Foodfighters
Foodfighters Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 18 Fighters (9 from each team)
- 6 Power cards (3 from each team)
- 1 Price card (with player aid on the back)
- 2 Pans
- 4 Spoons
- 6 Crackers
- 30 Beans
- 2 Normal Dice and 1 Bonus Die (Notice that all three dice have different Splats and Bean results on them!)
- 18 Thought Bubble Clingers (These are only used if you want to play with the Expansions or make custom teams.)
Setup
- First, decide who will play which team. Each player shuffles their own fighters and randomly lays them out in a 3x3 grid as shown.
- Try not to look at your fighters as you go, so that it's random.
- Make stockpiles of all the other game pieces; this area is called the Pantry.
- The Price card, dice, and Beans go in the middle; they are shared.
- Each player gets their team's 3 Power cards, 3 Crackers, 2 Spoons, and 1 Pan on their own side of the Pantry.
- That's it! The player who most recently ate one of the foods on their own team goes first.
Playing the Game
The game goes turn-for-turn until one player wins. On your turn, in this order:
- You may either Roll for Beans or Swap or Attack.
- You may spend your Beans to buy one thing from the Pantry.
- Your opponent fills any gaps in their formation.
...then play passes to your opponent.
1. Roll for Beans or Swap or Attack
Roll for Beans
To Roll for Beans, roll both dice, and collect the number of Beans showing. If any of the dice show Splats, re-roll those Splats until you get all Bean results.
Example: You Roll for Beans, and after re-rolling a Splat, your dice end up showing 3 Beans. You collect 3 Beans from the Pantry!
Swap
To Swap, simply swap the positions of any two of your own fighters, or swap one of your fighters into an empty space in the same row it already occupies. When you swap, you also get 1 free Bean from the supply.
- All items on a tile are moved with it. (For example a fighter carrying a Cracker brings the Cracker.)
- You may not move a fighter into an empty space in a different row.
Example: You could swap any two of your fighters (such as the Chicken and Bacon shown)... OR you could swap either of your two Steaks in the back row into the empty space there... BUT you couldn't swap anything from the front or middle row into the empty space in the back row (like the indicated Bacon). Whichever you choose, don't forget your free Bean!
Attack
To Attack, indicate (by touching with your finger) which of your fighters is attacking, and which enemy fighter is being attacked. Your fighter may only attack an enemy that it can reach and that it is thinking about.
"In reach" means that the enemy is right next to the attacker, either straight ahead or diagonally. (Spoons can extend the reach of your fighters; see Spoons for details.)
"Thinking about" means that the enemy is pictured in the attacker's thought bubble. It does not matter what the target is thinking about.
Example: Nobody in your second or third row can reach any enemies, so let's look at your front row only. Your Chicken on the left is thinking about Cabbage. He could attack either of the two Cabbages indicated, but not the one that's further away.
Your Steak is thinking about Onions; she could attack the indicated Onion but not the further ones.
Your Bacon on the right is thinking about Broccoli; all three Broccolis are out of reach, so he may not attack anybody.
Once you have indicated a legal target, roll the 2 normal dice.
If you get no Splats, you have missed; this is not so bad since you get a very nice consolation prize; collect the number of Beans showing on the dice from the supply.
If you get at least one Splat, you have hit your target. The target is knocked out; take it over to your discard area off to the side, keeping it visible.
- You do not collect any Beans showing on your dice when you score a hit.
2. Buy Something From the Pantry
After your Roll for Beans or Swap or Attack is finished, you may buy one thing from your side of the Pantry. Return the Beans to the supply, and take the thing you bought. You can't buy something if it's not currently on your side of the Pantry.
- The Bonus Die is not on either player's side of the Pantry; if it's in the Pantry, you may buy it.
- A single fighter may never hold two duplicate items at once. So for example a fighter could hold a Spoon and a Cracker, but couldn't hold two Spoons.
- Most items have another limit to when you may buy them; the general rule is that you can't buy something right after you used it. See each item's restriction text for specifics.
The Bonus Die — Cost: 4 Beans
Restriction: You may not buy the Bonus Die if you just rolled it on this turn.
When you buy the Bonus Die, take it and keep it next to you for now. The next time you roll dice (whether for Attacking or Rolling for Beans), you will roll all three dice instead of just the normal two. This means that you'll have an increased chance to hit (and especially to score powerful double Splats), and that even if you miss, you will earn more Beans than usual. Return the Bonus die to the Pantry after you roll it.
All three dice means great attack and Bean-gathering opportunities!
Pans — Cost: 3 Beans
Restriction: You may not buy a Pan if you successfully used a Pan to hit an enemy on this turn.
When you buy a Pan, place it over one of your fighters' thought bubbles. That fighter is now permitted to attack any enemy type (obeying normal reach rules). When the fighter with the Pan attacks and hits an enemy, the Pan is lost (return it to the Pantry). The Pan is not lost when this fighter attacks and misses.
Example: This Steak has a Pan on its thought bubble... until it hits an enemy, the pan will stay there and the Steak is able to attack any enemy in reach.
Spoons — Cost: 3 Beans
Restriction: You may not buy a Spoon if you just threw a Spoon at a distant enemy on this turn (whether it hit or not).
When you buy a Spoon, place it on one of your fighters' hands, like a spear. That fighter's reach is now increased so that it may attack any distance (in a straight line or diagonally). This means that a fighter with a Spoon could possibly attack even when not in your front row! When the fighter uses the Spoon to attack a target that is out of normal reach, the Spoon is lost (return it to the Pantry) whether the attack hits or not.
- If a Spoon-carrying fighter attacks an enemy in normal reach, the Spoon is not lost.
Example: If you gave a Spoon to your Chicken, it could later attack the far Cabbage diagonally. (Both closer Cabbages are in normal reach and wouldn't use up the Spoon.)
If you gave it to the Steak in your second row instead, you could use it to later attack the Onion way in the back row. (The other Onion is not in a straight or diagonal line from your Steak, so couldn't be attacked.)
Crackers — Cost: 4 Beans
Restriction: You may not buy a Cracker if one of your Crackers was smashed on your opponent's last turn.
When you buy a Cracker, place it on one of your fighters' hands, like a shield. When that fighter is hit by an attack, the Cracker is smashed and is removed from the game but the fighter is not knocked out.
- If the attacker rolled two or more Splats, the Cracker is smashed and the fighter is knocked out.
- It is very important to note that a Cracker is removed from the game when it is smashed, unlike the other items which return to the Pantry when used. This means that you have only 3 Crackers per game; use them wisely!
This Bacon is holding a Cracker, so defends himself from a single Splat... but the Cracker is smashed! A double Splat would have smashed the Cracker and knocked out the Bacon.
Power Cards — Cost: Various Prices
Each team has three unique Power cards; you may only buy a Power card from your own team. Each Power card displays its cost in Beans, and describes its own ability. There are three Timing symbols that show how the cards are used:
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One-time use (red X symbol): discard the card from the game after you use it.
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Multi-use (lightning bolt symbol): return the card to the Pantry after you use it.
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Long-term use (infinity symbol): keep the card on the table in front of you.
-
You don't have to use a card right away when you buy it; you can keep it until you're ready.
Example — Crop Rotation!: Perform a Swap of two of your own fighters, or two enemy fighters. Cost: 5 Beans. (One-time use; return to the pantry after use.)
3. Your Opponent Fills Any Gaps
If there is a gap in your opponent's formation, it must be filled. (A gap exists when a fighter is missing from a row and there are any fighters left anywhere in the row or rows behind it.)
The opponent must choose any one of their fighters from the farthest-back row that still has fighters in it, and put that fighter into the gap.
- Filling a gap is not part of your opponent's turn. After they fill the gap, their turn begins.
Example: The Meats team just knocked out a fighter in the Veggie front row. Since there are still fighters further back, this leaves a gap that now must be filled. Veggies could fill the gap with either the Onion or the Broccoli in their second row; it is the furthest-back row that still has fighters in it.
End of the Game
After your turn if you have three matching knocked-out enemy fighters in your discard area, you have won the game... nice work!
For example the Veggies player could win by knocking out all three Steaks!
Chef's Choice: Your Guide to Custom Teams!
Want to mix it up a little? Foodfighters comes with a full set of thought bubble clingers that you can use to create custom teams! The first thing you have to do is pick teams; lay out all of your available fighters and Power cards, and decide who is Player 1 (P1) and Player 2 (P2).
Take turns picking. When it's your turn you will pick any Power card, and then a fighter from that Power card's faction, taking all three fighters of that type. Pick in this order to make it fair:
P1 - P2 - P2 - P1 - P2 - P1
When you are done, you will each have three Power cards and nine fighters; if you have any fighters from mismatched teams, you will have to use the thought bubble clingers to fix your fighters so that they are thinking of the correct targets.
Separate your team's fighters by type, then look at the enemy team to see who your three enemies are. Find the clingers for the enemy fighters that you are missing, and use them to cover the incorrect bubbles. When you are done, your fighters will be ready for battle!
Example: Your enemies are the Steak, Bacon, and Onion fighters. That means that each of your fighter types should be thinking of those three enemies. You'd use the clingers shown to fix things up!
Making custom teams gets even more fun when you bring any of the Foodfighters expansions into the mix, featuring the Grains and S'mores factions, with new fighters and unique team powers.