TOP Kitchen Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• I - Box Contents
  • d6 dice (5)
• II - Description of Game Components
  • Market board (1)
  • Player boards (2)
  • Menu card stands (3)
  • Frying pan (4)
  • Coins
  • Help cards (6)
  • Player markers
  • Round marker
  • Spice cards
  • Action cards
  • Menu cards
• III - Setup
• IV - Course of the Game
• V - Detailed Course of a Round
  • Phase I - Organisation
  • Phase II - Shopping
  • Phase III - Cooking
• VI - General Rules
• VII - End of the Game and Scoring
• VIII - Card Clarifications
• IX - Game Variants

I - Box Contents

• market board
• 4 player boards
• 160 cards
• 90 d6 dice
• 54 coin tokens
• frying pan
• 8 player markers
• white round marker
• 4 card stands
• rulebook

d6 dice (5)

90 six-sided dice in seven colours representing culinary ingredients. Players acquire them in Phase II by buying them from the market board. In Phase III the purchased dice are rolled on the frying pan while trying to prepare dishes. Unused ingredients spoil at the start of each round. The following kinds of dice are in the game:

• 12 x red - meat
• 12 x orange - fish
• 12 x blue - seafood
• 12 x beige - side dishes (e.g. potatoes, pasta, rice)
• 12 x green - vegetables
• 12 x yellow - fruit
• 18 x black - universal ingredients (jokers) - replace any ingredient

Black dice are exceptional "made to order" culinary products - they have a high price, but the suppliers ensure fast delivery right to the restaurant's door.

II - Description of Game Components

Market board (1)

The market area with supplies used in Phase II - Shopping. The dice representing specific ingredients and the spice cards are placed on it. It also contains the scoring track and smaller tracks for the round and for player position after bidding.

Board elements: ingredient names; prices of individual ingredients; round track; place for spice cards; scoring track; areas for placing ingredient dice; position track; information on the distribution of the number of elements.

Player boards (2)

Four player boards, which show:

• a cutting board with an area for storing ingredients
• a field with a gas burner, on which the frying pan is placed during cooking
• a cooking table with an area for laying out menu cards.

The boards have the player's colour marked in the lower left corner.

Board elements: area for storing ingredient dice; burner; area for storing menu cards; cooking table onto which ordered menu cards go.

Menu card stands (3)

The stands are used during Phase II - while shopping at the market, the menu cards a player holds are put into them. The "screen" created in this way makes it easier to distribute the purchased ingredients (laying out dice under particular menu cards in order to organise resources more efficiently).

It is better not to show menu cards to other players, so that they are not guided by your needs while shopping.

Frying pan (4)

The frying pan serves as a tray for rolling the ingredient dice on during cooking and as the active player marker in Phase III.

Coins

The currency in the game is TK, called "tikeje". The box contains:

• 16 coins of value 5
• 16 coins of value 3
• 22 coins of value 1

The coin pool is kept within reach of all players so that everyone has easy access to it.

Help cards (6)

4 help cards, one for each player. One side has a short summary of the round, the other a list of the most common symbols found on cards.

Player markers

Two sets of markers in four colours (8 pieces). The first set is used to mark prestige (victory) points on the scoring track, the second to mark the player's position resulting from the bidding in Phase II.

Round marker

A white marker used to mark the current round on the round track of the market board.

Spice cards

16 spice cards which make it possible to "enrich the flavour" of every dish and, when matched, give an additional 4 prestige points. They are not required to cook a dish; they are optional. Spices do not spoil at the end of a round.

Card elements: name; additional prestige points for combining the spice with the matching dish; prestige points at the end of the game for an unused spice.

Action cards

76 action cards, which make it possible to reduce randomness in the game and to plan and invest. E.g. they allow you to expand the kitchen with useful equipment, make shopping easier or increase the chance of success while cooking.

Each action card can be used in three ways:

• used for its basic function (card description)
• sold for 2 TK
• invested, i.e. placed face down under the player board in order to obtain hidden prestige points at the end of the game (in the number shown in the large orange rosette in the middle of the lower part). Cards can be invested at any moment of the game.

Action cards are divided into four types:

Immediate (20 green cards) - provide one-time bonuses for the player who plays them (e.g. re-rolling dice or additional funds or ingredients).

Incident (12 purple cards) - cards of negative interaction, played on a chosen opponent, who suffers unfavourable consequences (e.g. loss of ingredients or spices). If a choice is required (e.g. which dice to discard), it is always made by the injured player.

Immediate and incident cards can be played for free at any moment. The function of the card is used once, and then the card is discarded onto the discard pile of used action cards.

Kitchen upgrade (32 blue cards) - kitchen equipment that usually provides permanent bonuses for the whole game. Building them costs (always 3 TK), and their function works from the moment they are laid out until the last round of the game. They can then no longer be sold, invested or discarded (even if their function has been exhausted). At the end, the player receives 1 prestige point for each built kitchen upgrade.

Dessert (12 beige cards) - small dishes which can be used in several ways:

• in its basic function they protect against the effects of incident cards (after playing, both cards must be discarded onto the discard pile of used action cards)
• a dessert is an additional small dish - it can be laid out on the cooking table at any moment in Phase III and cooked using the appropriate dice, analogously to how it is done with dishes from menu cards. A dessert that is laid out but not cooked is always -1 prestige point
• additionally a dessert can be used (even if we do not have the ingredients required for it) to "save" more valuable dishes that are on the cooking table. A dessert, at the cost of one penalty prestige point, can give as many as three additional cooking turns.

A dessert card can be laid out even at the moment when the last dish on the cooking table would just be falling after a failed roll. In this case the dessert laid out at the last moment falls instead of that dish, straight to row 2 of the cooking table.

Card elements (action card): card type; number of players; description of the card's effect; points at the end of the game for investing; points at the end of the game for building; cost of building the upgrade; money earned for a cooked dessert; prestige points for a cooked dessert.

Menu cards

64 menu cards representing dishes from which players create the offer of their restaurants' dishes. Menu cards are divided into:

• 28 starting dish cards - requiring fewer dice and easier rolls. Used mainly in the first round of the game (they have a chef's hat symbol in the upper right corner)
• 36 normal dish cards - requiring a greater number of ingredients and harder dice rolls than the starting cards

Menu cards show information about the dish, the ingredients needed to prepare it, the prestige points and earnings for cooking the dish, and also information about the matching spice. Rules concerning menu cards:

• to succeed, the sum of the pips rolled on the dice of a given colour must be equal to or higher than the result indicated on the card
• the cards specify the type and number of ingredients necessary to cook (during Phase III you must roll exactly as many dice as are on the menu card - you cannot add more of them to increase the chance of success)
• an uncooked dish from a menu card is always -4 prestige points

Card elements (menu card): starting deck symbol; card type; number of players; required types and number of dice; required minimum sum of pips when rolling the dice during cooking; money earned for the cooked dish; matching spice; prestige points for the cooked dish.

III - Setup

1. Lay out the market board [1], and then place on it the following elements:

   • the round marker on the field with the number 1 of the round track [2]
   • 2-4 player markers, in a number corresponding to the number of players, next to the position track [3]
   • 2-4 player markers, in a number corresponding to the number of players, near the field with the number 0 on the prestige points track [4]

2. Place all coins next to the market board [5].

3. Give each player one card stand [6].

4. Place the frying pan next to the market board (and during Phase III - on the burner) [7].

5. Give each player one player board (the colour of the chef's hat in the lower left corner of the board will be the player's colour) [8].

6. Assemble the action card deck depending on the number of players - when playing with:

   • 4 players - all cards are used
   • 3 players - remove cards with the digit 4 (in the upper left corner of the card)
   • 2 players - remove cards with the digit 3 and 4

   Removed cards will not be used during the game and can be put back in the box. Shuffle the remaining cards and place them in a face-down pile next to the market board [9].

7. Assemble the menu card deck depending on the number of players - when playing with:

   • 4 players - all cards are used
   • 3 players - remove cards with the digit 4 (in the upper left corner of the card)

After preparing the game elements in this way you can proceed to Phase I - Organisation.

IV - Course of the Game

A game of TOP Kitchen is divided into 3 or 4 rounds. Each round is independent of the others, which allows the length of the game to be adjusted to one's own preferences.

Suggested number of rounds:

• for 2 players - 4 rounds
• for 3 and 4 players - 3 rounds

A round consists of three phases played in sequence:

Phase I - Organisation

1. New round
2. Spoilage of unused ingredients (dice)
3. Refilling ingredients on the market board
4. Refilling spice cards on the market board
5. Payout
6. Drawing action cards
7. Exchanging action cards
8. Drawing and choosing menu cards

Phase II - Shopping

1. Bidding (determining the order)
2. Shopping at the market
3. Kitchen expansion

Phase III - Cooking

1. Cooking dishes in turns, consisting of five stages: a. Placing the order b. Preparing the order c. Cooking d. Service or failure e. Passing the frying pan
2. Falling of dishes in the cooking table

V - Detailed Course of a Round

Phase I - Organisation

1. New round: the white round marker is moved to the next field of the round track on the market board (does not apply to Round 1).

2. Spoilage of ingredients. Each player discards their unused ingredients (dice) left on the board from the previous round, on the cutting board of the player board (does not apply to Round 1).

3. Refilling ingredients [13]. The ingredients in the market must be refilled. Dice are always added from the left side. Depending on the number of players, lay out:

   • 2 players - 3 ingredients on each field
   • 3 players - 3 ingredients on the first field, 4 on the second, 3 on the third
   • 4 players - 4 ingredients on each field

   The universal ingredients (black dice) must be placed on the last, black field of the board (a common area for all universal ingredients).

4. Refilling spice cards [14]. From the shuffled deck of spice cards, depending on the number of players, lay out:

   • 2-3 players - 2 cards
   • 4 players - 3 cards

   The revealed spice cards are placed on the marked fields 1/2/3 of the market board; place the remaining cards of the deck face down on the right side of the market board. Spice cards not bought in the previous round must be put aside and replaced with newly drawn cards. Spice cards are not refilled during shopping in Phase II.

5. Payout. Each player receives 15 TK (this is the restaurant's fixed income, paid at the start of each round).

All used or unchosen cards are put face up on the appropriate discard pile. During the game 3 such piles will be created - of menu cards, action cards and spice cards.

When any face-down deck of menu or action cards runs out, the appropriate discard pile is shuffled to form a new deck of cards.

Phase II - Shopping

1. Bidding. The order of shopping is determined by bidding. Players secretly choose a certain amount and reveal it to the others - all at the same moment. The person offering the highest sum wins the bidding and becomes the first player in this round. The further order is determined by the height of the declared amounts, from highest to lowest. All funds from the bidding go to the general resource pool, and ties are resolved by rolling a die. After the order is determined, set the player-colour markers accordingly on the position track.

   The order in which players go shopping is important (the more players, the more important), because other chefs may earlier buy out at low prices the ingredients or spices you need. We suggest, however, not bidding too high - so that enough funds remain for shopping. You may decide that your accumulated funds do not allow you to make a bid in the bidding, but you should still bluff that you are making such an offer (you can give 0 TK).

2. Shopping at the market. According to the bid order, players alternately buy the needed ingredients at the market:

   • at most 3 dice of one type (colour), or fewer
   • or 1 spice card

   The purchase prices are specified on the market board - each die laid out in the first column costs 1 TK, each die in the second column costs 2 TK, in the third 3 TK, in the fourth column 4 TK (universal dice). Spices cost 2 TK per card.

   For clarity, purchased ingredient dice are laid out as you go under the appropriate menu cards placed in the stand, and purchased spices are always laid out face up on the left side of the player board - next to the board [15].

   EXAMPLE: The beginning of shopping at the market. The green player, who is in second place on the position track, needs 3 seafood dice. However, the yellow player, who holds first position, has already bought 2 dice of this type from the first column and paid 2 TK for them (1 TK for each die). So the green player is left with 1 die at the price of 1 TK, and the next ones cost 2 TK each (and later even more). The green player must therefore pay 5 TK for 3 seafood dice.

Shopping lasts until every player has acquired all the needed ingredients (or as many as they can afford) and ends Phase II by saying "pass". In this way the player gives up the possibility of shopping until the end of the round.

The last action in Phase II is to transfer the acquired ingredients to your player board onto the illustration of the cutting board, and to fold the "screen" of menu cards and place them in a face-down pile in the upper right corner of the player board, on the illustration of the plate [17].

If there are no funds for shopping, each action card from the hand can be sold for 2 TK.

The established shopping order applies only to activity on the market board (buying ingredients or spices). Buying upgrades or playing action cards from the hand is done independently and can be done out of turn.

Phase III - Cooking

1. Cooking dishes. Cooking is done in turns, alternately - starting from the first player (the winner of the bidding) and then clockwise (ignoring the further order on the position track). The phase lasts until all players have cooked all their dishes or until the moment at which uncooked dishes "fall" off the cooking table. The frying pan designates the active player, who cooks a dish.

   One turn is divided into five stages:

   a) Placing the order - the person to the left of the active player takes the role of a restaurant customer. They draw 1 menu card from the active player and place the order, reading the name of the dish aloud.

   b) Preparing the order - the active player places the menu card chosen by the customer in the first free column in the first row on the cooking table [18].

   When the first two columns (A and B) of the cooking table (printed on the player board) are already occupied, subsequent dish cards must be placed outside the board - on its right side (in the default columns C, D, etc.).

   Dish requirements (illustration): "2 green dice - sum of 6 or more pips"; "1 beige die - result of 3 or more pips".

   c) Cooking - the player chooses one, any dish from the table which they will try to cook in this turn. It may be the order just placed or an earlier dish. Next they take from the board the dice (ingredients) required for that menu card or dessert and roll them (all at once) onto the frying pan. All dice must end up on the frying pan as a result of the roll, and dice that fall off it must be re-rolled.

   EXAMPLE OF COOKING: The player tries to prepare a Caesar salad. Their rolls are: 3 and 2 on the green dice, 5 on the red die and 4 on the beige die.

   • No success on the green dice (sum of pips too low). These ingredients return to the board.
   • Success on the red and beige dice (result greater than or equal). The ingredients are placed on the card.

VI - General Rules

1. Card text takes precedence over the general rules contained in the rulebook.

2. Dishes, i.e. dishes from menu cards and dessert cards, can be used for strategic time management in the cooking table (that is why even a menu card without ingredients can be put to use).

3. Additional ingredients left on the board after Phase III, and ingredients from unfulfilled dishes, spoil and must be discarded at the start of the next round (exception - the function of the kitchen upgrade COLD STORAGE ROOM [KOMORA CHŁODNICZA]).

4. Spices do not spoil and can be used to combine with a dish in later rounds or remain on the table to bring the player prestige points at the end of the game.

5. When cooking using universal ingredients (black dice), before the roll they must be exchanged for the corresponding colour of ingredients (if this matters for later identification of the roll result or the operation of bonuses).

6. Prestige points gained or lost are marked by moving the marker in the player's colour on the prestige points track around the market board.

7. When any deck of cards (action or menu) runs out, the discard pile must be shuffled and the appropriate new deck formed.

8. At the bottom of the market board there are icons reminding how to lay out ingredients and spice cards (depending on the number of players).

9. The red rosette on cards denotes prestige points gained once, immediately, e.g. after cooking a dish.

10. The orange rosette on cards denotes prestige points which the player will gain at the end of the game. The large orange rosette in the lower part of cards (in the middle) means:

    • for action cards, points gained for investing the card (card hidden under the player board)

VII - End of the Game and Scoring

After 3 (for 3 or 4 players) or 4 (for 2 players) rounds the game ends and the final summary of prestige (victory) points takes place. It consists of:

• points gained during the game from the prestige track,
• points from cards invested during the game,
• money held: 1 prestige point for every 3 TK (rounding down),
• each active (bought) kitchen upgrade: 1 prestige point,
• each unused spice: 2 prestige points.

In case of a tie, the player with more money wins. If this does not decide it, the player with more kitchen upgrades wins. If the players also tie on this, it is considered that they both won.

In TOP Kitchen anyone can be a chef, but only one is the best!

VIII - Card Clarifications

The authors tried to make the operation of the cards in TOP Kitchen raise no doubts as to the rules of their use. Below are additional explanations of the operation of cards that may cause some difficulties. The list is arranged according to the card numbers in the lower right corner.

90 - KITCHEN EQUIPMENT FAILURE [AWARIA SPRZĘTU KUCHENNEGO] for the current round blocks all kitchen upgrade type cards of the chosen opponent. This means, e.g., that bonuses do not work or ingredients cannot be stored in the COLD STORAGE ROOM. If the player has already used the function of a given upgrade, its effects are not withdrawn (e.g. money from OCCASIONAL CATERING [CATERING OKAZJONALNY] is not returned). When EQUIPMENT FAILURE is active, new upgrades can be played, but they are also blocked.

101 - MARKET PROMOTION [PROMOCJA W MARKECIE]. Prices for ingredients at the market (only for the player playing the card) are lower by 1 (the purchase price table changes to: 1/1/2/3). PROMOTION lasts the whole round, that is until the end of the current Phase II. The player may play this card only once in the whole game - if they draw a second copy, they must exchange it, sell it or invest it (they can no longer use it for its effect).

123 - PANTRY [SPIŻARNIA]. Black dice go from the market area to the player's resource pool. It is a one-time effect, so after taking the three universal ingredients once, the card stops working. PANTRY nevertheless stays in the player's area as a reminder that this type of card has already been played, and of the prestige points due.

125 - OCCASIONAL CATERING [CATERING OKAZJONALNY]. Generates additional income of 4 TK per round from the beginning of the next round. In each subsequent Phase I the player will therefore receive not 15 but 19 TK.

Selected symbols found on cards:

• marking of how many players the card is used for
• marking of an additional special card
• symbol of any ingredient (every type of dice)

IX - Game Variants

The proposed basic variant of the game is, in the author's opinion, the most optimal. TOP Kitchen, however, is above all meant to provide good fun, so if any rule bothers the players - they may skip it. And if they have an idea for varying the gameplay - let them introduce it!

Below are a few proposals for modifying the course of the game:

• No bidding. If players do not like bidding, they can change the way the order is chosen in Phase II - Shopping. They can roll a die or decide that the place on the position track will be decided by the age of the players. In such a variant it is worth changing the player order every round.
• No placing of orders. If players do not like to play a role, they can change the way orders are placed in Phase III - Cooking. Drawing menu cards and reading out the names of dishes adds a great deal of atmosphere to the game, but is not an essential element of the mechanics. In this variant players simply draw a menu card and immediately put it on the cooking table.
• Speeding up the game. If players are impatient and really do not want to wait for their cooking turn, they can give up passing the frying pan in Phase III and carry out the following stages of cooking simultaneously. Instead of ordering dishes and rolling dice one after another starting from the first player, they can do it all at once. There is, however, only one frying pan - you can roll the dice without it or acquire additional copies on the publisher's website. The game will probably lose some of its atmosphere, but the time saved in this way can be used, e.g., to play more rounds of the game!

The game contains a mini expansion, POLISH DISHES (POLSKIE DANIA).