Hibachi Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Ingredients
• Preparation
• Method
  • Object of the Game
  • Playing the Game
  • Step 1: Throwing chips
  • Step 2: Cleaning the cooking area
  • Step 3: Selling and buying ingredients
  • Step 4: Cooking recipes
  • Ending and Winning the Game
  • Beginning of a New Round
• Credits

Ingredients

• 54 Ingredient cards
• 10 Chili cards
• 18 Recipe cards
• 24 throwing chips (6 in each player colour, with the values 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 & 600 on one side)
• 42 paper Yen (12 x 100¥, 12 x 200¥, 12 x 500¥, 6 x 1000¥)
• 1 wooden soy sauce bottle
• 1 game board
• Rule book

Preparation

1. Give each player the 6 chips of their chosen colour and 2000¥.
2. Sort the remaining money in a supply next to the game board.
3. Place the 10 chili cards in a face up pile near the board. Shuffle the remaining 54 ingredient cards and the recipe cards and place them face down in separate draw piles near the board.
4. Then, draw 3 recipe cards and place them face up near the game board, and 6 ingredient cards which are placed face up onto (or next to) their matching slots around the edge of the game board.
5. Finally, whoever cooked most recently is the head chef (start player) and gets the soy sauce bottle. (You may also choose the head chef randomly.)

The game set up for 4 players.

Method

Object of the Game

Welcome to the hibachi chef cooking contest! In order to be the first to complete three recipes, each chef will throw their chips onto the cooking area to buy and sell the ingredients they need to cook various recipes.

But competing to be the best hibachi chef is not as simple as throwing things where you want them to go - perhaps a better move will be to knock the other chefs' chips around!

After each round of throwing is complete, money and ingredients will change hands, and if a chef is ready, they will then cook a dish to perfection. The first to complete three recipes will be the one who impresses the customers enough to win!

Playing the Game

Beginning with the player holding the soy sauce bottle, players will take turns clockwise around the table. Every game round includes four steps:

1. Throwing chips
2. Cleaning the cooking area
3. Selling and buying ingredients
4. Cooking recipes

After that, the soy sauce bottle is handed to the player on the current head chef's left and a new round will begin. The game will continue in this way until one player has completed three recipes!

The four steps of each round will now be explained in detail...

Step 1: Throwing chips

Starting with the head chef, each player, in turn, throws one of their chips onto the cooking area face down if possible (in order to keep the value of each chip a secret). This continues until all chefs have thrown the correct number of chips for the round. (In a 2- and 3-player game, each chef throws 4 chips per round; while in a 4-player game, chefs throw 3 chips per round). It is up to each chef to decide which chip they will throw on their turn, from their selection of six.

Note that it is legal to knock other players' chips around the game board with your throws!

Important throwing rules:

• Chips are considered "invalid" after a throw if their centre hole is not lying inside a bowl, or within an action space. If the edge of a bowl or the edge of a space is visible through the chip's hole, the chip is considered "on" that bowl or space, and therefore "valid." (Part of any overhanging ingredient's artwork is also counted, but not the bowls' shadows.) In case of any doubt, the head chef will decide! Do not remove any invalid throws during Step 1 - it is possible that an invalid chip is knocked into a valid position by a subsequent throw.

  » In this image, all chips are considered "on" a valid space, except for the black and white chip (looking through its hole you cannot see any part of the egg ingredient space):

• If a chip lands face up on the board it is still considered a valid throw, however every chef will now know the chip's value!

• Each chip that lands on top of (or beyond) the raised edge of the game board is out of the game for the current round. Another chip may not be thrown in its place.

• While throwing, your hand may never extend above the outside edge of the game board. If the other chefs at the table believe unanimously as a group that a player has reached too far over the edge of the board when they threw a chip, the thrown chip should be considered "invalid," and be removed from the cooking area. Players may not look at the value of this chip (unless it landed face up). Despite this rule, it is okay for players to stand up or move from their seat to throw their chips!

Step 2: Cleaning the cooking area

Once all chefs have thrown the required number of chips for the round, the cooking area is then cleared of its chips in a specific order. During this phase, players will buy and sell ingredient cards, but first the smaller action spaces on the cooking area will be resolved.

The action spaces are cleaned and resolved in the following order. To clean the space, the head chef flips over every chip considered to be "on" the action space to reveal their values. Then, the chef with the highest total value of all the chips that were on the space may perform the space's special action. (If there is a tie for the highest total value of chips on any action space, the tied chef who is the current head chef breaks the tie and earns the right to perform the action. If the head chef is not one of the tied chefs, the chef who is nearer the head chef in clockwise order breaks the tie!)

Note that if no chips landed on a space then it is simply ignored and not resolved.

BONUS THROW: First, resolve this action space. The chef with the highest total value of chips on this action space may immediately throw an additional chip onto the cooking area, using one of the chips they did not already throw this round. If in doing so, one or more chips land on the Bonus Throw action space, the action is not carried out a second time.

BONUS INGREDIENT: Second, clean and resolve this space. The chef with the highest value here draws the same number of ingredient cards from the face down draw pile as the first digit of their highest value chip that landed on this action space (for example: "500" chip = 5 cards). From these cards the chef may select ONE to keep and returns the other ingredient cards face down to the bottom of the draw pile.

RESERVE A RECIPE: Third, clean and resolve this space. Here, the winning chef takes the top recipe card from the draw pile, looks at it, and places it face down on the table in front of themselves. This recipe is reserved exclusively for this chef to attempt to cook later on. There is no limit to the number of recipes a player may reserve (as long as there are cards remaining in the recipe card deck).

NEW HEAD CHEF: Finally, the current head chef will clean and resolve this space. The winning chef takes the soy sauce bottle from the current head chef and immediately becomes the new head chef. If no chips landed on this space then the current head chef keeps the soy sauce!

Once the action spaces are resolved, chili cards are then handed out to players. Starting with the head chef and going around the table, players receive 1 chili card for each of their invalid chips (chips sitting on the red areas of the board). If a player needs to take a chili card and there are no cards remaining, the player (or players if there is a tie) with the most chili cards must immediately return ALL of their chili cards to the draw pile. Then the player(s) who need to take chili card(s) may do so.

Step 3: Selling and buying ingredients

After resolving all the small action spaces and handing out chili, the head chef will clean and resolve all the larger ingredient bowl spaces on the cooking area. First, the head chef returns any invalid chips back to their owners. Then, the ingredient spaces are cleaned and resolved in an order decided by the head chef!

After choosing an ingredient bowl to clean and resolve, the head chef must reveal the values of all the chips considered to be in the ingredient bowl. These chips will determine the cost of selling and buying this particular ingredient. Selling MUST occur before buying for each ingredient (see below). After the ingredient bowl is resolved and players have sold and then bought this ingredient (if they want to), the head chef will then clean the current ingredient bowl of all its chips and will select the next ingredient bowl to resolve, until no chips are left on the cooking area.

SELLING INGREDIENTS: After the head chef has revealed all the chips that were lying in the selected ingredient bowl, any chef who has at least one ingredient card of the type shown in the bowl may sell their card(s) – even if none of their own chips were lying on this spice bowl. For each card sold, a chef will receive as much money from the supply as the total value of all chips that were lying on this bowl. Any sold cards are placed face up in an ingredient card discard pile. Once all sales have been made, any "sellers" that had one or more chips lying on this ingredient bowl must take all their chips back. (These chefs will not then be able to buy this ingredient this round!)

For example: The blue player has an egg card that she decides she needs to sell to get some money. She places it in the ingredient card discard pile and takes 700¥ (the total of all the chip values in the egg bowl).

The red player also sells two egg cards (for 1400¥), even though he has no chips in the bowl.

No other players wish to sell an egg card, so the blue player removes her chips from this bowl (as she sold an egg card), leaving just the 100 green chip in the bowl for the buying phase (see below).

BUYING INGREDIENTS: After players have had the chance to sell an ingredient, if at least one ingredient card matching the chosen bowl is face up in the corresponding slot on the edge of the cooking area, it may now be purchased. A chef may buy this ingredient if at least one of their chips is still lying on this ingredient bowl. (So, if you had sold this ingredient in the current round you may not buy it again now.) The chef whose chip(s) have the highest total value in this bowl, may buy first. That chef, if they wish to purchase ONE matching ingredient card, must pay the same amount of yen as the total values of all THEIR chips currently lying in the bowl. After doing so, the chef takes their most valuable (or only) chip back from the bowl. If one or more cards of this ingredient are still on display, the player whose chips NOW have the highest total value in this bowl, may make the next purchase. (This can also be the same player as before.) After that, this buyer also pays the value of their chips in Yen to the supply and removes their most valuable chip from the bowl. This proceeds until there are no cards of this ingredient still available, or no chips are left in the bowl, or nobody wants to buy any more. Remember that a chef may only buy a single card with each purchase!

If the chips of several players have the same total value, then the player who is sitting closer to the head chef in clockwise order goes first. Even if you don't want to (or are unable to) buy an ingredient card, you must take your highest valued chip back from the bowl when you have the current highest total value of chips.

Note: Any unsold ingredient cards remain lying on the edge of the board for the next round.

For example: There are two egg cards currently available for chefs to purchase. The green player would like to buy one, but their total value of chips in the egg bowl equals 700 and the green player doesn't have 700¥. The green player passes and removes their highest value chip (600).

The black player then buys one of the egg cards for 200¥ (their chip total), and then removes their 200 value chip.

As there is still an egg card available, and the green player still has a chip in the bowl, they decide to buy the card. It now costs only 100 Yen! Hooray!

Step 4: Cooking recipes

After all the ingredient bowls have been resolved and no chips remain on the cooking area, it's time to hit the grill! Starting with the head chef and continuing clockwise around the table, each player may now put together one of the recipes that are displayed face up on the table, and/or any number of their reserved recipe cards that lie face down in front of them from earlier in the game. If a chef is able to cook a recipe, they must discard the three ingredient cards listed on the chosen recipe card and place the completed recipe card face up in front of them.

Using chili: When completing a recipe, a player may return 2 chili cards to the chili deck as a replacement for any one ingredient required on the recipe. This may only be done once per recipe card!

Note: A chef may only complete ONE of the face up recipes each round (but as many of their reserved recipes as they can). It is possible that the available recipe cards are all taken before every player gets the chance to cook one!

Ending and Winning the Game

When a player has successfully cooked their third recipe card, the game is over immediately and that player is declared the greatest hibachi chef in town!

Beginning of a New Round

...If, however, all four steps of the round have been completed in order, and the game has not been won, perform the following steps to get ready for the next round:

1. The current head chef passes the soy sauce bottle to the player on their left.
2. If required, new recipe cards are drawn from the recipe card deck and placed face up near the board. (If no recipes were cooked in the previous round, then no new cards will be drawn.)
3. Finally, draw 6 new ingredient cards and place these in their matching slots around the game board. If ingredient cards remain in these slots from the previous round, do not remove them. Unlike the recipe cards, the new batch of ingredients is simply added to what remains.

Note: If the ingredient card draw pile is ever used up, simply shuffle the discard pile and place them face down as the new draw pile.

Credits

Hibachi was designed by Marco Teubner and illustrated by Kerri Aitken.

Marco Teubner thanks all the playtesters who have contributed to the development of the game, in particular Iain Adams, Sebastian Bleasdale, Drak, Gavin Hamilton, Ross Inglis, Kevin Jacklin, and Dave Spring.

Hibachi is ©2021 Grail Games & Marco Teubner. All rights reserved. This production is ©2021 Grail Games. The Hibachi logo is © Grail Games. The Grail Games goblet is TM and © Grail Games. All rights reserved. Printed in China.