indicated on the main game board. The minimum cost for a Box is zero.
This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is gaining skill cards. The benefit you get for using this specialist is that skill cards cost one less dollar than the indicated price.
This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is gaining Item cards. The benefit you get for using this specialist is that you can take any of the four available Item cards without having to place any resources on the Items to the right of it.
This is the specialist worker whose specialist ability is gaining awards. The benefit you get for using this specialist is that you can take an award even when the level of one of your board game elements (game box, component or mechanism) is one less than the required level needed for the award.

Iconography / Page Reference

Tabletop Inc is a language-independent game. This means that the information in the game is instead presented through iconography. An overview of each of the meanings of these icons can be found below:

x# - Take the indicated number of the item shown next to this icon.
/ - OR: choose from the options either side of this icon.
+ - Add to the indicated item.
-# - Minus the indicated amount of the item shown next to this icon.
Time Tokens.
Dollars.
Research Tokens.
Playtest Tokens.
Inspiration Tokens.
Infinity symbol - Permanent Item power, see page 9.
Box - the number on the Box indicates its level.
Mechanism - the number next to the icon indicates its level.
Component - the number next to the icon indicates its level.
Item, see page 9.
Award, see page 10.
Specialist Worker, see pages 6 and 17.
Freelancer, see pages 8 and 14.
Add an employee to your table, see page 7.
Trade Action, see page 10.
Publish a game, see page 10.
A Prediction, see page 11.
Objective Card icon, see page 11.
Train Worker, see page 7.
Take any action from the gameboard, see page 8.
Box skill, see page 9.
Mechanism skill, see page 9.
Component skill, see page 9.
Worker placement space. Bonuses for using this space are indicated in this white muman shape.
Any Safety Cost to use a worker placement space is indicated inside a yellow helmet above it.
Actions on the main gameboard are indicated in these boxes.
WOW! - Special Ability "WOW" Cards.
POW! - Disadvantage "POW" Cards.
Upgrade the indicated Box, Component or Mechanism, see page 10.
X - Ignore or discard the indicated game element.
Take any one action on any Freelancer that is currently placed at your or one of your opponent's tables.

At any point on your turn you can pay one Time Token, one Inspiration Token and one Dollar to discard your POW card from the game.

If you have any questions about the rules or have feedback on the game, please feel free to email us at: [email protected]

We look forward to hearing from you.