In Front of the Elevators Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Aim of the Game
• Setup
  • Family Cards
  • Elevator Cards
  • Person Cards (People, Person)
• One Player's Turn
  • 1. Playing Cards
  • Cut-In Ability
  • The Lost Child Ability
  • Cafe Rule
  • 2. Refilling Your Hand
• Ending a Round
• Scoring
  • Elevator Points
  • Double Scoring Rule
  • Lost Children Score 0 Rule
  • Cafe Points
  • Scoring Example (a 3-Player Game)
• Setting up the Next Round
• Credits

Components

49 cards in total

35 Person Cards (People, Person) — 5 Colors (blue, red, green, yellow, brown) with 7 each (colors also shown on backs)

Front: Girl, Boy, Mother, Father, Grandma, Grandpa, Lost Child

9 Elevator Cards

• Front: For 2 or 4 players
• Back: For 3 players

5 Family Cards — 1 for each color (blue, red, green, yellow, brown)

1 Score Pad

Rules in Japanese, English & French

Aim of the Game

Your goal is to help your family members get onto the next elevator, which can only hold a few more people. You score points for each of your family members who get on. If they get on the elevator that goes to their favorite floor you get double points. The game is played over 3 rounds. Scoring takes place at the end of each round. Players total their round scores to find a winner.

Setup

Family Cards

Player Count	Cards Taken
In 3 or 4-Player Games	Each player takes 1.
In 2-Player Games	Each player takes 2.

Family Cards show which color of Person Cards can score you points. Put this card in front of you, so that all players can see it. Set unused Family Cards aside.

Elevator Cards

Turn the Elevator Cards to the appropriate side for the number of players. Sort the elevator cards by color into 3 Groups, then stack each Group separately ordering by number ('I' 'II' 'III') with 'I' on top. Place them above one another in a single column in any order.

Person Cards (People, Person)

Follow these steps to prepare the Person Cards.

1. The number of Person Cards used varies by player count.

Player Count	Colors Used
In 2 or 4-player Games	All 5 Colors (35 cards)
In 3-player Games	4 Colors (27* Cards)

*Important: In a 3-player game, of the 4 used colors 1 color will not belong to any player. Remove 1 Person Card of that color, unseen, to the box. Also remove all 7 of the unused color's Person Cards.

2. Shuffle all of the used Person Cards together. Each player searches through the deck, looking only at the backs, to find 2 Random Person Cards of the same color as their Family Card. This is their starting hand.

* In a 2-player game each player takes 1 Person in each of their 2 Family Card colors, for a total of 2. If both of those People are Lost Children then choose 1 and draw a replacement Person with that color, then shuffle the chosen Lost Child back into the Deck.

3. Shuffle the remaining Person Cards into a stack and place 1 Person Card face up on the right of each elevator.

* If any Lost Child cards are drawn then replace them with other cards. If 3 of the same type of Person Cards are drawn then replace the last one drawn.

As the game progresses Person Cards are placed in a line to the right of each Elevator Card. These lines are called Elevator Lines, or Lines. The number of Person Cards in an Elevator Line is unlimited. The part of the line near the Elevator Card is called the Front the far away part is called the Rear.

4. The remaining Person Cards in the stack, remaining facedown, are split into 3 roughly equal piles, called Decks, and placed near the Elevator Cards.

This concludes the Setup. The person who most recently smoothly got on an elevator without waiting is the start player.

One Player's Turn

On your turn you choose one Person Card from your Hand and place it in an Elevator Line. After that you draw a card from a deck and your turn is over. The next player in clockwise order then takes a turn.

1. Playing Cards

Choose 1 card from your hand and place it in 1 of the 3 Elevator Lines. Generally you must add it to the very Rear of that Line. Person Cards (7 types in each color) each have a Cut-In Ability or a Lost Child Ability that may affect the line where they are placed. If they can use their ability in the selected line then they must apply it and move the affected cards.

Cut-In Ability

These 6 Types have Cut-In Abilities: Girls, Boys, Mothers, Fathers, Grandmas & Grandpas. (see Diagram on right)

After choosing an Elevator Line for the new Person Card we check which type of Person their Cut-In Ability lets them cut-in in front of. If there is a Person of that type in that Line then instead of being placed in the Rear the new Person must be placed in Front of (to the left of) the corresponding Person. If there are 2 People they could cut-in on then they must go to the Frontmost one.

*The Cut-In Ability is only dependent on type. The colors of the cards are ignored.

• Girls Cut-In on Boys.
• Boys Cut-In on Mothers.
• Mothers Cut-In on Fathers.
• Fathers Cut-In on Grandmas.
• Grandmas Cut-In on Grandpas.
• Grandpas Cut-In on Girls.

Example of Placement: The blue Father is being placed. There are 2 Grandmas in Line. He cuts-in in front of the Grandma closest to the Elevator.

The Lost Child Ability

The Lost Child Ability brings a same-colored Person in the same Line to the Rear of the Line. (The Lost Child never cuts in line.)

When a Lost Child is placed in a Line, and there is a Person of the same color then 1 card of that color must be moved to the Rear of the Line (to the right of the Lost Child).

If there are multiple People of the same color in the Line then the current player may choose which of those same-colored People to move back. If there are no People of the same color in the Line then nothing happens. People in the Line move forward to fill any spaces created.

*The Lost Child Ability only considers color. The types of the People are ignored.

Move 1 Person of the same color to the Rear.

Cafe Rule

When 3 of the same type of Person (ignoring color) are placed in the same Line then the Cafe Rule must be applied.

Those 3 People are removed from the line and placed face up (so the taken People can be seen) in front of the current player. Remaining People are moved forward to fill any space in Line.

*The Cafe Rule only considers Type. The colors of the People are ignored.

Place in front of player.

Special Example [Cafe Rule and Lost Children]

When placing a 3rd Lost Child the Cafe Rule is also applied. The Lost Child Ability is applied first then the Cafe Rule is applied.

2. Refilling Your Hand

The Current Player chooses 1 Deck (there are 3 at the beginning) and takes the top card into their hand. This completes their turn, and play continues with the next player clockwise.

As the round progresses there will be 1 or 2 empty Decks. The round still continues.

Ending a Round

When all 3 Decks have run out skip 2. (Refilling Your Hand). Each player will play 1 more time then the round will end, and we calculate scores. (Each player will have 1 unplayed Person remaining in their hand.)

Scoring

Calculate Scores (see below), and then write the scores on the Score Pad.

Elevator Points

The bottom part of each Elevator Card shows that Elevator's Capacity. The frontmost People can ride. Remove all the People farther away than the Elevator Capacity. Each Person who rode the Elevator gets points. The Person farthest back in Line gets the number of points written in the Rightmost Box on the bottom of the Elevator Card. Continue with the next Person Card to the left getting the points written in the next box to the left. This remains true even if the Elevator is not filled to Capacity.

The Player that receives the Person Card's Elevator Points is the Player with the Family Card of the same color.

The number of Boxes on the Bottom of the Elevator Card shows how many People can score on that Elevator. 4 People can score on this Elevator (example shown: 2 Pts. / 2 Pts. / 3 Pts. / 4 Pts.).

Double Scoring Rule

On each Elevator there are 2 types of People pictured. When the pictured types of People score on that Line their score is doubled.

Lost Children Score 0 Rule

Lost Children are counted when determining score order, but they always score 0 Points.

Cafe Points

Players earn points for each stack of People, from the Cafe Rule, in front of them.

Type	Points
Girls, Boys, Mothers, Fathers, Grandmas, Grandpas	1 Pt. per set of 3
Lost Child	2 Pts. per set of 3

Scoring Example (a 3-Player Game)

The Player with the Green Family Card: Grandpa: 6 Pts. (3 Pts.×2)+ Lost Child: 0 Pts.+Girl: 8 Pts. (4 Pts.×2) = 14 Pts.

The Player with the Red Family Card: Mother: 4 Pts.+Boy: 2 Pts.+Grandma: 2 Pts. + Cafe: 2 Pts. (1+1) = 10 Pts.

The Player with the Blue Family Card: Father: 3 Pts.+Mother: 10 Pts. (5 Pts.×2) + Cafe: 2 Pts.(Lost Child=2 Pts.) = 15 Pts.

Setting up the Next Round

• Return the top Elevator Card from each Elevator Group to the box.
• Take all the Person Cards used in the last Round (including the People left in Player's hands) and shuffle them, then set up the Round as in the first Round. (In a 3-player game the removed card stays removed, so the same 27 Cards are used.)
• Players continue using the same Family Card.
• The player who scored the most points in the previous round is the next start player. (In case of a tie the player nearest the last start player in turn order.)

Play 3 Rounds. The player who has the highest combined score wins. If tied, then all tied players win.

Credits

Graphic design: Saashi & Saashi Proofreader: HAL99 Translation (EN): Nathan Hunley Japanese Logo: Etsuko Nakagawa

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