BitterSweet
BitterSweet Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 45 Choc cards
- 48 Preference cards (12 unique cards for each player)
- 4 Player Sheets
- 4 Cheat Sheet cards
- 1 Rulebook
How to Win
Be the first player to win 2 rounds. To win a round, earn more points than other players by revealing and taking chocolates (Chocs) into your hand.
Set-Up
A. Each player takes a Player Sheet and places it in front of them (brown side facing up).
B. Separate and shuffle Preference cards by their player number and place them face-down to the left of the matching Player Sheet.
C. Each player takes 2 cards from the top of their Preference card deck and places one face-down under YUM! and one face-down under YUCK! on their Player Sheet. The card under YUM! gives bonus points and the card under YUCK! gives negative points for matching attributes. Check these as often as you'd like, but keep them hidden from other players!
D. At the start of each round, shuffle all 45 Chocs. You'll then create the box, a face-down grid of Chocs:
- 2 Players = 20 Chocs (5 x 4 grid)
- 3 Players = 24 Chocs (6 x 4 grid)
- 4 Players = 28 Chocs (7 x 4 grid)
E. Set all other Chocs in a stack off to the side. These are considered Empty Wrappers and are face-down.
F. Don't forget to snag a Cheat Sheet!
The player who most recently ate chocolate starts the first round, or decide who goes first however you'd like!
Player Turn
During each round, players go in clockwise order taking turns. A turn consists of 2 actions, but may be extended due to Choc abilities. On your turn take any 2 of the following three actions (you may perform the same action more than once in a turn):
Take a Choc from the box and add it to your hand
- The Choc can be face-up or face-down when taking
- Your hand is private; no one gets to see it but you!
- There's no limit to hand size.
Reveal (flip over) a Choc in the box
- Chocs with ON REVEAL have abilities that activate when revealed (flipped face-up) in the box!
- This action cannot flip a Choc face-down.
Return a Choc face-down to the box, then take an Empty Wrapper and set it face-down in your play area
- If returning a Choc due to an ability, you don't take an Empty Wrapper.
- Empty Wrappers don't count toward points.
Play then passes to the next player.
NOTE: Players must take their 2 available actions in a turn.
The Chocs
There are 45 Chocs total! You'll be revealing, taking, and possibly returning these to the box as you push to win the game! Chocs have abilities that might activate when revealing, taking, and when scoring! They never take up your available actions in a turn.
Each Choc shows:
- The number of points the Choc earns at the end of the round (top left corner).
- Icons showing various attributes of the Choc.
- An ability that influences the game in a number of ways.
Refer to the Choc itself when determining the shape attribute!
On Reveal
Many Chocs have an On Reveal ability. These will always say "On Reveal," and activate when you flip a Choc with this ability face-up in the box.
If Face-Down When Taken...
You also might find Chocs that say "If face-down when taken" followed by an effect. Be sure to read these aloud then activate the effects if required to do so. Some can be quite dastardly, making it risky to take Chocs without revealing!
Veggies
Some Chocs are even more devious! Chocolate-covered veggies subtract points from your final score and always have troublesome effects.
Wilds!
There are rare Chocs that are wild and shaped like animals! These chocolates mostly have a positive impact, but one is a little more difficult to work with! Their effects always take place when scoring at the end of the round!
"1 or 3 if..." and "?" Chocs
There are also two types of Chocs whose final score changes based on your hand composition when scoring.
A few Chocs say "1 or 3 if..." at the top. That means they'll score 1 point unless you meet the conditions required to score 3!
Other Chocs might have a ? or -? at the top, which means they score points depending on certain Chocs in your hand.
NOTE: If you're ever in a situation where you cannot do the effect or ability on any card in its entirety, you simply don't do it.
Choc Attributes
Your Player Sheet lets you know what the icon for each attribute is so be sure to reference it!
The number of each attribute in the game:
| Category | Attribute | Count |
|---|---|---|
| Texture | Solid | 16 |
| Texture | Creamy | 16 |
| Coating | Milk | 10 |
| Coating | Crimson | 10 |
| Coating | Dark | 10 |
| Coating | White | 10 |
| Shape | Pyramid | 8 |
| Shape | Heart | 8 |
| Shape | Trapezoid |
NOTE: Unlike other attributes, icons for shapes aren't on Chocs! You'll want to look at the illustration itself. The background colors of these Chocs also match the color of the shape icons. Veggies are not considered as having a shape.
Preference Cards
As you play, keep track of how many Chocs match the attributes of your Preference cards in play. Chocs that have a matching attribute to your YUM! are considered YUM Chocs and give you bonus points. Chocs that have a matching attribute to your YUCK! are considered YUCK Chocs and cause you to lose points.
Each Preference card shows the Choc attribute that determines either your YUM! or YUCK!, and indicates how many points you gain/lose for each individual Choc that matches them based on the TOTAL number of Chocs you have in those categories.
Preference cards should always be discarded face-up.
NOTE: You always gain the points on the individual Chocs as well, even if they match your YUCK!
Round End
At the end of a player's turn, after they have taken their available actions, the round ends if any of the following conditions are met:
- All Chocs in the box are face-up
- There are no Chocs left in the box - If this occurs, the round ends immediately!
- All players have 2 or more Empty Wrappers
Players reveal their hands and Preference cards and then count up their points! Each player adds up the numbers on the top left corner of each of their Chocs, then adds/subtracts points based on their Yum! and Yuck!.
Whoever has the most points wins the round and flips their Player Sheet over to the other side (no changes to game play, just a way to show who has won a round!). If there's a tie for highest number of points, those players share the win for the round and flip their Player Sheets over.
Example: Player 1 counts up the points on their Choc cards and scores 9 points. They then check their YUM! and YUCK!, with the YUM! earning 6 points bringing their score to 15, and their YUCK! losing 2 points, bringing their final score to 13 for the round.
New Round
After determining the result of a round, discard your Preference cards face-up into the discard pile to the right of your Player Sheet.
Then add 2 new random Preference cards, one face-down under YUM! and one face-down under YUCK!
Shuffle all 45 Chocs back together and create a new grid of chocolates as you did during the initial Set-Up.
The player following the previous round's winner(s) starts the next round. If a new starting player cannot be determined, the player following the starting player of the last round goes first.
NOTE: Your points do not carry over between rounds.
If you've flipped your Player Sheet over twice, that means you've won 2 rounds, and you win the game!
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I'm unable to do the ability or effect written on a card (Ex: "On Reveal, reveal two other Chocs" but only one Choc remains face down in the box)? If you're ever in an instance where you cannot fully complete an ability or effect, ignore the entire ability/effect. In this example, you don't reveal any other Chocs.
An ability caused me to change my YUCK, but I have two YUCK preference cards. What do I do? The two preference cards count as your "YUCK", so if you were to swap or discard them, you would do so with both. The same applies if you had two preference cards under your YUM.
This Choc says I cannot return any Chocs to the box from my hand, but another Choc requires me to return a Choc. What should I do? You would not be able to return the Choc, thus you simply don't do it. If you're able to remove the Choc preventing these effects from your hand by giving it to another player, however, you are free to return Chocs once again.
A Choc's On Reveal told me to reveal two Chocs, but this caused me to reveal other On Reveal abilities! In what order do I resolve this? Reveal both Chocs, then resolve their On Reveal abilities in any order you wish.
Fillings
In case you were curious about our delicious fillings! (Does not affect game play!) Walnut Nougat, Pretzel Crunch Mocha, Orange Milk Toffee, Ginger Pineapple, Peanut Butter, Rocky, Pecan, Salted Caramel, Peanut, Salted Caramel, Strawberry, Toffee, Raspberry, Toffee Crunch, Mango, Passion Fruit, Blackberry, Cheesecake, Lavender, Hazelnut, Lemon, Macadamia, Key Lime, Macha, Peppermint, Vanilla, White Creme, Apple Pie.