Downsize Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Welcome to the Team
• Your Objectives
• Setting Up
• How to Play
• Downsizing
• End of Game
• Taking Losses
• Rule Clarifications
• Market Movements (Expansion)
  • Market Movements Rule Clarifications
• Alternate Game Modes
  • 'The Apprentice' Mode (Express)
  • Solo Variant (Requires 1 x Six-Sided Dice, Not Included)

Welcome to the Team

During your time here at The Company, you will be expected to complete a litany of tasks. This guide is here to ensure that your Task Awareness skills are kept up to scratch, and that your goals are met without fail!

Your Objectives

Whilst at The Company, you will be in charge of two activities:

1. The Hiring and Firing of personnel in all divisions.
2. The acquisition of Returns via smart investments.

Sound simple? It isn't. You see, other companies are also attempting to reap the Returns, and due to the intricacies of the common market every hire, fire and investment has global implications.

This means a few things: firstly, firing people will impact others, and other people firing employees can affect you.

Additionally, when the market runs out of Returns, our company will begin to incur losses proportional to the amount of Employees still present in the building. More on that later.

Setting Up

Firstly, divide the cards into the following piles: Employee Cards, Returns Cards, Reference Cards, Expansion (if using).

If you are using the Market Movements expansion, also consult the following setup guide. Otherwise, place to one side.

Furthermore, some players may wish to remove the Trump Card from the Employee deck, for a more pure Downsize experience.

Now, shuffle the Employee and Returns cards separately. Then, give each Player a Reference Card, and 10 Employee cards (or 8 if there are 6 players.)

Then, place the remainder of the Employee cards face-down in the centre of the table, taking the top card and placing it face-up next to it to form the 'Fire' pile.

Subsequently, place the Returns cards in three piles of six, next to the Employee cards. (Layout: Hire Pile, Fire Pile, and Returns Card Piles.)

Once you are familiar with the gameplay of Downsize, you may wish to add the Market Movements expansion.

Adding this is simple: shuffle the Market Movements deck, and add a row of cards, face-up, in sight of all players. There should be one more card than the number of players. Market Movements rules are explained later in this guide.

How to Play

Pick a Player to go first. Play moves clockwise. Each turn, Players complete one of three actions:

1. Hire an Employee: Take one Employee from the face-down 'Hire' pile.
2. Fire a Pair: Pairs of Employees can be fired only if the pair is specified on the Reference card. Specialist cards cannot be discarded in these pairs. When you fire a pair, immediately resolve the corresponding Effect.
3. Fire a Specialist: Specialists are cards with their own Effects, which resolve immediately. The Effects are detailed on the card.

Downsizing

Downsize, as the name suggests, is a game about firing people - and, as such, it is possible to fire everybody in your company. When you do this, you have 'Downsized.' Ensure that all players understand the following before playing:

1. When a Player fires all their Employees, they have 'downsized.' They keep their Returns cards a secret for scoring at the end of the game.
2. They cannot be affected by the actions of other Players.
3. 'Downsized' players can re-enter the game by Hiring an Employee on their next turn.

If all but one players has Downsized, the remaining Player may take turns until they have run out of Employees; until the Returns pile is empty; or until they willingly concede.

End of Game

A game of Downsize ends immediately when one of two things happens:

1. All Players have run out of Employees.
2. All of the Returns cards have either been taken by Players or discarded by Auditors.

When the game ends, any Players with remaining Employees must calculate losses, and discard lost Returns cards. Once this is complete, all Players add up the sum of their Returns cards and reveal them.

The Player with the highest sum of money is the winner.

Taking Losses

If a Player has Employees remaining when the Returns card piles run dry, they suffer losses, and must discard the relevant number of Returns cards. They can choose which ones to lose. Players lose:

• 1 Returns card for every discardable pair, or Specialist card.
• 1 Returns card for every leftover Employee.

This information is repeated on the back of Player Reference cards, for ease of use.

Rule Clarifications

• When a Pair or Specialist indicates a Player may pick up a Returns card, they may choose a pile to draw from. When a Returns card is drawn, it is kept secret from the other Players.
• When choosing a Player to Hire more Employees, Players can choose themselves.
• When Firing a Specialist card with the Lawyer & Corporate Pair or Security Specialist, the additional Specialist Effect does not resolve.
• If the Hire Pile runs out, shuffle the cards on the Fire Pile and reset.
• When an Auditor card removes a Returns card, it is discarded face-up, separately to the Returns decks, and cannot be taken back.
• If a Player chooses to make another Player discard an Investments card, and their chosen player does not have one, nothing happens. The discarding player does not get a second choice.
• At the start of each game, if a Player has drawn more than four of the same Employee, they may be given the opportunity to shuffle their cards back into the deck and re-draw.

Market Movements (Expansion)

Once you're familiar with the core gameplay of Downsize, Market Movements is there to turn things up a notch.

As a set of 20 cards representing everything from unforeseen global events to devious inter-company sabotage, Market Movements takes the form of a row of cards on the table - one more than the number of players (see Adding the Expansion for more detail) - and adds one more action to the possibilities players can choose from each turn:

Instead of using their action, any non-Downsized player can 'activate' one of the cards available, and complete the effects detailed on the card.

For instance - say you suspect an opponent of bluffing about his or her Employees or Returns cards: launch an Inquiry, and reveal everybody's hands. Maybe your Returns are rather measly looking, and you suspect that a healthy dose of Philanthropy could boost your profits in the future, or allow you to dodge some irritating taxes.

However the game is going, Market Movements are a simple way to change the course of gameplay, introduce new tactics, or even level the playing field for unlucky players.

Most Market Movements simply require being overturned to mark them as 'Activated,' and stop them from being used again. However, some cards specify giving the card to another Player to permanently affect that player, or turning the card ninety degrees to indicate an ongoing global effect.

Once a Market Movements card has been played, it cannot be replayed, and the supply will not be refreshed for the remainder of the game.

Just like regular effects, Downsized players cannot be affected by Market Movements cards, unless specified on the card.

Market Movements Rule Clarifications

• Corruption: If a Player does not have a Corporate card, they are unaffected by this.
• Graduate Programme: If there are no more than 6 Specialists in the Employee deck, put as many as possible at the top.
• Inquiry: This effect is not permanent.
• Interns: This effect is not mandatory.
• Merger: The player who activates this card keeps their Returns cards for end-of-game scoring. They are counted as 'Downsized' and can be brought back into the game by a Bailout, but cannot willingly re-enter the game.
• Outsourcing: You must choose from the actions available to that player i.e. No discarding Returns, etc. You may activate a Market Movements card.
• Philanthropy: Choose a pile of Returns to take from, as per usual gameplay. You can still use this card if there is only one Returns card remaining, but you do not take more than that one.
• Recession: If a Player has no Returns cards they are unaffected.

Alternate Game Modes

'The Apprentice' Mode (Express)

For a shorter game, setup only the Employee deck and Fire Pile. Give each Player 10 Employees. The only objective is to be the first person to fire all of your Employees.

Returns-card-specific Specialists can still be played, but their effect does not resolve.

Solo Variant (Requires 1 x Six-Sided Dice, Not Included)

Setup the Employee cards as usual, and divide the Returns cards into two face-up piles: one of the 1m, 2m, and 3m cards, and another pile of the 4m, 5m, and 6m cards. Give yourself 10 Employees. Rounds move as follows:

Take a Turn for yourself: Take a turn as you would during the regular game. When you make an investment, or play an Angel Investor roll the dice for each Returns card you can take. The results are as follows:

• 1: Do not take a Returns card.
• 2, 3, 4: Take a Returns card from the 'Low' pile.
• 5, 6: Take a Returns card from the 'High' pile.

Take a Turn for the 'Opponent': In the Solo Variant, the Opponent has no Employees: simply Roll the dice to see if it takes a Returns card. Dice results are as follows:

• 1, 2: Do not take a Returns card.
• 3, 4, 5: Give the Opponent a 'Low' Returns card.
• 6: Give the Opponent a 'High' Returns card.

Play ends either once the Returns cards have run out or you have run out of Employees. Take Losses as usual. If you have more Returns than the Opponent, you have won.