Factory of Dreams
Factory of Dreams Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
2-5 players, 12+, 25 min
Contents
- 200 double-sided Thought cards
- 50 Theme cards
- 1 score track
- 2 double-sided Scoring tiles
- 5 erasable Dream boards
- 5 Flask tiles (numbered 1-5)
- 5 pens
- 5 cloths
- 6 Tool tokens
- 1 erasable blank Thought card
- 1 Flask marker
Objective
Factory of Dreams is a cooperative game. In each game, you must work together to create 5 dreams based on that night's theme. You will add Thought cards - each featuring a single word - to the 5 Flask tiles to create associations to fit that theme. You can also use the Tool tokens to help you - but their special abilities can only be used once, so use them wisely! You will then take your Dream board and, for each flask, secretly write 1 dream (as a single word or idea) that fits the theme and connects the Thought cards in that flask. You score points for inventing dreams that match those created by the other players.
Setup
- Create a line of 5 Flask tiles in the center of the table.
- Shuffle the Thought cards, split them into 8 roughly equal piles, and place them above the Flask tiles. These are the Thought reserves.
- Place the Tool tokens Flask of Doubt, +1 Fairy Dust, and Broom to the right of the Flask tiles. If you're playing Basic mode, put the other tokens and the blank Thought card back in the box.
- Place the score track depicting the factory next to the play area and place the Flask marker on the 0 space.
- Keep the Scoring tile that corresponds to the player count close at hand.
- Give each player a Dream board, a pen, and a cloth.
- Sort the Theme cards by difficulty and choose 1 at random for your chosen difficulty level (see "Tonight's theme"). Place it face up to the left of the Thought cards. This card indicates the theme you must follow when creating dreams during this game.
Let's play!
Tonight's theme
At the start of the game, you will draw a card to determine the theme for that game. All your dreams (i.e. the words you write on your Dream board to link together the Thought cards in each flask) must fit this theme.
The title of each night's theme is generally obvious so you will know what sorts of things to write down. For example, for Vehicle dreams, you have to write the names of vehicles, and for Color dreams, you write down colors.
Some themes are more challenging, asking you to explore a broader or subjective theme. In this case, reading the clarification and examples in the description will help you understand the theme's limits. For instance, for American dreams, you have to write things related to the United States: its history, symbols, and, of course, cliches. For Nightmare dreams, you will need to write fears and phobias - anything that scares you.
The aim is to score the most points by inventing the same dreams as the other players.
The game has different levels of difficulty:
- 5 Introductory themes
- 20 Level 1 themes
- 15 Level 2 themes
- 10 Level 3 themes
For your first few games, choose 1 of the introductory themes to get used to the game mechanics. After that, you can take your pick from any level!
Basic Mode
The game has 3 phases:
- Connecting Thoughts
- Creating Dreams
- Waking Up
1. Connecting Thoughts
Important: During this phase, you must not communicate with the other players.
Take turns to perform one of the following actions:
- Take the top Thought card from 1 of the 8 Thought reserves and place it below the flask of your choice, with a maximum of 3 cards per flask.
or
- Use 1 of the available Tool tokens (see Tool tokens).
or
- Pass your turn. Important: You can only pass if there is at least 1 Thought card in each flask. If you pass, you cannot take any more actions during this phase.
Once all players have passed, or all 5 flasks contain 3 words each, move to the Creating Dreams phase.
Example
Tonight's theme is Electric dreams. For dreams tonight, players have to write down things powered by electricity.
- Malo sees the word cord on top of a pile and decides to put it in Flask 1 because he sees a connection with instrument that fits the theme.
- On her turn, Calista puts the word dust in Flask 4 because she sees a connection with bag that fits the theme. Instead of putting a Thought card in a flask, she could have played a Tool token (see Tool tokens) or passed. Play passes to the next player.
The night continues in this way until everyone has passed, or there are 3 words per flask. The players then move on to the Creating Dreams phase.
2. Creating Dreams
Like in Phase 1, you must not communicate with the other players during this phase. To create dreams, take your Dream board and secretly write a word or idea next to each number that connects the Thought cards in that flask. Remember: These words or ideas must fit tonight's theme.
Clarifications:
- You cannot write the same word for more than 1 flask.
- You cannot write a word that is the same as (or very similar to) any of the Thought cards in any of tonight's flasks.
Once everyone has written something next to each number on their Dream board, move on to the Waking Up phase.
Example
For each flask, Calista must write on her Dream board something powered by electricity that links to the Thought cards in that flask.
For Flask 1, she combines instrument and cord and immediately thinks of guitar, which she writes next to number 1 on her Dream board.
For Flask 2, she combines journey, wagon, and steam and writes train next to number 2 on her Dream board.
She does the same for all the flasks, making connections between the Thoughts that fit tonight's theme.
3. Waking Up
Count up the points flask by flask, based on the Scoring tile.
For each flask, reveal the single word or idea (the dream) you have written on your Dream board. The more players who have invented dreams that match, the more points you score. The number of points earned depends both on the player count and the number of Thought cards in that flask.
Each Scoring tile has two columns: the number of matching dreams in a flask, and the points earned for that flask. "1+ Thought cards" means 1 point + the number of Thought cards in that flask; "Thought cards" alone means the number of Thought cards in that flask.
| Players | Matching dreams in a flask | Points earned for that flask |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 | 1 point + number of Thought cards |
| 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 3 | 1 point + number of Thought cards |
| 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | 3 | number of Thought cards |
| 4 |
Move the Flask marker along the score track and compare your result to the Great Sandman's chart to find out how good your dreams were.
Clarifications
- Genuine synonyms are always accepted. For example, doctor and physician, or house and home are considered to be dreams that match, but tree and wood aren't.
- If you're unsure whether a word is allowed, discuss it and decide together.
- For 4 and 5 players, if a group of players writes dreams that match and another group comes up with a different set of matching dreams, you only score the points once.
Tool Tokens
There are 3 Tool tokens used in Basic mode. The other 3 tokens are only used in Challenge mode (see Challenge Mode). Using a Tool token counts as your action for your turn. Apart from the Broom token, which is discarded after use, the other tokens are to be played on a flask. Important: You can only play 1 Tool token on each flask.
- Broom: Return the token to the box and discard the top Thought card from each of the 8 Thought reserves.
- Flask of Doubt: Playing the token on a flask allows everyone to make 2 suggestions during the Creating Dreams phase instead of 1 for that flask. When you count up the points, choose which word or idea to score. You'll want to pick the most common word, because that will score you the most points.
- +1 Fairy Dust: Playing this token on a flask will score you an extra point, as long as you manage to score at least 1 point for that flask.
Example
When counting up their points, the 3 players compare their suggestions flask by flask and refer to the Scoring tile for 3 players:
- Flask 1: All 3 players wrote guitar. As there are 2 cards in the flask, they score 3 points (1 point + 2 cards).
- Flask 2: All 3 players wrote train. As there are 3 cards in the flask, they score 4 points (1 point + 3 cards).
- Flask 3: As they played the Flask of Doubt token on this flask, the players could make 2 suggestions instead of 1. All 3 players wrote bitcoin, so the players score 3 points (1 point + 2 cards).
- Flask 4: Only 2 players' dreams matched: Vacuum cleaner. They score 2 points (1 point + 1 extra point due to the +1 Fairy Dust token in the flask).
- Flask 5: The 3 players all wrote different answers, so they score 0 points for this flask.
In total, the players score 12 points.
The Great Sandman's chart
| Points | Result |
|---|---|
| 0-3 points | Oh dear! The dreams you created tonight are pretty vague. The dreamers wake up having forgotten everything... |
| 4-6 points | Not bad! The dreamers retain a few snippets of the dreams you invented tonight. |
| 7-9 points | Good work! The dreamers start their day off on the right foot, happily reminiscing about their dreams from last night. |
| 10-13 points | What talent! The dreams created tonight will stay in the dreamers' heads for quite some time. |
| 14-17 points | You should be proud! The dreams tonight left a lasting impression on the dreamers! They didn't just enjoy them; they're now treasured memories. |
| 18+ points | Well done! Thanks to you, life itself is one big dream! You've made the dreamers' sleep come alive, and even the Great Sandman is impressed! The night is your new kingdom. |
Challenge Mode: The Great Sandman's Trials
Creating dreams is not for the faint-hearted, so the Great Sandman has decided to test you for 7 nights before he hires you. Once you've mastered the Basic mode rules, the Great Sandman will set you a series of 7 trials of increasing difficulty. Each trial has its own set of rules and pitfalls to overcome to prove that you're worthy of joining the ranks at the Factory of Dreams. Once you've passed all 7 trials, you can tackle them again in any order.
But in the meantime, you just need to follow the Great Sandman's instructions. Rise to the challenge and he might just open the door to the Kingdom of Dreams to you!
Clarifications
- The rules for Basic mode still apply in Challenge mode. However, some trials will introduce a rule variant that you must use to overcome the challenge.
- Use the 3 Tool tokens from Basic mode. Some of the trials will also add in some new tools. Make sure you wait until you're explicitly told to add a token to your game.
- Reminder 1: Apart from the Broom token, which is discarded after use, the other tokens are to be played on a flask. You can only play 1 token on each flask.
- Reminder 2: If you use a Tool token, you cannot take any more actions that turn.
- Each trial has a specific difficulty level: Draw a random theme of that level.
- To move on to the next trial, you must have achieved the minimum points required to pass the previous trial.
Monday: Trial 1 - Thought shortage
Theme level: 1. Objective: Minimum 5 points.
Rule variant: During setup, make 6 piles of Thought cards instead of 8 as you will only be playing with 6 Thought reserves.
Tuesday: Trial 2 - Second Chance
Theme level: 1. Objective: Minimum 7 points.
Rule variant: During setup, add the Upend a Flask token to the other available tokens.
The Upend a Flask token can be played on a flask to discard all its Thought cards. Start from scratch for that flask, adding new Thought cards.
Wednesday: Trial 3 - Insomniac
Theme level: 2. Objective: Minimum 8 points.
Rule variant: During setup, place 4 Flask tiles instead of 5. Return the remaining tile to the box. You can only play with the 4 available flasks.
Thursday: Trial 4 - Add a personal touch
Theme level: 2. Objective: Minimum 10 points.
Rule variant: During setup, add the Magic Feather token to the other available tokens.
The Magic Feather token can be used to write your own clue. Play the token on a free flask, take the blank Thought card, and write a single word of your choice on it. Then add it to the flask like a regular Thought card. It counts toward the Thought card limit (3 per flask). Note: It also counts as a regular Thought card when scoring points.
Friday: Trial 5 - Caught between dreams
Theme level: 1 + 1. Objective: Minimum 13 points.
Rule variant: During setup, choose 2 Level 1 themes at random and place them face up in the play area. Each dream you create during this game must fit 1 of the 2 themes. You cannot communicate which theme you are using for each flask.
Saturday: Trial 6 - Premium fairy dust delivery
Theme level: 3. Objective: Minimum 14 points.
Rule variant: During setup, add the +2 Fairy Dust token to the other available tokens.
The +2 Fairy Dust token works in the same way as the +1 Fairy Dust token. On your turn, you can play this token on a flask to score 2 extra points, as long as you manage to score at least 1 point for that flask.
Sunday: Trial 7 - Free rein
Theme level: No theme. Objective: Minimum 16 points.
Rule variant: During setup, do not reveal any Theme cards. You'll be creating dreams without a particular theme.
New Variant
Passed the final trial? Well done! You've unlocked a new Basic mode variant! After beating Challenge mode and unlocking the 3 new Tool tokens, you can play Basic mode with any 3 of the 6 available tokens. If you'd prefer not to choose which 3 to use, flip them all face down and pick 3 at random.
You've now proved yourself worthy of the title of Dreammaker!