Mad Science Foundation Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Objectives
• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Phase 1: Resource Awarding
  • Phase 2: Experimentation
• Inventions
  • Constructing Inventions
  • Activating Inventions
  • Invention Categories
  • Unstable Clones
• Resources
• Minions
• Quirks
• Summary of a Round

Game Objectives

While total world domination is the ultimate goal of any worthwhile Mad Scientist, the first step is to prove to the world that the Scientist should be taken seriously. To that end, each Mad Scientist in the game aims to maximize his or her own Infamy, which comes from 3 sources:

1. Extraordinary Inventions
2. Quirk cards (Infamy acquired for appeasing your personal quirks)
3. Control of the Sassy AI (more on this later, see: Minions)

Each Scientist tracks his or her Infamy on the Infamy Track.

The game ends when the entire Invention deck has been depleted. At the end of that round, Scientists reveal their secret Quirk cards and total their Infamy. The one with the most Infamy is declared the winner!

Components

• Infamy Track
• 42 Scientific Resource Cards
• 5 Minion Resource Cards
• 6 Quirk Cards
• 4 Headquarters Cards
• 30 Invention Cards
• 1 Sassy AI Standee
• 1 Crooked Director Standee
• 1 Truckload O' Cash Standee
• 1 Spy Standee
• 4 Player Markers

Setup

1. Shuffle the Quirk cards, and then deal 1 face down to each Scientist. Scientists may look at their Quirk cards but shouldn't show them to the others.
2. Shuffle the Headquarters cards. Deal 1 face up to each Scientist. Place each card sideways to indicate that it is merely a prototype and is not yet constructed (see: Inventions). Return any unused Headquarters cards to the box; they won't be used in this game.
3. Each Scientist takes the Player Marker that matches the icon on his or her Headquarters card and places it at "0" on the Infamy Track.
4. Set aside the Overworked Researcher Minion card, and then shuffle the remaining Minion cards into the Resource cards and place them face down beside the Infamy Track to form the Resource deck.
5. Form the Invention deck and place the Overworked Researcher Minion card based on the number of players in your game:
   • 2 Players: Shuffle the Invention cards without a "3+" or "4" player symbol on them and place them face down beside the Infamy Track. Return the remaining Invention cards and the Overworked Researcher Minion card to the box; they won't be used this game.
   • 3 Players: Shuffle the Invention cards without a "4" player symbol on them and place them face down beside the Infamy Track. Place the Overworked Researcher Minion card at the bottom of the shuffled Resource deck.
   • 4 Players: Shuffle all the Invention cards, and then put the Overworked Researcher Minion card in play face up beside the Infamy Track.
6. The oldest player takes the Crooked Director standee and thus controls the Director for the first round.
7. Place the Truckload O' Cash, Sassy AI, and Spy standees aside. You'll need them later.

NOTE: Want to play a shorter game? Reduce the number of Invention cards in the deck by pulling 4 (for a 2-player game), 7 (for a 3-player game), or 10 (for a 4-player game) out randomly. Have fun doing whatever you think is so much better than playing this game!

(Diagram: Setup for a 3-player game. Shows the Infamy Track, the Resource deck, the Invention deck, the Discard Pile, and each Player's Inventions and Resources.)

Gameplay

Every round has 2 phases. During the Resource Awarding phase, the player controlling the Director divides up the Resources and prototype Inventions awarded by the Mad Science Foundation. Each Scientist then takes a turn to acquire the grouping of his or her choice.

Phase 1: Resource Awarding

1. The Scientist who controls the Director for this round collects Resources and prototype Inventions to split into a number of piles equal to the number of Scientists. To perform this task, this Scientist first reveals the top card of the Invention deck (top 2 cards if the Overworked Researcher Minion card is in play). The Scientist who controls the Director also grabs cards from the Resource deck based on the following chart:

   Players	2	3	4
   Resources	3	4	5

2. If any Minion cards are revealed from the Resource deck, place them off to the side and move their standees to the center of the table. The Scientist controlling the Director should draw another card from the Resource deck for every Minion card that is revealed in a round, so that there will always be the required number of Resource cards.

3. If any Minion cards were revealed in earlier rounds, place their Minion standees at the center of the table (players do not keep Minion cards beyond the end of a round). Even if the Crooked Director Minion standee is at the center of the table (either just revealed or revealed in an earlier round), the player who was Director at the beginning of the round maintains Director duties for now. More on Minion cards and standees later (see: Minions).

4. The Scientist controlling the Director carefully divides the revealed cards and Minion standees into a number of piles equal to the number of Scientists in the game (e.g., 3 piles if it's a 3-player game). It's very unlikely that these piles will be of equivalent size or value. Each pile must contain at least 1 card.

NOTE: Although controlling the Director allows you to wield an impressive amount of power, it can also be a detriment -- you'll always get last pick of the Resources and Inventions.

(Diagram: Resource Awarding Sample Piles for a 3-player game. "Are there really any bad choices? Yes.")

Phase 2: Experimentation

Starting with the Scientist who controls the Director and continuing clockwise, each Scientist may perform the following actions in any order:

Construct Invention: Construct 1 Invention by discarding the Resource cards shown at the bottom of the Invention card, then turning the card upright to show that it's now a constructed Invention. This action may be used only once during each Experimentation phase.

Activate an Invention by pressing the button on a constructed Invention. This action may be performed any number of times during each Experimentation phase, but each Invention may be Activated only once per round.

If the Crooked Director Minion card hasn't been revealed, the Director standee is passed to the left and a new round begins. All revealed Minion cards and standees are relinquished by players at the start of the next round and are placed back in the center of the table, ready to be included in piles by the Director again.

NOTE: The Scientist who controls the Director divides the piles in the Resource Awarding phase, then is the first to construct and activate Inventions in the Experimentation phase. Once the Crooked Director card is in play, controller of the Director may be two different people during the same round, as the standee will change hands in the middle of the round instead of at the end.

Inventions

Inventions are powerful technologies, devices, buildings, and one-time occurrences that you can leverage in your quest to become the world's most infamous Mad Scientist. Every Scientist's first Invention is his or her Headquarters, so each player begins the game with 1 Headquarters as a prototype Invention. Scientists will have to choose if they want to construct their Headquarters.

Constructing Inventions

Whenever you acquire an Invention, it starts as a prototype Invention, with the Invention card turned sideways to indicate you haven't constructed it yet. In order to construct an Invention and reap its benefits, you may, during the Experimentation phase, discard the Resource cards shown on the bottom of the Invention and then turn the Invention card upright. At this point, it becomes "constructed." You may construct no more than 1 Invention per turn.

(Example: In order to construct this Invention, a Scientist would have to spend 3 Cryptomium.)

Activating Inventions

Every Invention card has a big red button in the middle. You may press this button on each of your constructed Inventions once per turn in the Experimentation phase, thereby activating the Invention and gaining its effects.

(Example: Discard 1 Cryptomium to gain 2 Infamy.)

Occasionally, Inventions will allow you to activate them only when a certain stipulation is met. Common stipulations include: "If you control the Director," "If you've constructed an Invention this turn," and "If you acquired an X Resource card during the Resource Awarding phase."

(Example: Activate to gain 2 Infamy, but only if you control the Director.)

Some Inventions have an arrow as part of their ability. When you activate these Inventions, you may discard whatever is shown on the LEFT side of the arrow to gain whatever is shown on the RIGHT side of the arrow once per round. If you do not have the item shown on the left side or do not wish to spend the required Resource, you cannot activate the Invention.

In addition, some Inventions allow you to gain certain Resources from the discard pile. If the Resource isn't in the discard pile, you can't get it.

What would an Invention be without a big red button?

Invention Categories

A few Inventions belong to special categories, symbolized by icons on the Invention cards. Certain Quirk cards may have special interactions with Inventions that feature the Facility and Mastermind icons. If you don't have one of these Quirk cards, don't worry about these two icons.

The icons are: Facility, Mastermind, and Self-Destructing (Invention must be destroyed after activation).

Unstable Clones

An Unstable Clone can be activated during any round for 2 Infamy. Alternately, you can wait and activate multiple Unstable Clones for an exponentially bigger Infamy bonus, since each Unstable Clone card earns 2 additional Infamy for each other Unstable Clone that is activated in the same round. So, for example, if you have 3 constructed Unstable Clones and activate each of them in the same round, EACH Unstable Clone earns you 6 Infamy. This means you would earn 18 Infamy in a single round!

Resources

Most Resource cards are very simple: Each card provides 1 Resource of the type depicted. The Resource deck contains the following amount of each Resource:

• 15 Cryptomium
• 12 Lasers
• 9 Dark Matter
• 6 Sharks

The Resource cards the Scientists have collected are public knowledge, so each Scientist should spread his or her Resources out to make them visible to everyone else.

Minions

Minion cards are hidden amongst the Resource cards and call forth lackeys of differing abilities who can be recruited to your cause for 1 round. When revealed, place the Minion card to the side of the game and its standee in the center of the table, as they are now part of the Resources to be awarded in the round. The one exception is the Overworked Researcher Minion card, which does not have a standee. For every Minion card that the Scientist controlling the Director reveals, he or she should draw another Resource card from the Resource deck so that there will always be the required number of Resource cards. A player who gains a Minion card in one round relinquishes it and its standee during the Resource Awarding phase of the next round, allowing it to be included in the piles with the Resource and Invention cards again. Here are details on the different Minions:

Truckload O' Cash -- The Scientist who acquires the Truckload O' Cash card can spend it as 1 of any Resource, but only during this round. If it isn't spent this round, it cannot be saved. (NOTE: A few Inventions refer to Resource cards. Although the Truckload O' Cash can be spent as any Resource, it is not a Resource card.)

Sassy AI -- When acquired, the Sassy AI Minion immediately awards 2 Infamy (i.e., the Scientist who gets the card moves up 2 on the Infamy Track).

Spy -- At the end of the Resource Awarding phase (before any Scientist has constructed or activated any Inventions), the Scientist who acquired the Spy card immediately places the Spy standee on 1 Invention card belonging to an opponent. Constructed Inventions with the Spy on them cannot be activated this round, and prototype Inventions with the Spy on them cannot be constructed this round.

Overworked Researcher -- The Overworked Researcher is the only Minion who doesn't have a standee. When the Overworked Researcher Minion card has been revealed, it adds a second prototype Invention to the awarded Resources each round. In a 4-player game, this Minion starts out revealed next to the Infamy Track. In a 2-player game, this Minion is not used. In a 3-player game, place this card on the bottom of the Resource deck at the start of the game.

Crooked Director -- After this Minion card is revealed, the Director standee is no longer passed left at the end of each round. Instead, the Director standee is controlled by whoever acquires it during the Resource Awarding phase (the player's control begins in the Experimentation phase).

Quirks

Once the Invention draw deck has been depleted, the last round of the game is played. At the conclusion, each Scientist reveals his or her Quirk card and moves up on the Infamy track based on what the card says. There's no way to know who'll have the most Infamy until the very end! Here's a rundown of the different Quirk cards:

NOTE: Playing to your personal Quirks is nice, but every Mad Scientist knows that the most Infamy always comes from Inventions. Don't go mad trying to satisfy your Quirk. Or madder, technically.

The Saboteur -- At the end of the game: Choose an opponent. Gain 1 Infamy for each prototype Invention that opponent has.

The Megalomaniac -- At the end of the game: Gain 3 Infamy for each constructed Facility Invention you have.

The Procrastinator -- At the end of the game, after your opponents have received their Quirk bonuses: Discard the Spy from your Inventions. You control the Director. Take 1 final Experimentation turn (construct up to 1 Invention and activate your constructed Inventions, if able).

The Hoarder -- At the end of the game: Gain 1 Infamy for each leftover Resource you have.

The Tinkerer -- At the end of the game: Gain 1 Infamy for each constructed Invention you have.

The Mastermind -- Gain 4 Infamy for each constructed Mastermind Invention you have.

Summary of a Round

1. The Scientist who controls the Director assembles the Resource cards, Invention cards, and standees for that round and divides them into piles.
2. Starting with the Scientist to his or her left and proceeding clockwise, each Scientist claims 1 pile.
3. Starting with the Scientist who controls the Director and proceeding clockwise, each Scientist may construct and activate his or her Inventions if the conditions to do so are met. Each Scientist then moves his or her Player Marker on the Infamy Track in relation to the amount of Infamy gained.
4. The Crooked Director standee moves clockwise unless the Director's Minion card has entered play (if this is the case, the Scientist who claimed the pile with the Crooked Director standee holds that role for the next round).
5. End of round. If there are no more Invention cards to draw from the Invention deck, each Scientist reveals his or her Quirk card and gains their last bits of Infamy on the Infamy Track. If the Invention deck has not been depleted yet, the next round begins with Step 1.