Трик-н-Шеф (Trick-n-Chef)
Трик-н-Шеф (Trick-n-Chef) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 40 restaurant cards (4 suits: green sushi, red burger, yellow pizza, blue noodles; values from 1 to 10). Each card shows its value and, at the bottom, a number of stars.
- 20 coin tokens (double-sided: +2 and -2).
- 20 Chef tokens (4 suits, 5 of each).
Setup
If 3 players are playing, return the components of any one colour to the box (all restaurant cards and Chef tokens of that colour). With a full table, use all components.
Place all coin tokens in the centre of the table; this is the reserve. Set aside one Chef token of each suit; they will be needed later. Lay out the remaining Chef tokens around the coins, grouped by suit. Shuffle all restaurant cards and deal 10 cards to each player at random.
The first player is the one who most recently visited a fast-food restaurant. They take one of the Chef tokens set aside earlier, of their choice, and place it in front of themselves; then each player in clockwise order does the same, until every player has a Chef token in front of them.
Gameplay
A game of Trick-n-Chef lasts three rounds, at the end of each of which players earn victory points. One round lasts 10 turns, until every player has played all their restaurant cards from hand. After three rounds, players add up their points from all rounds and determine the winner.
Player's Turn
At the start of each round the first player is the active player. After that, the active player is the one who won the last trick.
On their turn the active player must play a card from their hand. Then, clockwise, every other player must play a card of the same suit as the active player's card. If a player has no card of the required suit in hand, they may play a card of any suit, including the trump suit. After every player has played a card, the winner of the trick must be determined.
Determining the Winner of a Trick
If all players played a card of the same suit, the trick is won by the player whose card has the highest value.
Example: Players played four red cards: 1, 3, 7 and 10. The player who played the 10 wins.
If a player did not have the required suit and played another suit that is not trump, they do not compete for the win of the trick.
Example: Players played three red cards (1, 3 and 7) and one yellow card (10); the trump suit is blue. The player who played the 7 wins.
If a player did not have the required suit and played a card of the trump suit, they win the trick. If several players played a card of the trump suit, the one among them whose card has the higher value wins.
Example: Players played two red cards (1, 7), one yellow card (10) and one blue card (5); the trump suit is blue. The player who played the 5 wins.
If, when the trick is resolved, there are several trumps in play at once (explained later), the card of the highest value among them wins. If several cards of the same value compete for the win (for example, two players played tens), the trick is won by the player who played their card last.
Having won the trick, the player takes all cards played on this turn and puts them in front of themselves in one face-down pile. A player may look at only their own pile of won cards at any time.
Receiving Chef Tokens and Coins
The player who played the lowest card in the trick takes, as a reward, one of the Chef tokens from the centre of the table. They choose a Chef token of any colour and place it in front of themselves.
If several players played the lowest card in the trick (for example, two players played a 1), the Chef token goes to the player who played their card first.
A situation is possible where a player both plays the lowest card and wins the trick (for example, because they played a trump card). In that case they receive both the trick and the Chef.
All players who did not win the trick and did not receive a Chef token this turn take one coin each from the reserve and place it in front of themselves.
Coins
When a player plays a card from hand to a trick, they may add any number of coin tokens to it to change the value of the played card. If they want to increase the card's value, they place the tokens on it with the +2 side up; if they want to decrease it, with the -2 side up. There is no limit on how far a card can be decreased or increased. At the end of the turn all coin tokens used by players are returned to the reserve.
Example: Four red cards are played: 1, 7, 10 and 9. On the 10 there is one +2 token, on the 9 two +2 tokens. The red 9 wins, because its value became 13.
Determining the Trump Suit
The number of Chef tokens in the centre of the table determines which suit is trump at the current moment of the game. The suit of the colour of which there are the fewest Chef tokens in the centre of the table becomes trump.
Example: In the centre of the table there are 3 red, 2 yellow, 3 blue and 4 green Chefs. The trump suit is yellow.
If the numbers of Chef tokens of different suits are equal, all those suits are trump (for example, on the first turn of each round all suits are trump at the same time).
At the moment when the Chef tokens of some suit run out in the centre of the table, that suit stops being trump until the end of the round.
End of the Round and Scoring
The round ends when all players have played all their restaurant cards. Each player reveals the restaurant cards they won during the round and sorts them by suit. Then, for each suit, the player must assign to each card a Chef token of the same suit.
If a player has more cards of one suit than Chef tokens of that suit, they assign the tokens always starting with the card of the lowest value.
Example: A player has four green cards (1, 4, 8 and 10) and two green Chefs, which they place on the cards of value 1 and 4.
If a player has more Chef tokens of one suit than restaurant cards of that suit, the extra Chef tokens are not assigned to anything.
After assigning tokens to cards, count the points. Each restaurant card that has a Chef token on it brings the player as many points as there are stars shown at the bottom of the card. Each coin the player has left also brings them one more victory point.
Record each player's result and, if this was the first or second round, proceed to the next round; if it was the third, determine the winner.
Preparing for a New Round
Return all Chef tokens and coins to the centre of the table. Set aside one Chef token of each suit. Gather and shuffle all restaurant cards, then deal 10 cards to each player. The first player of the new round is the player with the most victory points. Starting with them and then clockwise, players choose one each of the Chef tokens set aside, as in game setup, and begin the round by the normal rules.
End of the Game and Determining the Winner
Add up each player's victory points for the three rounds. The winner is the one who scored the most victory points. In case of a tie, the player with the most points in the last round wins. If a tie still remains, the winner is the one who can order food for the whole company faster.