Fantastic Factories
Fantastic Factories Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 red dice
- 4 blue dice
- 4 green dice
- 4 purple dice
- 4 yellow dice
- 8 frosted white dice
- 54 energy tokens
- 42 metal tokens
- 42 (1) good tokens
- 42 (2) goods tokens
- 4 tool label tokens
- 74 blueprint cards
- 17 contractor cards
- 1 first player token
- 5 headquarters boards
- 5 player aid cards
- 1 solo player aid card
Setup
Terminology: Dice represent the workers in your factories. Throughout these rules, the terms "worker" and "workers" are synonymous with "die" and "dice".
The player who used a tool most recently receives the first player token. Shuffle the blueprint and contractor decks separately.
To start the game, each player chooses a color (not white) and begins with:
- 4 dice matching their player color
- A Headquarters player board
- A player aid card ("Legend" on one side and "Each Round" on the other side)
- 1 metal resource and 2 energy resources
- 4 random blueprint cards as their starting hand of cards
The area of the table in front of each player is their compound where they will build factories and other cards throughout the game. Players may look at their hand but should keep it hidden from others.
Deal 4 random blueprints and 4 random contractors face up onto the table (see diagram on opposite page). Place a tool label token above each face up contractor card. The order of the tools does not matter but must remain the same for the rest of the game. These 8 revealed cards form the marketplace. Place the metal, energy, goods tokens and white dice (used when extra dice are needed beyond your 4 colored dice) on the table within reach of all players to form the supply.
Unlimited Supply: There is no limit to the number of resources and dice available to players. If the supply runs out, use some other means to keep track.
Objective
The goal is to earn as many points as possible. Points can be earned in two ways: prestige and goods. Each card in your compound is worth the prestige value printed on its top right corner. Additionally, production factories can manufacture goods that you accumulate throughout the game. Your total score is the number of goods you have + your total prestige.
Playing the Game
Each round consists of two phases. During the market phase, players take turns drafting a card from the marketplace. After all players have drafted, the work phase begins. During the work phase, all players simultaneously roll their dice, place their dice as workers, and build cards.
Market Phase
In the market phase players take turns in order, starting with the player with the first player token and then continuing clockwise. On your turn you must choose one of two options:
A. Gain a blueprint card. Choose 1 of the 4 blueprints in the marketplace and put it in your hand for free. Refill the marketplace with the top card from the blueprint deck.
Tip: When choosing a blueprint card, look for cards you are interested in building or cards that have the same tool symbol (hammer / wrench / screwdriver / pickaxe) as a card in your hand that you want to build. (See "Building Cards" in the "Work Phase" section for more information.)
OR
B. Hire a contractor. Choose 1 of the 4 contractors in the marketplace to hire. To hire a contractor you must discard a blueprint from your hand with the same tool symbol as the token above the contractor. Execute the instructions written on the contractor card then immediately discard it. Refill the marketplace with the top card from the contractor deck.
Some contractors will have an additional cost beyond discarding a blueprint. When applicable, this additional cost is shown on the top left corner of the card.
Optional action: Before choosing a blueprint or contractor, the active player may pay 1 metal OR 1 energy resource to discard either all the blueprints or all the contractors (but not both) in the marketplace and reveal 4 new cards from the corresponding deck. Each player can do this once per turn. This can be useful if you don't like any of the choices or want to eliminate cards that may be important to other players.
Once all players have taken a turn, the work phase begins.
Work Phase
During the work phase, all players take their turns simultaneously. However, if there are any players learning the rules for the first time, we recommend taking turns one at a time for the first round or two.
The work phase begins with everyone picking up their dice and rolling them. Players then (in any order) build cards, place workers, and activate cards.
Building Cards
To build a card in your hand, you must pay the build cost as indicated on the top left corner: Discard another blueprint card with the same tool symbol (hammer / wrench / screwdriver / pickaxe) from your hand and also pay the indicated resource cost (metal and/or energy).
Important: There is no limit to how many times you may build in one turn as long as you can pay all the build costs. However, you cannot build a second copy of a card with the same name unless the card text says otherwise.
Card anatomy: A card shows its Name, Build Cost (top left), Prestige Value (top right), Worker Slot, Card Type, Recipe, and the # of Card Copies.
Basic Actions
Each player has a Headquarters player board with three basic actions available: Research, Generate, and Mine. To use one of these basic actions, place a worker in an available slot on your board and immediately execute that action, as described below.
Research: For each worker you place on the Research floor, draw one blueprint card from the top of the blueprint deck. Any value worker may be used, and the value of the worker does not matter.
Drawing Cards: Whenever you draw a card during the work phase for any reason, you must draw from the top of the deck. You may not draw cards from the marketplace. If any deck runs out of cards, shuffle the discard pile to refill the deck.
Generate: For each worker you place on the Generate floor, you take energy resources equal to the value of the worker (i.e. the number on the die face). The value of the worker must be 1, 2, or 3.
Mine: For each worker you place on the Mine, you take 1 metal resource from the supply. The value of the worker must be 4, 5, or 6.
Note: Mine and Generate produce resources in different quantities! Mine will only produce 1 metal resource per worker while Generate may produce multiple energy resources per worker depending on the value used.
Matching Bonus
With the basic actions in your Headquarters, if the worker you are placing matches another placed worker on the same basic action, you gain an extra card or resource corresponding to that action. If all three of your placed workers match, the bonus is two extra instead. The dice do not have to be placed all at the same time in order to get the matching bonus.
Examples — For each player, dice placement in these examples would yield:
- Yellow Player: 1 blueprint, 3 energy, 3 metal (1 extra from the matching bonus)
- Blue Player: 8 energy (2 extra from the matching bonus), 1 metal
- Purple Player: 4 blueprints (1 extra from the matching bonus), 2 energy
Activating Cards
Once you've built a card into your compound, you may activate it—even on the same turn you built it! The recipe for activating a card is printed on the lower portion of the card using symbols. If you pay everything on the left side of the arrow then you gain everything on the right side in return. Some cards require workers to activate in which case you place the required workers on the card. You can refer to the Legend player aid card to see what each symbol means.
Activation Limit: Each card can only be activated once per turn. If the card has no worker slots, sometimes it can be unclear whether the card has already been activated. You can choose to indicate a card has been activated by pushing the card up slightly from the other cards in your compound.
Activation Order: Cards can be activated in any order as long as you can meet the activation requirements. The output is gained immediately, which can help you activate other cards or build more cards.
Worker Placement: You cannot use the same worker for multiple actions. Each worker can only be used once per turn. At the end of the work phase, leave your workers placed on the cards so other players can see you are finished and also how you played your turn.
Accumulating Goods: It is recommended that the goods you gain are placed on the card that manufactured them. This allows players to see which cards are being utilized. Players can freely exchange equivalent value goods tokens with the supply at any time.
Ending the Work Phase
Once all players have placed all their workers and completed all their actions, they must discard down to 12 total resources (metal and energy resources combined) and 10 cards in hand. The work phase is now complete. Pass the first player token to the next player clockwise and a new round starts again with the market phase.
Game End
Once any player has manufactured 12 or more goods or has built 10 or more buildings in their compound, the game end is triggered. Players finish the current round and then one more round is played (market phase + work phase). A reminder of the end condition is printed on the player aid card: GAME END: 12 goods OR 10 buildings, then +1 round.
Important Note: Triggering the end of the game with 12 or more goods refers only to the goods tokens that have been manufactured. This does not include the prestige value of buildings.
Also, once a player has 10 or more buildings in their compound, the game end is triggered regardless of the prestige value of those buildings.
Once the game ends, each player adds the number of goods they manufactured + the amount of prestige on buildings in their compound to calculate their final score. The player with the highest score is the winner!
In the event of a tie, the tie breaker is determined first by the player with the most metal resources, then by most energy resources, and finally by most blueprints in hand. If there is still a tie, the tied players rejoice in their shared victory.
Solo Rules
In Solo Mode, you play against a basic simulated opponent called "The Machine". Rather than choosing a set of colored dice to use, you must use 4 white dice.
Setup
Set up the game as normal for one player. Then deal out a number of blueprints face up to form the The Machine's starting compound. The number of blueprints depends on how difficult you want your opponent to be:
| Difficulty | # of starting cards |
|---|---|
| Easy | 2 |
| Medium | 3 |
| Hard | 4 |
| Insane | 5 |
If any of the dealt cards are Monument type cards (with a gray banner), discard them and continue dealing until The Machine has the desired number of cards that are all non-Monument cards. The Machine may build Monument cards later in the game but cannot begin with any in play.
The Machine's Compound: The Machine's compound is always grouped by card type/color (production, utility, training, special, and monument).
Your Turn
Play the market phase and the work phase as normal by yourself. Once you've finished both phases, The Machine takes a turn.
Important: Some contractors can affect your opponents. In the solo game, ignore any instructions that give resources or cards to opponents.
The Machine's Turn
The Machine begins their turn by rolling dice. Grab one die of each color (red, blue, purple, yellow, and green) and roll all of them at the same time.
Market Phase
Check the green die to determine The Machine's marketplace action:
- 1, 2, 3, or 4: Take the corresponding blueprint (1 = left-most blueprint, 2 = 2nd from the left, etc) from the marketplace and put it in their compound.
- 5: Reveal the top card of the blueprint deck and put it in their compound. Then discard all blueprints in the marketplace.
- 6: Reveal the top card of the blueprint deck and put it in their compound. Then discard all contractors in the marketplace.
After performing The Machine's action, refill the marketplace.
Work Phase
Check the values of the remaining red, blue, purple, and yellow dice to determine if The Machine manufactures any goods, according to the rules below. Each colored die corresponds to a card type:
- The red die corresponds to the red Training type cards.
- The blue die corresponds to the blue Production type cards.
- The purple die corresponds to the purple Special type cards.
- The yellow die corresponds to the yellow Utility type cards.
For each die, if the value is lower than or equal to the number of corresponding cards in The Machine's compound, then The Machine manufactures a good. Note that as The Machine's compound grows, they become increasingly more likely to manufacture goods each work phase.
Example: The Machine manufactures 2 goods because the blue and purple dice are equal to or lower than the number of cards of the same color in The Machine's compound. The red and yellow dice do not manufacture goods because they are higher than the number of cards of those colors.
Game End
As a player, you trigger the game end the same as in a normal game (reminder: 12 goods or 10 cards in your compound). However, the Machine may only trigger the end of the game by manufacturing 12 or more goods. Once the game end is triggered, both the player and the Machine play one more round.
Scoring
Calculate your own score the same way as in a normal game (reminder: goods + prestige). To calculate The Machine's score, they receive 1 point for each of their goods, 1 point for each card in their compound (regardless of prestige value), and 1 additional point for each Monument type card in their compound. If you have more points than The Machine, you win!
Appendix
All blueprint and contractor cards are listed below along with rule clarifications for edge cases.
Card Types
- Production: These cards manufacture goods.
- Utility: These cards produce resources.
- Training: These cards train your workers, allowing you to modify their values.
- Monument: These cards cannot be activated but are worth extra prestige points.
- Special: These cards have unique effects.
Blueprints
- Aluminum Factory (2x): Place 2 matching dice and pay 5 energy to gain 2 goods and 1 metal.
- Assembly Line (2x): Place 3 dice with consecutive values to gain 2 goods. Example: 2 + 3 + 4.
- Battery Factory (2x): Pay 4 energy to gain 1 good.
- Beacon (4x): Each subsequent Beacon you build is worth more prestige. Example: The 4th Beacon in your compound is worth 5 prestige. All 4 Beacons combined would be worth 14 prestige total. (1st Beacon = 2 [2 total], 2nd Beacon = 3 [5 total], 3rd Beacon = 4 [9 total], 4th Beacon = 5 [14 total]. You may build more than one Beacon.)
- Biolab (2x): Place a die and pay 1 energy to gain 1 good.
- Black Market (2x): Place a die of any value and discard a blueprint to gain resources (metal + energy) matching the build cost of the card you discarded. The max you can gain is 4 resources. If the card you are discarding costs more than 4 resources, you may choose which 4 resources you gain. If the card you are discarding has a discounted cost (like Megalith), ignore the discount for Black Market.
- Concrete Plant (2x): Place 2 matching dice and pay metal equal to the value of the dice to gain 2 goods (regardless of how much metal you paid). Example: Place two 3s and pay 3 metal to gain 2 goods.
- Dojo (2x): Pay 1 energy to flip an unplaced die to its opposite side. Opposite sides of a die will add up to 7. For example, the opposite side of a 1 would be a 6.
- Fitness Center (3x): Pay 1 energy to decrease the value of an unplaced die by 1. Fitness Center cannot be used on a 1.
- Foundry (2x): Place a die and pay energy equal to the value of the die to gain the same amount of metal. Example: Place a 5 and pay 5 energy to gain 5 metal.
- Fulfillment Center (2x): Place a die and pay 2 energy to gain 1 good and 1 metal.
- Golem (2x): Pay X energy to gain an extra die of value X. Discard the extra die at the end of the round. Example: Pay 3 energy then you would gain a 3 for the turn.
- Gymnasium (3x): Pay 1 energy to increase the value of an unplaced die by 1. Gymnasium cannot be used on a 6.
- Harvester (2x): Place 2 matching dice to gain 4 metal OR 7 energy.
- Incinerator (2x): Discard a blueprint and pay 1 metal to gain 6 energy.
- Laboratory (2x): Draw a blueprint when gaining a good. Laboratory can only draw 1 blueprint per round regardless of how many goods are gained.
- Manufactory (2x): Place 2 matching dice to gain 1 good and either 2 metal, 3 energy, or draw 2 blueprints. Reminder: The cards you draw must be from the deck and not the marketplace.
- Mega Factory (2x): Place 3 matching dice to gain 2 goods and an extra die of any value (your choice). Discard the extra die at the end of the round.
- Megalith (3x): Once built, Megalith is worth 3 prestige. Megalith's build cost is reduced by 1 metal for each monument type card (cards with gray banners like Obelisk or Beacon) in your compound.
- Motherlode (2x): Place a 1, 2, or 3 to gain 1 metal or place a 4, 5, or 6 to gain 2 metal.
- Nuclear Plant (2x): Place a die to gain 1 good and 1 energy.
- Obelisk (5x): Once built, Obelisk is worth 2 prestige. You may build more than one copy of Obelisk.
- Power Plant (2x): Place a die to gain X energy where X is the value of the placed die.
- Recycling Plant (3x): Discard 2 blueprints and pay 2 energy to gain 1 good and draw a blueprint. Reminder: The cards you draw must be from the deck and not the marketplace.
- Refinery (2x): Discard a blueprint and pay 3 energy to gain 3 metal.
- Replicator (2x): Pay 1 energy to activate a card in the marketplace. Use that card as if it were in your compound (any dice used are placed on Replicator). You still need to pay any activation costs associated with that card. Example: Pay 1 energy to activate Replicator to copy the Biolab in the marketplace. Then place a die on Replicator and pay 1 energy to gain 1 good.
- Robot (3x): Pay 1 metal to roll an extra die. Discard the extra die at the end of the round.
- Scrap Yard (2x): Gain 1 metal after building a card. Scrap Yard does not activate itself when being built.
- Solar Array (2x): Gain 2 energy after building a card. Solar Array does not activate itself when being built.
- Temp Agency (2x): Pay 1 energy to re-roll any number of unplaced dice. For example, you can re-roll a single die or you may re-roll all of your dice for just 1 energy.
- Trash Compactor (2x): Place 2 matching dice and discard 2 blueprints to gain 2 goods.
- Warehouse (2x): Place 3 dice that add up to 14 or more to gain 2 goods and 2 energy.
Contractors
- Architect (2x): Draw 3 blueprints and pick an opponent to draw 1 blueprint.
- Electrician (2x): Gain 5 energy and pick an opponent to gain 2 energy.
- Engineer (1x): Additional cost of 4 energy. Draw and reveal a blueprint. Immediately build it for free. If you reveal a card you should not be able to build (because you have one in your compound and multiple are not allowed), discard that card and reveal another. Cards that activate when building (like Solar Array or Scrap Yard) can be activated but still only once per round.
- Foreman (1x): Additional cost of 2 energy. At the start of the next work phase, instead of rolling, you may choose the values of up to 4 of your dice. If you have more than 4 dice for any reason, you must choose the values for four of the dice first and then roll the rest.
- Hired Hands (3x): Additional cost of 3 energy. Roll 2 extra dice at the start of the next work phase. Discard the extra dice at the end of the round.
- Investor (3x): Draw and reveal a blueprint. Gain metal and energy equal to the build cost of that blueprint. The resources you gain are an exact combination of the metal and energy cost of the revealed card. For example, if the card costs 2 metal and 1 energy, you will gain 2 metal and 1 energy. In the case of a card with cost discount rules (e.g. Megalith), you gain the full cost without applying any discounts.
- Miner (2x): Gain 3 metal and pick an opponent to gain 1 metal.
- Specialist (3x): Gain an extra die of any value during the next work phase. You may roll your other dice first and then decide the value of the extra die. Discard the extra die at the end of the round.
Common Mistakes
Research & Mine vs Generate: Without a match bonus, each worker on Mine or Research will only gain you 1 metal or blueprint regardless of value. However, Generate works differently and will gain you energy equal to the value of the worker. Note that 3 is the largest value you can place on Generate.
Marketplace Blueprints: During the market phase, players are not allowed to draw a blueprint from the deck. If they do not like the choices available to them, they must pay 1 resource (metal or energy) to refill the marketplace.
Game End: Any player can trigger the end of the game by having 12+ goods or 10+ cards in their compound. Note that prestige is worth points but is irrelevant to meeting either end condition. Once any player meets either condition, there is still one additional round (market + work phase) afterwards.
Tips & Strategies
It is recommended that you play Fantastic Factories once or twice to discover your own strategies before reading this section. For players looking to master the game, these tips, tricks, and suggested strategies may improve your play.
Wait to Build: Since you can build as many cards as you want each round and can also activate those cards on the same turn you build them, waiting to build a card until you actually need to use it will allow you to save your cards/resources in case a better opportunity arises.
Research with 1's: 1's only generate 1 energy. Unless you really need that energy, it is usually more efficient to use that worker to draw a blueprint card.
Draw First, Draw Often: If you know you need to draw cards during the work phase, do it early in your turn so you have as much information up front as possible. Keeping your hand full of cards also grants you flexibility to hire different contractors during the market phase.
Golem Synergy: Golem is a powerful card that has many uses that may not be immediately apparent. For example, each round you can pay 1 energy to gain a 1 that you can use to research and draw a blueprint. You can also gain 1 extra energy using the Golem worker if you are able to get a matching bonus on Generate. Golem also has excellent synergy with Biolab and Concrete Plant.
Marketplace Matters: Pay attention to what strategies other players are utilizing. For example, the Replicator allows players to copy a card in the marketplace. You might consider refreshing the blueprints in the marketplace depending on whether you or an opponent has the Replicator and how useful the cards are in the marketplace. The same tip applies to Black Market. And if any player is seeking to build Beacons, it would be wise to keep the marketplace clear of any Beacons. On the other hand, if you are looking for Beacons, you might refresh the marketplace each turn until you find one.
End Game Production: Some production factories manufacture 2 goods at a time. These factories have a heavy resource costs or difficult-to-roll conditions. They can play an important role to winning the game but require supporting cards before they can be used efficiently or reliably. You should generally avoid building these cards early on until you have the necessary supporting cards.
Monuments for the Win: Once you assemble an efficient goods manufacturing engine, you may find yourself with excess resources and no useful cards to build. If you know you have all the pieces of your engine in hand, you can focus on picking up cheaper monument cards like Obelisks that will help you close out the game with extra prestige.
Credits
- Game Design: Joseph Z Chen and Justin Faulkner
- Development: Justin Faulkner and Joseph Z Chen
- Art: Joseph Z Chen and Allan Tien (Beacon)
- Graphic Design: Joseph Z Chen
- Publisher: Metafactory Games LLC
- Website: http://www.fantasticfactories.com