Cuisine a la Card Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Reference Cards
  • Starting Cards
  • Fork Cards
  • Ingredient Cards
  • Judge Cards
  • Medal Tokens
• Setting up the Game
  • Assemble the Marketplace
  • Distribute Starting Cards
  • Place Forks
  • Draw Judges
  • Example Layout
• Playing the Game - 2 Player
  • Warming Tray Phase
  • Play Cards Phase
  • Discard Phase
  • Cleanup Phase
  • The Fridge
• Card Abilities
  • Basic Ability
  • Cuisine Type Ability
  • Trashing a Card
• Ingredient Card Anatomy
  • Meal Points
  • Flavor Profiles
  • Food Types
• Creating a Dish
  • Submitting a Dish
  • Naming your Dish
• Scoring
• Example of Play
• Other Rules
  • 3-4 Player Game
  • Advanced Play
  • More Medals!
  • Bonus Cards: Kitchen Classics Expansion
• FAQs

Components

Cuisine a la Card, along with the included Kitchen Classics Expansion, contains:

• 4 Reference Cards
• 40 Starting Cards
• 20 Fork Cards
• 118 Ingredients
• 15 Judge Cards
• 40 Medal Tokens

Reference Cards

Each Player gets 1 Reference Card. These provide a list of actions Players can perform each turn, as well as all the icons they may come across during play.

Starting Cards

Each Player begins the game with a deck of Starting Cards: Tasting Spoons, which are used as currency (called Tools), and Finishing Salt, which is the Player's first Ingredient. The keywords "Starting Hand" appears at the top of these cards.

Fork Cards

Fork Cards are a purchasable Tool card that is used to acquire more powerful Ingredients during the game.

Ingredient Cards

Ingredient Cards feature the "Ingredient" keyword at the top of the card. The Ingredient's cost is displayed on the top right, while the Base Meal Point value can be seen on the top left.

Ingredients can have up to two abilities: a Basic Ability, shown underneath the image, and a Cuisine Type Ability, displayed inside the colored box at the bottom of the card.

There are four Cuisine Types in Cuisine a la Card: Western, Italian, French, and Pan-Asian. Not all Ingredients belong to a Cuisine Type.

Some Ingredients are Seasonings and can enhance Dishes, usually by pairing with Flavor Profiles.

Judge Cards

Judges award Medals for successfully submitted Dishes.

The amount of Meal Points needed to present a Dish to a Judge is shown on the top left in red, along with Taste Preferences, if any. The Medals awarded to the Player are shown under the Judge portrait. Bonus Medals may sometimes be awarded, if a Dish is especially to their liking.

When successfully scored, Judges grant the Player an Ability - featured on the bottom of the card - that they may use during future turns. Judge abilities go into effect after the end of the round in which that Judge was scored, and are never applied retroactively.

Medal Tokens

Players may use the Medal tokens to keep track of how many Medals they have earned throughout the game. Smaller tokens are worth one point while the larger ones are worth five.

Setting up the Game

Assemble the Marketplace

Shuffle the remaining Ingredient cards and place them in a stack face down. This is the Pantry. Draw 4 cards from this deck and place them face up in a row between the Players to form the Marketplace. Reserve a spot at the end for the Fridge.

Distribute Starting Cards

Each Player receives their Starting Hand cards: 2 Salt cards and 8 Spoon cards. Players then shuffle these cards together and place them face down, forming their Decks. Players each draw 5 cards from their Decks.

Place Forks

Place the Fork cards in a face up stack between the Players. When played, a Fork can either provide the Player 1 Fork to spend as currency, or grant the Player an additional Buy Action, allowing for multiple Ingredient purchases on a single turn.

Draw Judges

Divide the Judges into three stacks, separated by Meal Point requirement (15, 18, and 21). Shuffle and draw one Judge from each category. The rest of the Judges are placed face down underneath the selected Judges, and will be drawn from later to replace Judges that are scored.

Example Layout

In a 2 Player game, Judges should be easily visible to all Players, the Pantry and Marketplace should be between the Players, and the Fridge and Forks should be within easy reach. Player hands are kept hidden from the other player. Each Player has a Hand, a Deck, a Discard pile and a Warming Tray.

Playing the Game - 2 Player

Each Player turn is divided up into 4 Phases: the Warming Tray Phase, the Play Cards Phase, the Discard Phase, and the Cleanup Phase. The Player who has cooked most recently goes first.

Warming Tray Phase

Before a Player plays any of the cards in their Hand, they must decide if one of those cards will go into their Warming Tray. By default, a Player has 3 Warming Tray slots available to them, but may only place 1 card into their Warming Tray per turn. Once a card is placed into the Warming Tray it must remain there unless removed by a card ability or included in a submitted Dish.

Cards in your Warming Tray are placed face down. When a Player wishes to submit a Dish to a Judge, they may take any or all of the Ingredients out of their Warming Tray and include those Ingredients into their Dish.

Play Cards Phase

After the Warming Tray phase, Players may play cards from their Hand and resolve their effects. Effects may be resolved in whatever order the Player wishes. By default, Players have only one Buy action per turn, so a Player may spend as many Spoons or Forks as they have in their Hand to make a single purchase from the Marketplace.

Cards played stay "in play" for the duration of the turn, and do not go into the Player's Discard Pile until the Discard Phase. Conversely, Ingredients and Tools purchased from the Marketplace, Fridge, or Fork stack are placed immediately into the Player's Discard Pile at the time of purchase. Players may not use the abilities of these newly-purchased cards, unless the card features an "On Purchase" ability (see "When Purchased" below), or another card or ability allows the Player to do so.

If a Player is submitting a Dish on their turn, it must occur before any cards are purchased from the Marketplace or Fork stack, as no purchases may be made on the same turn as a dish submission. Other card effects may still occur. More on creating a Dish later in this rulebook.

Example: Player uses 1 Spoon card to purchase 1 Soy Milk card, which has a cost of 1 Spoon.

Discard Phase

When a Player has finished playing cards and making purchases, any cards played or remaining in the Player's Hand are placed face up in their Discard Pile. The Player then draws a new hand of cards from their Deck. If their Deck does not have enough cards to refill the Player's Hand, draw as many cards as possible, then shuffle the Discard Pile, turn it face down and place it in the Deck position. Then continue drawing cards until a full Hand is reached.

Cleanup Phase

Take the last Ingredient in the Marketplace (the Ingredient in the fourth Marketplace spot) and place it into a new deck, called the Fridge. All Ingredients in the Fridge cost 1 Spoon, regardless of the printed cost.

The other Ingredients in the Marketplace slide down one position toward the Fridge. Once the Marketplace has moved, any empty positions are refilled from the Pantry. The Marketplace should always have all 4 positions occupied at the beginning of a Player's turn.

The Fridge

The Fridge holds a special position at the end of the Marketplace, and contains an ever-growing stack of unpurchased Ingredients. During a player's turn, they may purchase the topmost Ingredient in the Fridge for a single Spoon - regardless of the card's stated cost.

The Fridge can be a great way for Players to fill out their Decks with cheap leftovers, however, cards with "On Purchase" abilities are not triggered when purchased from the Fridge - so be sure to snag these Ingredients while they're still in the Marketplace.

Card Abilities

Some Ingredients have special abilities listed on the card. Abilities have icons next to them that illustrate when an ability is triggered.

This ability triggers during the Player's turn, and in whatever order the Player wishes, unless a trigger icon implies otherwise.

Basic Ability

Most Ingredients have a Basic ability, printed in black, and shown underneath the image.

Brie has a Basic Ability of +1 Spoon. Cards that feature a currency ability, such as this, are treated as that currency while they are in play. These abilities do not grant any permanent currency, and the currency they grant disappears at the end of the Player's turn.

Cuisine Type Ability

There are four Cuisine Types in Cuisine a la Card: French, Italian, Pan-Asian, and Western. Abilities that appear in the colored boxes at the bottom of a card are called "Cuisine Type Abilities". Unlike Basic Abilities, these abilities only activate when they are played or submitted with another Ingredient of the same Cuisine Type.

• When Played: Player may trigger this ability when a card is played, during the "Play Cards" phase of their turn.
• When Submitted: This ability only triggers when a Player is submitting a Dish to a Judge.
• When Purchased: This ability triggers when the card is purchased from the Marketplace. This ability does not trigger if the card is purchased from the Fridge.

Example: When Olive is submitted in a Dish with Parmesan, the Dish gains an additional 3 Meal Points due to the cards' Cuisine Type Abilities.

Trashing a Card

Some card abilities instruct the Player to "trash" a card. When Trashed, a card is removed from the game permanently.

Ingredient Card Anatomy

The card shows: Keywords/Cuisine Type, Card Cost, Card Name, Base Meal Points, Total Meal Points, Flavor Profile/Food Type, Ability Trigger, Basic Ability, Cuisine Type Icon, Set Icon/Logo, and Cuisine Type Ability.

Meal Points

Ingredients are worth Meal Points, indicated by a number of chef hat icons listed on the card. The black chef hats indicate the Ingredient's Base Value, while colored hats indicate the Cuisine Type or Ability Meal Point bonus, that the card gains when a condition is met, usually by playing or submitting that Ingredient with another Ingredient.

Example: Eggs has a Meal Point value of 2 normally, and Bok Choy has 2 as well. However, when played together in the same Dish, the Cuisine Abilities grant extra Meal Points. The Eggs are now worth 3 Meal Points, and the Bok Choy is worth 6, giving the Dish a total value of 9 Meal Points.

Flavor Profiles

Ingredients often have Flavor Profiles which represent their distinct tastes. Flavor Profiles are often desired by Judges, or can provide other bonuses to a Dish.

The Flavor Profiles are: Aromatic, Acidic, Tart, Sweet, Spicy.

Food Types

Most Ingredients fall into one or more of the 4 Food Types. These represent broad categories of what the Ingredient is, and can often provide bonuses to Dishes.

The Food Types are: Protein, Produce, Carb, Dairy.

Some Ingredients show a dual type icon (Protein or Produce). The Player may choose which Food Type they wish to submit the Ingredient as, but they may only choose one.

Creating a Dish

Once a Player has assembled enough Ingredients in their Hand/Warming Tray to meet the Meal Point requirement of a Judge, they Player may use the "Play Cards" phase of their turn to submit a Dish.

Submitting a Dish

A Player may submit a dish to a Judge at the start of their turn. To do so, the Player combines Ingredients from their Hand and/or Warming Tray, and places them face up. Any card abilities that trigger during "On Play" or "On Submit" go into effect. The Player chooses one of the available Judges and ensures they meet all of that Judge's requirements and the Meal Point value of that Judge. Once the Player's Dish has satisfied all the requirements, the Judge is considered to be scored.

The scored Judge rewards the Player Medals as indicated on the card, plus any bonus Medals if achieved. The Ingredients used are then considered "eaten" and removed from game.

A Player may never submit a Dish to a Judge if it would result in less than 1 Medal.

A Player may not Purchase or acquire any cards from the Marketplace or Fridge when they submit a Dish.

Naming your Dish

Players may describe their Dish when it is presented to a Judge, going into as little or as much detail as they wish. This is a fun and unique element of play and is highly encouraged, but has no official bearing on the final score.

Scoring

Once a Player reaches 15 Medals, the end game round begins. If the starting Player was the first to reach 15 Medals, the other Player has one more turn to gain Medals. The Player with the highest number of Medals wins the game.

Example of Play

Player plays a Spoon from their Hand and uses it to buy Brie, which costs 1 Spoon.

The Player also has a Fork in their Hand, so they use the +1 Buy ability on the Fork to make another purchase.

For their second action, the Player plays Mozzarella and uses its Basic Ability which gives +1 Spoon to purchase the Baguette. This concludes their turn since they are now out of actions. All cards now go into the Player's Discard pile.

Later in the game, the Player wishes to submit a dish. They begin with Rice and Okra. These are both Pan-Asian Cuisine Types, so their Cuisine Abilities trigger, giving the Dish an additional 4 Meal Points - three from Rice, and one from Okra's ability since it is a Produce Food Type. Rice is not a Produce Food Type, so it does not get a bonus Meal Point for Okra's ability.

The Player has an Olive and Apple in their Warming Tray that they decide to include in this Dish. Doing so grants an additional 6 Meal Points - three from Olive's base Meal Point value and three from Apple's base Meal Point value. Okra's ability counts for both of these ingredients as well as they are both Produce Food Types. This grants an additional 2 Meal Points, bringing the total Meal Point value for these four Ingredients to 17.

The Player decides to submit the Dish to Critical Kathy, who requires 15 Meal Points. She grants the Player 3 Medals for this Dish. Since the Player gave her a Carb (Rice) they receive an additional Medal. For the rest of the game, the Player may now use Critical Kathy's ability.

Other Rules

3-4 Player Game

To accommodate 3 - 4 players in a game, draw 1 more Judge card than there are Players. So, for a 3 player game, 4 Judges are drawn. These extra Judges are drawn from the 15 Meal Point stack first, and then from the 18 Meal Point stack, if needed. Alternately, Judges can be drawn randomly (see "Advanced Play" rules).

The end game round triggers once a Player has scored 10 Medals (as opposed to the usual 15 Medals). Any remaining Players get the opportunity to finish out their turns, and Medals are tallied once the current round has completed.

Advanced Play

Players who wish a more challenging experience may shuffle all the Judge cards into one draw pile - the Judge deck - and draw three cards randomly. Anytime a Judge is scored, a new Judge card is drawn from the top of the Judge deck. This method of play is perfect for players who wish to focus on creating bigger and more elaborate dishes.

More Medals!

Players may also decide to play with the "More Medals!" method of play. In this mode, Players are awarded a bonus Medal each time they meet the following criteria:

• Purchase or acquire all Ingredients from the Marketplace in a single turn.
• Include at least 1 Ingredient of every Cuisine Type in a Dish.
• As a reward for excellent Dish description.

Play in this mode continues until a Player scores 18 Medals, instead of the usual 15.

Bonus Cards: Kitchen Classics Expansion

Kitchen Classics introduces a variety of new Ingredients to Cuisine a la Card that are commonly found in many kitchens around the world. These Ingredients work well in many types of Cuisines, so Players will find that they pair well with many Flavor Profiles, and offer more variety to build dishes with!

Cards from the Kitchen Classics expansion have an icon in the bottom right to differentiate them from the Base Game cards.

FAQs

Can I put a Spoon in my Dish? No. Since a Spoon can not be eaten, Spoons and Forks may never be included in a Dish.

Can I put a Spoon or Fork in the Warming Tray? Yes, you may put a Spoon or Fork in the Warming Tray, but remember that since they may not be included in a Dish, it becomes harder to remove them from the Warming Tray.

Can I use an Ingredient while in my Warming Tray to trigger the Cuisine ability of an Ingredient in my hand? No. Ingredients in your Warming Tray do not trigger any Cuisine Type abilities with any cards played from your Hand. Cuisine Type abilities from your Warming Tray only trigger when that Ingredient is included in a Dish submission.

What about this card that contradicts the Rulebook? The Golden Rule is in effect! For any card text that contradicts the Rulebook, the card takes precedence.

Can I put this Ingredient I just bought in my Warming Tray? No. A card must be placed into your Warming Tray at the start of your turn, before you have played any of the cards from your Hand.

If I had to discard a card on the other Player's turn, can I draw back up to 5 cards on my turn? If a card ability forced you to lose a card from your hand then you must begin your turn with the cards you have left.

What happens in the case of a tie? If players tie, the player with the most Ingredients used during the game is considered the winner.

Can I choose not to activate an ability? You may choose to not use an ability, even if it is activated that turn.