License to Grill Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Component List
• Setup
• Overview
  • Card Anatomy
• Your First Turn
• On Every Turn After Your First
• Take Two Actions
• Ending the Game
• Action Reference
• The Warming Rack
• Turn Order Summary

Component List

• 32 tokens marked "1"
• 15 tokens marked "5"
• 2 Temperature Knobs
• 23 Recipe Cards with a red (meat) strip
• 16 Recipe Cards with a green (veggie) strip
• 39 Food Tiles (red, green and yellow shapes)
• 50 cubes
• 5 Player Boards
• 1 Grill board
• 1 Serving Table (tablecloth)

The component list is printed as pictures; the item names above describe the printed images and follow the printed counts.

Setup

1. Install the Temperature Knobs in the grill top and set them to the flame icon.
2. Sort the Food Tiles into separate piles by type.
3. Place the cubes within reach of all players.
4. Shuffle the Meat Recipe Cards to make the Meat Cooler Deck.
5. Shuffle the Veggie Recipe Cards to make the Veggie Cooler Deck.
6. Flip 3 Recipe Cards from each Cooler Deck to reveal the available recipes in each Cooler.
7. Set up the serving table by folding the tablecloth to the length based on player count.
8. Give each player a Player Board.

Once the game is set up the way it looks in the diagram, you're ready to play!

Warning: Grill requires 3-5 players to operate. Caution: GTG-9000 requires 30-45 minutes per 'cook'.

Overview

You are all grill masters at an epic but poorly organized neighborhood cookout. The goal of the game is to impress your neighbors by serving the most delicious food. However, there is only one grill available, and only two coolers packed full of randomly assorted food, one for veggies and one for meats.

The player who prepared food most recently goes first. On each player's turn, they have two actions which they can spend to do various things. On your first turn, you don't have anything to cook, so you must spend your first action grabbing something out of one of the coolers!

Card Anatomy

1. Food Tile shape
2. Recipe name (and accompanying joke)
3. Where it can be cooked (meat, vegetable, or both)
4. Prepare track
5. Season bonus
6. Grill track
7. Sauce bonus
8. Rest track

Your First Turn

Take a quick look at the six face-up recipes and select the one you want to prepare. Grab the Recipe Card and place it in front of you, refilling its place by flipping the top card of the appropriate Cooler Deck.

Next, go find the matching Food Tile and place it on the green Prepare area of your Player Board. It won't be a problem on your first turn, but remember: if you can't fit the food tile for a recipe in your Prepare space, you can't take it!

Finally, grab a cube and place it on the left-most square of the green Prepare track on the Recipe Card.

Congratulations, you have taken your first action! You've still got your second action, and now you've got choices.

1. You could Prepare another recipe, just like you did with the first recipe.
2. If the Recipe Card you Prepared with your first action has any Season bonus squares, you could Season your recipe by placing a cube there. You can ONLY Season items while they are on the Prepare section of your Player Board!
3. You could slap your food on the grill! To Grill an item, grab the Food Tile from the Prepare section of your Player Board and place it on the grill. Food Tiles must be placed on the appropriate side of the grill (meat on the red side, vegetables on the green side), and they must touch either an edge of the grill or another Food Tile. Food Tiles can be placed on either the Main Grill or on the Warming Rack. Food on the Main Grill can cook faster than on the Warming Rack. Once you've placed the Food Tile on the grill, grab a cube and place it on the left-most square of the red Grill track on the Recipe Card. Finally, when you place something on the grill (and ONLY when you place something on the grill!), you may change the grill's temperature one click up or down on that side.

Play proceeds around the table clockwise with each player taking their first turn as described above. Once you get back to the first player, they have a few more options available! However, before they can decide how to spend their actions, time passes and food gets more cooked (or gets closer to spoiled!)

On Every Turn After Your First

At the start of your turn and before you take any actions, a track advances on each of your Recipe Card(s) depending on where its corresponding Food Tile is. (You don't have to worry about this in the first round, because you don't start the game with any Recipe Cards.)

• Prepare Track: If your Food Tile is in the Prepare area of your player board, advance the Prepare track 1 space.

Each Food has a limited amount of turns that it can be left out before it spoils. Fortunately, since cubes on the Prepare track only move 1 space per round, you always know how long a Food can wait before it goes bad.

• Grill Track: If your food tile is on the Grill, advance the Grill track a number of spaces equal to the number shown on that side's Temperature Knob. (The source text drops the symbol before "on that side"; the Turn Order Summary below gives the same rule as "the temperature knob".) It either moves 1, 2, or 3 spaces if it is on the Main Grill, or 1 or 2 spaces if it is on the Warming Rack. If you are cooking a yellow recipe, it may be on either side of the grill (meat and/or vegetable) in which case you choose which Temperature Knob to apply to your Recipe Card. Once a Food has begun cooking, the Prepare track no longer moves.

Planning around the grill temperature is key, as each food has an ideal cooking temperature, where the point value (indicated by the numbers on the Grill track) is highest, but if you over or undercook the food, point values start dropping!

• Rest Track: If your food tile is in the Rest area of your player board, advance the Rest track 1 space. Keep the grill cube in place to show how "done" the Food was when it was taken off the grill, so you can add up points for it when the recipe is served.

Much like the Prepare track, a cube on the Rest track moves 1 space at a time, so you know how long it can remain out before it's cold. Most foods are worth less and less (as indicated by the numbers on the track) the longer they stay out... though some, like steak, actually benefit from a short rest!

If a cube is moved onto a space showing the ruined (trash can) symbol, the food is ruined and the Recipe Card and its Food Tile are removed from the game.

Take Two Actions

After you've advanced all of your Recipe Cards, take two actions! Just like your first turn, you can choose to Prepare a new recipe, Season a recipe sitting in your Prepare area, or Grill an item sitting in your Prepare area. However, now you can potentially choose three other actions!

1. If a recipe is currently Grilling and has any Sauce bonus squares, you could Sauce your recipe by placing a cube there. You can ONLY Sauce items while they are on the Grill!
2. You could pull one of your recipes off of the grill and let it Rest! Move the Food Tile for one of your Recipe Cards from the grill and place it in the Rest area of your player board. Once you've placed the Food Tile on your player board, grab a cube and place it on the left-most square of the blue Rest track on the Recipe Card.
3. You could Serve one of the recipes you currently have Resting! Move the Food Tile for one of your Recipe Cards from the Rest area of your player board and place it on any open spaces on the Tablecloth where the Food Tile can fit without overlapping any other Food Tile or the edge of the Tablecloth. (If you can't fit the Food Tile on the table, then you can't serve it, so keep an eye on how much space is left!)

There are many icons on the table that can be covered by Food Tiles. After placing the Food, you may immediately take any actions that were covered by that Food Tile, in the order of your choosing. (Any unused or unusable actions are lost.)

Then, count up the points for how well the recipe was cooked, indicated by the numbers covered on your Recipe Card: Prepare cube + Season cube + Grill cube + Sauce cube + Rest cube. Take Scoring Tokens from the supply equal to the number of earned points. The minimum a Recipe Card is allowed to score is 0. If a recipe would be worth a negative amount of points, it counts as 0. Finally, flip the served Food's Recipe Card face down next to your player board to indicate how many Recipes you have grilled and served.

And that's it! You've now learned everything you need to know to play License to Grill! Play continues clockwise with each player advancing tracks and then taking two actions on their turn.

Ending the Game

Once one player successfully serves their fourth dish, each other player gets to take 1 final turn, then the player with the highest score wins!

In the event of a tie, the player with the most Recipes completed wins. If you still have a tie after that, the person that completed the largest single Recipe (count the squares of the Food Tile shape on the recipe card) wins. If you still have a tie after that, you both win! Congratulations!

Action Reference

PREPARE - Get something out of the cooler and ready to grill!

Not actually a game mechanic, but you should wash your hands. Don't be gross!

• Take one of the six available face up Recipe Cards.
• Refill its place by flipping the top card of the appropriate Cooler Deck.
• Take the matching Food Tile from the supply and put it in the Prepare area of your player board on any open spaces where the Food Tile can fit without overlapping any other Food Tile.
• Place a cube from the supply on the first space of the Prepare track. It won't advance until your next turn.

SEASON - A tasty marinade before cooking can make anything better!

Not everything tastes better with marinade. Ice cream, for instance.

• This action can ONLY be done while the Food Tile is in the Prepare area of your Player Board, and if the Recipe Card has at least 1 Season bonus space uncovered.
• Place a cube from the supply on an available Season space on one of your Recipe Cards. Each Season space covered is worth 1 bonus point when the food is served.

GRILL - The meat and potatoes of the game!

Among other available food.

• Move the Food Tile for one of your Recipe Cards from the Prepare area of your player board to the grill, ensuring it touches the side of the grill or another Food Tile.
• You may not move another Player's Food Tiles.
• Place a cube from the supply on the first space on the Grill track to indicate that the food has begun cooking. It won't advance until your next turn.
• Meat may only be placed on the meat side of the grill.
• Vegetables may only be placed on the vegetable side of the grill.
• Some Food is cooked in or on a dish. These types of food are indicated by a yellow background. They may be placed on either side of the grill; they may even be placed across the line that separates the meat and vegetable sections of the grill.
• After placing a Food Tile on the grill, you may adjust the Temperature Knob up or down 1 click. Which Temperature Knob you may adjust depends on where you placed your Food Tile.
  • If it is placed on the Meat side, you may adjust the corresponding knob.
  • If it is placed on the Vegetable side, you may adjust the corresponding knob.
  • If it is placed across the line that separates the meat and vegetable sections, you may adjust either knob, but only one.
• You cannot remove a Food Tile from the grill on the same turn that you put it on.

SAUCE - The secret ingredient of any sauce is love! Sauce your food while it cooks to add flavor!

The precise amount of "love" is a secret.

• This action can ONLY be done while the Food Tile is on the grill, and if the Recipe Card has at least 1 Sauce space uncovered.
• Place a cube from the supply on an available Sauce space on one of your Recipe Cards.
• Each Sauce space covered is worth 1 bonus point when the food is served.

REST - Let the food sit for a minute before serving!

Five to ten, in the case of steak.

• Move the Food Tile for one of your Recipe Cards from the grill and place it in the Rest area of your player board on any open spaces where the Food Tile can fit without overlapping any other Food Tile or the edge of your player board.
• Add a cube from the supply to the first space of the Rest track on the Recipe Card.
• It won't advance until your next turn.

SERVE - Get that food to the table! The diners await your perfectly grilled and rested treats!

Also your burnt and cold "treats".

• Only food that has been placed on the grill and cooked can go onto the table.
• Yes, even things like pineapple!
• Move the Food Tile for one of your Recipe Cards from the Rest area of your player board and place it on any open spaces on the Tablecloth where the Food Tile can fit without overlapping any other Food Tile or the edge of the Tablecloth.
• There are many icons on the Tablecloth that can be covered by Food Tiles. After placing the Food, you may immediately take any actions that were covered by that Food Tile, in the order that you wish. Any unused or unusable actions are lost.
• If you can't fit the Food Tile on the table, then you can't serve it, so keep an eye on how much space is left!
• Score the Food that was just placed on the table.
• The points for how well it was cooked are indicated by the numbers covered on your Recipe Card: Prepare cube + Season cube + Grill cube + Sauce cube + Rest cube.
• Flip the served Food's Recipe Card face down next to your player board to indicate how many Recipes you have grilled and served.

The Warming Rack

Placing Food Tiles on the Warming Rack

The upper section of the grill is just like the Main Grill but a little less hot. When taking the Grill action, you can place Food Tiles directly onto the Warming Rack, following the same rules for placement as the Main Grill. You also get to adjust the Temperature Knob.

Moving to or from the Warming Rack

You can also freely move each of your recipes between the Main Grill and the Warming Rack, using the following rules:

• Move a Food Tile from the Main Grill to the Warming Rack, or vice versa, respecting all placement rules.
• This may be done once per turn to each Food Tile of yours on the grill.
• This DOES NOT use up an action.
• You do not get to adjust the temperature when moving Food Tiles this way.

Turn Order Summary

Advance Your Recipes

• If your Food Tile is in the Prepare area of your player board, advance the cube on the Prepare track one space.
• If your Food Tile is on the Grill, advance the cube on the Grill track a number of spaces equal to the temperature knob.
• If your Food Tile is in the Rest area of your player board, advance the cube on the Rest track one space.
• If a cube is moved onto a ruined space, the food is ruined and the Recipe Card and its Food Tile are removed from the game.

Take Two Actions

• PREPARE - Start a recipe
• SEASON - Season a recipe
• GRILL - Grill a recipe
• SAUCE - Sauce a recipe
• REST - Rest a recipe
• SERVE - Serve a recipe

Free Action

You can move each food tile you own to or from the warming rack once per turn.

End Game

When any player has served their fourth recipe they finish their turn and all other players take one more turn to finish the game. Highest score wins.