Cheesonomics
Cheesonomics Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Players acquire the milk-cheese cards they need from their opponents' hands in order to prepare the production of the cheese most in demand on the market. For selling the largest amount of cheese of each type, players receive additional profit.
2-5 players, 20 minutes
Components
- 100 milk-cheese cards (20 of each animal, across 5 different production places)
- 120 banknotes (20 of "10", 40 of "5", 60 of "1")
- 25 double-sided market cards (5 kinds)
- 5 different cheese knives
- 1 action selection board
- 1 rulebook
Setup
Place the action selection board and the stacks of banknotes of the 3 kinds in the center of the table. Appoint a banker.
Shuffle the market cards and lay out 15 of them on the table, in 3 round sectors of 5 cards each. Remove the remaining 10 market cards from the game.
Shuffle the milk-cheese cards to form a draw deck. For 2 players, remove the top 60 cards from the game (for 3 players, 40; for 4 players, 20). (The rulebook gives no removal count for 5 players.)
Deal 5 cards to each player. Each player also receives a cheese knife of their color.
Turn Structure
Determine the first player. Players take turns clockwise, starting with the first player. On their turn, a player first takes their knife back from the board, and then performs one of the 3 possible actions:
- Collecting milk
- Producing cheese
- Selling cheese
1. Collecting Milk
The player names a type of milk, which is one of the 5 animals drawn in the center of a card, or a production place, which is the color of the stripe along the edge of the card.
Each other player chooses 1 card of the named type from their hand and passes it into the hand of the active player. If a player has no cards of the named type, that player shows their cards and passes 1 card of the active player's choice instead.
The active player then chooses 1 card from their hand for each player and passes it into that player's hand.
The active player protects their production by placing their knife on the sector of the board that corresponds to the named type. Until this player's next turn, no other player may name that type of milk.
2. Producing Cheese
The player produces cheese by placing face up on the table in front of them, from hand, cards of one type (by animal or by production place). After that, the player draws from the deck until they have 5 cards in hand.
3. Selling Cheese
The active player may sell cheese (no more than 3 pieces), choosing from the cards of one animal type lying in front of them. Cheese may be sold to any country present on the market.
The price of 1 piece is determined by the sum of the currency signs of that country on the market (some cards show 2 signs).
The banker gives the player the corresponding number of banknotes and turns the market cards of that country over to their other side.
The player turns the cards of the sold cheese face down and sets them aside. They will be counted at the end of the game. Only this player may look at these cards.
End of the Game
The game ends when the cards in the draw deck run out. The players seated before the player who started the game may take a final turn, so that every player has taken the same number of turns.
Players then receive additional money bonuses:
- 1 for each piece of prepared but unsold cheese. (After counting, these pieces are removed from the game.)
- For the largest quantity of sold cheese of each animal type: an amount equal to the number of pieces of that cheese the player has. In case of a tie, the bonus goes to the player with more different types of cheese. If that is also tied, both players receive it.
The player with the greatest amount of money is the winner.
Advanced Variant
The rules generally stay the same, with some differences.
Setup: the remaining 10 market cards are not removed from the game. Instead, they are dealt evenly among the players: 2 cards each for 4-5 players, 3 cards each for 3 players, and 5 cards each for 2 players. The remaining market cards are placed in a reserve stack.
Special marks: if a player sells cheese with a special mark on one of its pieces, the player may perform one of the following actions:
- Discard one of their own market cards and take another card from the reserve stack.
- Give one of their own market cards to one opponent, taking one of that opponent's market cards in return.
- Forbid other players, until this player's next turn, from taking milk-cheese cards with the indicated mark.
The special marks are shown as five pictured icons: a trowel, a mountain, a bucket, a horn-shaped item, and a rake.
End of turn: at the end of the turn, the player replaces all market cards of the country to which the cheese was sold, in one of two ways:
- By turning these cards over, as usual.
- By exchanging them for one of their own market cards.