Nerdy Inventions Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Preparation
• Turn Overview
  • Use Invention
  • Charge Invention
  • Research Invention
  • Build Invention
  • End of Turn
• Game End and Scoring
• Card Abilities
• Tool Cards

Components

• 29 Invention cards
• 4 Starting invention cards
• 6 Dice value tiles
• 4 Dice
• 3 Tool cards

Invention card layout: each card shows its Level, the Dice required to build (a gear symbol is a variable value, depending on the card's position in the invention row), its Ability, the Number of cards in game, and its Victory Points.

Preparation

1. Arrange the dice value tiles in a single row, in descending order on the table.
2. Shuffle all invention cards to form a deck. Place one face-up card under each dice value tile; this is called the "Invention Row".
3. The youngest player becomes the starting player. Distribute the starting invention cards and tool cards to the players.
4. The game begins!

The starting player has no tool card.

Turn Overview

Beginning from the starting player, each player will get to take their turn in clockwise order.

1. On your turn, first you roll 3 dice. Then you may do the following 4 actions: Use, Charge, Research, and Build as many times as you wish. When you cannot or decide not to take any more actions, the player on your left begins their turn.

Use Invention

Any time during your turn, you may use your invention cards or tool card (including the cards you just acquired). Tap (turn horizontal) the used invention to indicate it is currently out of energy.

• You cannot use a tapped (horizontal) invention.
• You can use any number of inventions during a single turn.

Charge Invention

You may pay one dice, to untap (turn vertical) one of your tapped invention cards. The level of the invention must be smaller or equal to the value of the dice.

• You can recharge the same invention card multiple times during a single turn.

Research Invention

You may pay one dice, to take the invention card under the corresponding dice value tile, and swap it with a neighboring invention card.

Build Invention

You may pay 1-3 of your dice, to take a card from the invention row. The dice you paid must satisfy the requirements of the invention. Put the new card in front of you untapped (vertical), ready for use.

• A gear symbol in the "Dice required to build" line equals the value of the tile above the invention.
• A die showing six pips can be used in place of any number, including a die showing six pips. (Transcriber's note: the printed symbol is a six-pip die; the sheet gives no separate wild-die icon.)
• You cannot combine the values of two dice to pay for one dice. (The sheet gives an example of an invalid two-dice payment.)
• It is possible that you cannot invent anything during your turn. When that happens, you should promptly use your invention abilities, and use dice for charging and researching to prepare for future turns.

End of Turn

2. When you cannot or decide not to take any more actions, your turn ends. If there are any empty spots on the invention row, shift all cards toward the lower-value spots to fill them, and then flip over new invention cards to refill the empty spots. Then, hand 3 dice to the player on your left, who now begins their turn.

• Unused dice will be lost. You cannot keep them for future turns.

Game End and Scoring

There are two possible game end conditions:

1. When a player uses the zeppelin ability (see Card Abilities), the game ends immediately.
2. When the deck is emptied, the game ends at the beginning of the starting player's next turn. Thus all players will get to play an equal amount of turns in this game.

Each player counts their victory points for each invention and tool cards in front of them. If a player has 7 or more different kinds of inventions, score bonus points according to the following table. The player with the highest total of victory points wins the game!

Kind of Inventions	7	8	9	10
Bonus Points	3	4	5	6

• This includes the starting invention card.
• Tool cards are not inventions.

Card Abilities

Each invention's ability is shown by its icon. The icon names in parentheses below are descriptive labels added for identification; the printed sheet shows the icons only.

• Shuffle the entire invention row (camera icon) into the deck, and draw 6 new cards to refill the invention row.
  • Refill to 6 cards even if there are fewer than 6 cards originally.
  • This ability can be used even if the deck is empty.
• Subtract a dice's value by 1 (pocket watch icon).
• Exchange this invention with any card on the invention row. Untap both cards (top hat icon).
• Subtract a dice's value by 2 (clamp icon).
• Redistribute the values of two dice (locomotive icon). The combined total must be unchanged. (Example: -2 to one dice and +2 to the other.)
  • The resulting value of both dice must be between 1 and 6.
• Swap any card on the invention row with a neighboring card (dragonfly icon).
• Pass target tool card to a player without a tool (flintlock icon).
• Reroll a dice (cuckoo clock icon).
• Split one dice into two dice with the same combined total value (hot air balloon icon). (Example: split one die into two dice whose values add up to the original value.)
  • A 4th die is provided in this game to represent the additional die. This ability can be used multiple times during a turn; please find some other method to represent the extras.

Tool Cards

• Tap another invention to increase a dice by the value of that invention's level. Pass the tool card untapped to a player without a tool.
  • The maximum value of a dice is 6.
  • The total number of tools in play should be the number of players minus one.