The Belgian Beers Race Dice Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Preparation
• Anatomy of a Game Sheet
• The Track of a Game Round
  • 1. Choice of Travel Dice
  • 2. Travel, Taste, and Buy
    • To Travel
    • Tick Off a New Brewery
    • Tick Off a Specialty Brewery
    • Brussels and the Grand Place
    • To Taste and Buy Beer
  • 3. The Goals
    • Common Goals
    • Personal Goals
    • Accomplishing a Goal
    • Cheese Cards
• Description of the Cheese Cards
• Description of the Goal Cards
  • Common Goals
  • Personal Goals
• Variants
  • Blocked Cheese
  • Mixed Goals
  • Toast
• Drink with Moderation
• Tbbr Dice: One Player
  • The Aim of the Game
  • Set Up
  • Thomas's Turn
    • 1. Reveal the Cards
    • 2. Choose or Reroll Dice
    • 3. Visit Breweries and Reach a Goal
    • 4. Move the Bottle of the First Player
  • Back to Brussels
  • Game Over
  • Victory
  • The Final Countdown
• Reminder
  • To Choose Travel Dice
  • Travel, Taste, and Buy
  • To Reach a Goal

Components

• 12 travel dice
• 1 pad with 100 game sheets
• 4 rulebooks (FR, NL, EN, GER)
• 30 cards with the common goals
• 1 brewery booklet
• 16 cards with the personal goals
• 14 cheese cards
• 6 pieces of cheese
• 6 discs to keep track of your exact position
• 1 bottle for the first player
• 1 double expansion for the game 'The Belgian Beers Race'. Rules on byrgames.be

Preparation

1. Each player takes a game sheet, a pencil (not included) and a disc.
2. Place the 12 dice in the center of the table.
3. Separately, shuffle the black, yellow, and red goal cards to form 3 piles, face up.
4. Draw the first 2 cards from each pile. Place them in front of the pile.
5. Separately, shuffle the silver (easy) and gold (hard) goal cards. Each player gets one of each. The player chooses only one and keeps it, not visible to the others. The other card is discarded.
6. Shuffle the cheese cards. Draw 6. Place them face up on the table.
7. Place the pieces of cheese 1 to 6 on the cheese cards in the dedicated space.
8. Give 'the bottle for the first player' to the last person who tasted a beer...

Anatomy of a Game Sheet

The game sheet has these parts: Brewery track, Specialty brewery track, Cheese track, The goals, Environment track, Hop track (with the Bonus track), Brussels, The Podium, and The final countdown.

The Track of a Game Round

Each player performs the following 3 phases in this order:

1. Choice of travel dice
2. Travel, Taste, and Buy
3. Goal

Players take turns playing clockwise until the end of the game.

1. Choice of Travel Dice

At the beginning of the game, the first player rolls the 12 travel dice and chooses 2.

During his turn, a player can either:

• Choose 3 dice from those available, or
• Reroll all 12 dice. In this case, you can only choose 2.

The dice already used are no longer available. They are blocked until one player rolls all the dice again.

The side of the die marked as a travel die can be used for traveling, tasting, and buying. Be careful! For tasting and buying you need the dice with lower values (see "Tasting and Buying Beers").

The side of the die marked X is useless. When only X dice remain, the player must roll all 12 dice again.

Important: You are forced to take the dice in one go. You can't just pick 1 or 2 dice and reroll the rest to complete your set. You can choose 3 dice, or roll all dice again and take 2.

Special case: There are less than 3 dice available: it's your turn and you may take all available dice (if possible). You then roll the other dice again to have a total of 3 dice.

Examples (from the rulebook):

• Sophie's turn. She must choose 3 dice. The other players left only 4 dice, including 2 dice with an X. Sophie has to take her 3 dice at once. She can't just choose the red and yellow dice and then roll the black ones again. Therefore, she is obliged to roll the 12 dice again. She can only take 2. Special case: less than 3 dice are available: it is your turn and you may take all available dice (if possible). Then you roll the other dice again to get a total of 3 dice. You can also roll all 12 dice again, but in this case, you choose only 2.
• Simon has to take 3 dice, but there are only 2 left. He decides to take the two dice and reroll the 10 unavailable dice, already used by the other players, to choose his last die. He could also have rerolled all 12 dice. But in this case, he was only allowed to take 2.
• Later in the game, Sophie faces a new problem. She must take 3 dice, but only 2 are left, including 1 black die with X. She can't take the remaining dice in one go, because the X are useless. So, she has to roll all 12 dice again.

Author's Advice: Don't hesitate to roll the dice again! Sometimes it is very useful.

2. Travel, Taste, and Buy

During your turn, you use all your travel dice to move around, buy beer to take with you in your backpack, or taste something on the spot. You can perform these actions in any order.

To Travel

At the start of the game, each player starts on the Grand Place of Brussels. After that, a move always starts from the last visited brewery. To keep track of where you are, you can use discs to mark your location. During your turn you can use your dice to visit breweries. You can visit multiple breweries on one turn.

The breweries are connected by roads with a number indicating the number of kilometers separating them (1 = 10 km, 2 = 20 km, ...).

You can use 3 types of transport for this race through Belgium:

1. The bicycle: red dice, lower values. The good old two-wheeler is still reliable. That cannot be said of your legs!
2. Public transport: yellow dice with better values. Fast, but with the risk of delays on the line!
3. Hitchhiking: black dice, high values but with X sides (unusable). If you're lucky you can hitchhike a good distance. But... you can also lose time on the side of the road.

To be able to take the road, you must reach the distance value with your dice. You can combine the values or use only one die. Watch out! You can only use one type of transport per trip. The chosen dice therefore have the same color. Then draw a line on the road you traveled and circle the destination brewery.

Example: Xavier wants to travel from brewery La Binchoise to the brewery Des Légendes by taking the road with a value of 4. To do this, he can:

• use the yellow die 4
• combine two red dice to move forward with 4
• use the black die 5.

He chooses to use the red dice. He draws a line on the road and places the dice on the table in front of him.

Environment: If you use a travel die with a value which is bigger than the value of the distance between two breweries, you get an Environment. You then tick off the highest free circle on your Environment track. It doesn't matter how much the value is, you only tick off one circle of track. Try to collect as few points as possible.

This does not apply to red Travel Dice. The bike is not fast, but it is eco-friendly at least!

Tick Off a New Brewery

If this is a new brewery you haven't visited yet, tick the lowest value of any free circle on the brewery track. Congratulations: a new brewery on your list!

You are free to return to a road or a brewery already visited, but then the brewery will not count again on your brewery track.

Tick Off a Specialty Brewery

If this is a new specialty brewery that you haven't visited yet, tick the circle with the lowest value on your brewery track. You also have to tick off the circle with the lowest value on your specialty brewery track.

Specialty breweries give a bonus to their visitors. The specialty brewery types are:

• "Wind Rose" breweries: the 4 breweries of the cardinal points.
• "Favorite" breweries: the author's favorite beers.
• Breweries "for players": require a small detour to visit them. Perfect for those who love challenges!
• Belgian Trappists®.

Bonus Specialty Brewery: When you fill a column in Specialty Breweries, tick the green circle on the bonus track, at the very bottom.

Example: Xavier arrives at the Brewery des Légendes (9). He circles the brewery. He ticks off the lowest free circle of the brewery track. Because the brewery des Légendes is a special Favorite brewery, he also ticks off the first free circle on the specialty brewery track. Since he has already visited at least one specialty brewery of each type, he ticks the circle with the lowest value on the specialty brewery bonus track. Very well done, Xavier! Cheers!

Brussels and the Grand Place

The Grand Place is a specific point. From the Grand Place, indicated by the town hall, you can move to a brewery in Brussels or to a brewery near the capital (connected by a road).

The distance value between the Grand Place and the Brewery is 1.

The same applies between the breweries in Brussels.

To Taste and Buy Beer

When you visit a brewery, you can:

• enjoy a beer
• buy a bottle

You can only make one purchase and one tasting per brewery in one turn. For each time you taste or buy, you are forced to choose the lowest value die from the available dice when choosing the travel dice. You have to use this die for your taste or buy action.

Taste a beer: You can only perform this action at breweries with the beer icon. Use the previously chosen die with the lowest value. Tick the first leftmost circle that's free on your taste track, the first line of the hop track.

Buy a bottle: You can only perform this action at breweries with the buy icon. Use the previously chosen die with the lowest value. Tick the first leftmost circle that's free on your buy track, the second line of the hop track.

Beer Bonus: When you have completed a column on the hop track, tick the green circle on the Bonus track at the very bottom.

Example: It's Simon's turn. He visits the Abbey of Notre-Dame d'Orval. He takes the opportunity to taste an Orval. He uses the chosen die with the lowest value. He therefore ticks off the first free circle on the taste track. Before continuing, he buys a bottle with another die with the lowest value still available. He then ticks off the first free circle on his buy track. He completes his column and ticks off the corresponding green circle.

Be careful on the road! If you want to carry a lot of beer or, even worse, drink without thinking, you risk losing time along the way!

Trouble starts as from your 4th beer! If you tick off circles 4 and 8 on the taste track, you get to choose one die less the next time you have to choose travel dice (only next time!). From circle 12 of the buy and taste tracks, this penalty applies to each turn.

Be careful! You can never take less than two dice. So, if you get this penalty and you roll again, you will take 2 dice anyway.

3. The Goals

There are 3 kinds of common goals and 2 kinds of personal goals. As soon as a player reaches three common goals, any player who arrives at the Grand Place initiates the final sprint.

Common Goals

1. BLACK: travel and brewery visits.
2. YELLOW: the goal has to do with specialty breweries.
3. RED: adventure (tasting, buying, special itineraries, etc.).

Personal Goals

Personal goals are kept secret until the last count.

1. SILVER: easy goal.
2. GOLD: difficult goal.

Accomplishing a Goal

During the game, each player can only complete one goal of each color. To reach a goal: when it is your turn and you have fulfilled the conditions of a goal card, you can claim it, otherwise it is the next player's turn.

Note that you can only claim one goal card per turn.

Place the card in front of you and turn over a new goal card to replace the one you just took. Cards placed on top of draw piles can be taken again to replace a completed goal. At the end of the game, you score the points of your completed goals.

Skip a turn: You can skip your turn to replace one goal of each color with cards from the draw pile.

Author's Advice: Skipping your turn can be useful to unblock a situation or as a tactic to thwart your opponents.

Cheese Cards

During the game, 6 cheese cards numbered 1 to 6 are placed on the table. Each cheese gives you an advantage (these advantages are described later). During your turn you can choose one or more cheeses.

For each piece of cheese you have tasted, tick off the corresponding number on your cheese track. Now you can no longer use that cheese.

In return you receive a penalty. For each used cheese, you tick the circle with the highest value on your penalty track.

The more you eat, the more points you lose!

Game Over

When at least one player has completed the 3rd common goal, each player arriving at the Grand Place activates the final sprint that ends the game. Once you reach the Grand Place of Brussels, circle the 20 points of the first step of the podium. The game is now over for you.

If another player also enters the Grand Place during the same turn (you must count from the turn of the first player in the game), this player also scores the 20 points. If the player doesn't succeed until the second round, circle the next step of the podium and score 10 points. When the Grand Place is reached in the third round, circle the third step of the podium and score 5 points.

The game ends at the end of this third round. At the end of the game, if you have not yet reached the Grand Place, you lose 5 points for each road that separates you from Brussels.

The Final Countdown

The players count their points on the final scoring track.

• Breweries: you score the points of the first unticked circle. You get 5 extra points if you have visited more than 27 breweries.
• Specialty Breweries: You score the points of all the first unticked circles in the 4 rows, as well as any bonuses earned per column.
• Goals: You add up the points of your goal cards (including the secret goal if it is reached).
• Cheese: you score the points of the circle with the highest value that has not been ticked off.
• Environment: you score the points of the circle with the highest value that has not been ticked off.
• Hop: You score the points of each first unticked circle in the taste and buy tracks and you can also add the bonuses earned per column.
• Podium: You score the points that correspond to the step of the podium of your arrival in Brussels.

The winner is the player with the highest score.

In case of a tie, the player who has visited the most breweries wins. If it's still a tie, the players share the win! Bravo!

Example: Game over! It's countdown time! Sophie made a nice trip through Belgium and visited 20 breweries. She therefore scores 20 points on her brewery track, which she notes on her final tally in the provided space. Some of these 20 breweries were specialty breweries. So, Sophie can add the points per line. As she visited a specialty brewery of each type, she can add 2 bonus points. She therefore scores 24 points on her final tally. Sophie has achieved her 3 common goals, but not her personal goal, she scores 20 extra points. In her adventure she fell for 4 pieces of cheese. This results in -8 penalty points in the final score. Sophie was eco-responsible during her tour of Belgium. She has only ticked one box on her Environment track. She scores 0 points. During her visit to the breweries, she tasted 2 beers and bought 1 bottle. She has filled in 1 column, so she has ticked the first circle of the bonus track. In total she scores 4 points for her hop track. Sophie is the first player to enter the Grand Place. She can add 20 points to her total score. In total she scores 80 points! Not bad for a first time!

Author's advice (printed in Dutch in the source; translated here): use the 'bottle of the first player' to count the turns.

Description of the Cheese Cards

The cheese cards are identified by their icons; the printed booklet does not number the descriptions below.

• You can change the color of an available die to any color you like (without changing the value).
• You can reroll all dice with an X until no X is visible.
• You may roll all 12 dice again and then choose three.
• Exchange an available die for a die used by a player (regardless of color and regardless of value).
• Double the value of one available die. The die still counts as a single die when taking available dice. You can use the 2 values of this doubled die together or separately.
• Re-roll 3 available dice.
• You can achieve two goals during the same turn.
• You may flip an available die to the opposite side.
• You can discard one goal of each type and replace it with the top card from each of the matching piles.
• Take an opponent's used die and roll it again, it is now available.
• You can reuse a previously used cheese.
• Discard your personal goal card and take a new one as at the beginning of the game.
• Exchange an available die for a die used by a player (regardless of color and regardless of value).
• You can count one color goal for another color. For example, you can achieve a yellow goal and it can stand for a red or black goal (until the end of the game).

Description of the Goal Cards

The goal cards are identified by their pictures; the booklet prints these descriptions without card numbers.

Common Goals

• Visit the number of breweries indicated.
• Visit the indicated breweries.
• Visit as many specialty breweries as requested.
• Visit the indicated breweries.
• Visit the number of specialty breweries as indicated on the pictures.
• If you took the road between Chimay and Orval.
• 3 points if you have completed a black and a yellow goal, but not yet a red goal.
• If you have tasted at least 5 beers.
• If you are in one of the last 2 circles of the cheese track.
• If you have 4 or more points on the hop bonus track.
• If you have taken at least 5 roads with a value of 5 or more.
• If you bought at least 5 bottles.
• When you have 2 or more points on the specialty brewery track.
• If you are on the green section of the brewery track OR on the red section of one of the hop tracks.

Personal Goals

• If you have visited all "Favorite" breweries AND the breweries "for players".
• If you got -8 or -12 on your Environment track.
• When you're on the first step of the podium.
• If you got the highest or a tie score on your brewery track.

The printed booklet lists the following eight cards on the page after the goal cards, under no separate heading. They are transcribed in printed order:

• If you have scored at least 4 points on the 2 bonus tracks.
• If you have 2 or 0 Environment points.
• When you're on the podium.
• When you have completed a goal of each color.
• When you have completed a goal of each color.
• If you have visited the Belgium Peak Beer Brewery.
• If you have been to Westvleteren.
• If you score -8 on your cheese track.

Variants

Blocked Cheese

If you use a cheese, you indicate this on your game sheet. Then you turn the numbered chip of the used cheese over to the X side. If another cheese chip was already on the X side, flip it over to the numbered side. As long as a chip shows an X side, the corresponding cheese cannot be used.

Mixed Goals

Shuffle the 3 types of goals. Place 3, 4, or 5 cards face up for 2, 3, or 4 players. Place the draw pile face up (future goal). Players no longer have to worry about the categories of the goals, they just have to complete 3 of them (regardless of color). They can access all goals, accessible during their turn and once a goal is completed it is replaced by the future goal. The goal now revealed on the draw pile becomes the new future goal.

Toast

When the round is over and it is the starting player's turn again, everyone says which brewery they are in. If there are at least two players in the same brewery, they toast and tick off a taste circle. This can lead to possible penalties for drunkenness on the next turn.

Drink with Moderation

The Belgian Beers Race is an ode to the know-how of the Belgian Brewers, of which we are so proud. We do not encourage unreasonable consumption at any time. Note that you never get behind the wheel in this hoppy race! It is clear that no one should drive under the influence. Alcohol abuse is dangerous to health. Beer, especially if it is good beer, should be tasted wisely and in moderation.

Do not drink alcohol beyond the legal drinking age in your country. The game is based on the real breweries, the roads that separate them, their geographical location... However, some adjustments have been made for more fun.

Tbbr Dice: One Player

The Aim of the Game

In this single-player version of the game, you play against an Automa (a non-playing opponent). The Automa doesn't score points, but chooses dice, discards goals, and pressures you to get back to the Grand Place in time!

The Automa, who we will call Thomas, is always the first player. Then you play your turn as in a regular game.

Set Up

Get the game ready with the following changes:

• Draw 2 black, yellow, and red goals and place them in front of you so that you have two rows of black, yellow, red cards. You have to achieve three goals here.
• Place the bottle of the first player next to the first row of goal cards. This card is used to choose which goal Thomas puts aside.
• Shuffle the rest of the black, yellow, and red goal cards and make a draw pile. Set aside, face down, not visible. This allows you to choose Thomas's dice.

Thomas's Turn

During his turn, Thomas does 4 things:

1. Reveal cards
2. Choose or reroll dice
3. Visit breweries and reach a goal
4. Move the bottle of the first player

1. Reveal the Cards

Take the top card from the draw pile and place it face down next to it to the right. If the 2 cards (the one at the top of the draw pile and the one revealed) have the same color, start again until you have two different colors. At the end of the draw pile, shuffle the cards, form a new pile and start this phase again.

2. Choose or Reroll Dice

Reroll dice: At the beginning of Thomas' turn, if there are less than 3 dice available (excluding X) or if all dice have the same value, Thomas rolls all dice again.

Choose dice: As the rule indicates, if Thomas rolls all the dice again at the start of his turn, he only takes two dice. Otherwise, he takes three. If exactly 3 dice are available at the start of his turn, he takes all three. If more than 3 dice are available, he uses the cards to choose.

How to use the cards to choose: First, he chooses a die that corresponds to the leftmost number at the bottom of the card. Thomas chooses a die with the same number, preferably in the color shown. If the indicated color is not present, he takes the color of the card on the right. And if it is already about the card on the right, he takes the color that is not present on the two cards.

If the die is not available, Thomas moves to the next number on the card and chooses another die, and so on, until he has chosen two or three dice (depending on whether he rerolled or not). If Thomas has not taken enough dice with the 4 visible numbers on the cards, he returns to the "reveal cards" action to discover other numbers. If at any point all dice have the same number and color, Thomas takes the remaining number of dice without revealing any cards.

Example: Dice without a yellow die 5 and without a red die 5, but with a black die 5. Yellow 4 die and a black 4 die. Thomas should take a yellow 5. There is no yellow 5. We look at the color of the next card. There is no red 5. So, we look at the missing color. There happens to be a black 5. Thomas must take this as the first die. For his 2nd die, Thomas must take a yellow 2. He takes the one that is available. For his 3rd die, Thomas must take a red 4. There aren't any. One yellow D4 and one black D4 remain. Thomas uses the card on the right side. He has to choose the missing color, so the black 4 it is.

3. Visit Breweries and Reach a Goal

Each color, chosen by Thomas, symbolizes a brewery he visited. Thomas starts with circle 41 of the brewery track and goes up in descending order. From circle 41, tick as many circles as dice of different colors (which Thomas has chosen).

Example: Thomas had previously visited 2 breweries (2 dice). This turn he draws 3 dice of 2 different colors. Then underline circles 39 and 38.

As soon as Thomas underlines a circle with a colored border (red 36, yellow 30, and black 24), he flips the goal card of the corresponding color face down. This way Thomas deprives you of a goal! Don't wait too long to achieve your goals!

4. Move the Bottle of the First Player

Source note: the printed heading reads "44." in the booklet; it is the fourth step of Thomas's turn and is transcribed here as "4".

Move the bottle from the first player to the other row of goal cards. If the bottle was placed on the first row, place it on the second and vice versa.

Back to Brussels

Thomas arrives in Brussels when, on his turn, one of his visited breweries crosses yours. The end of the game is then triggered.

Since you are the second player, you only have three turns left to arrive in Brussels.

Game Over

The game ends immediately if:

• You arrive in Brussels before Thomas and you have achieved your goals.
• Thomas arrived in Brussels before you and you do not reach the 20, 10, or 5 points of arrival in Brussels.

Victory

To win the game you must reach a black goal, a yellow goal, a red goal, and your personal goal. In addition, you also have to arrive at the Grand Place of Brussels and finish on one of the podium places. If you don't reach the Grand Place at the end of the game, or if you miss a goal, you lose.

The Final Countdown

In case of a win, you go to the final countdown. What's your score:

• 69 or less: The barfly. You love a nice beer on Sunday afternoons in the café.
• 70-79: The tourist. When the weather is good, you sometimes enjoy a special beer on a terrace.
• 80-89: The conoisseur. You have a fridge reserved for beer at home and you like to share your latest discoveries with friends.
• 90-99: The master brewer. You've taken classes and you built a nano-brewery in your garage.
• 100 or more: The zythologist. Beer has no secrets for you. You recognize all beer types blindly.

Reminder

• An available die.
• A die chosen by a player.
• An unusable die that cannot be chosen.
• Symbol for 'taste' and symbol for 'buy'.

To Choose Travel Dice

• Choose 3 from the available dice.
• Choose 2 when you roll the 12 dice again.

Travel, Taste, and Buy

• You can travel the road with dice of the same color.
• Note: If the value of the travel die is greater than the distance value between two breweries, an environment is applied (not with the red dice).
• Taste a beer / buy a bottle: you can only make one purchase, and taste one beer per brewery in the same turn. This action can only be performed if you selected the lowest value die when choosing your travel dice, and used it for this action.

To Reach a Goal

Only one goal per turn.

• You have the option to pass your turn and replace your goals, of any color, with those from their draw pile.
• You can use one or more cheeses during your turn.