Out of Gears
Out of Gears Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 8 Sets of 12 Cards. Each set includes: 1 Harvest Card, 1 Attack Card, 1 Trap Card, 1 Robot Card and 8 Number Cards numbered from 1 to 8. Each set of cards has backs matching one of the Robots.
- 88 Gears, divided into 8 colors (11 per color)
- 8 Internal Circuits
- 8 Stand Ups
- 8 Junkyards
Extra Components
This edition of Out of Gears includes the expansion Robotic Enhancements (10 Cards). You can find the rules for the expansion at www.fuoridirotella.redglove.eu. You don't need these special cards for the basic game, so leave them in the box!
Setting Up
Each player chooses a Robot card from the eight available and places it in one of the stand-up bases in front of him. He then takes an Internal Circuit board of the same color and places it near his Robot. He also takes the set of cards that shows his Robot on the back, discarding any Number cards that match Robots not in the game. All extra cards can be returned to the box: they are not used in this game.
Place all the Junkyards in a circle in the middle of the table (this will create an octagon). Turn all Junkyards that have numbers that match any unused Robots face down, so the "blocked" symbol is showing: these Junkyards are not used during the game.
Take all the Gears that match the colors of the chosen Robots, shuffle them, and place them face down in the middle of the table (inside the Junkyard ring) to form a "reserve". Return all the other Gears to the box (if you sort the Gears by color into small bags, setup will take less time).
Finally, draw two Gears from the reserve and place them face up on each Junkyard in play. You're ready to begin!
Advanced Rules for 2 - 4 Players
You can use these rules to make a more challenging game for 2 - 4 players: Set up the game as usual, but each player controls two Robots instead of only one. The player's set of cards includes both of the chosen Robots' Number card sets, but only one set of Action cards (Attack, Trap, Harvest). The game plays as normal, but each player will program both of his Robots with the cards he has. At the end of the game, each player counts points for each of his Robots separately: his score for the game is the Robot with the fewest points.
Game Turns
A game of Out of Gears is played over several game turns. During each turn, all players play at the same time. Turns are divided into 4 phases:
- Program Robots. All players choose which actions their Robots will take that turn.
- Activate Robots. All players activate their Robots and take actions in this order: 2.1 Attacks, 2.2 Traps, 2.3 Harvests.
- Assemble Gears. All players now move Gears with their Robots to their Internal Circuits, if possible.
- Explore. New Gears are drawn for the next turn.
The game ends when there are no Gears left in the reserve at the end of a turn and at least one Junkyard is empty.
Phase 1: Program Robots
Each player secretly chooses one Action card (Attack, Trap, or Harvest) and one Number card (the target) from his hand, placing the chosen cards face down in front of him. This is his Robot Program. Players may change their Robot Programs until all players have finished theirs (placing the cards face down in front of them). Once all players have finished their Robot Programs, this phase ends.
Action Cards
Attack. This card programs a Robot to attack another Robot or to defend itself from attack. The Number card programmed with an Attack card determines which Robot will be attacked (the one with the same number as the chosen card) or if the Robot will defend (if the Robot's own number is programmed).
- Attack - If successful, the attacker takes all Gears from the target Robot (not those on his Internal Circuit board) and places them with his Robot.
- Defend - All Attacks played against this Robot are cancelled. Also, the defending player takes one Gear from each attacking player and places them with his Robot. These Gears can come from the attacking Robots or their Internal Circuits.
Trap. This card programs a Robot to block other Robots from harvesting Gears from a Junkyard. The Number card programmed with a Trap determines which Junkyard will be trapped. The Trap cancels all Harvest actions in the chosen Junkyard this turn. The player also gets to take all Gears from the target Junkyard and place them with his Robot, but only if he blocked at least one Harvest action. Otherwise, he gets nothing.
Harvest. This card programs a Robot to collect Gears from a Junkyard. The Number card programmed with a Harvest determines which Junkyard will be harvested. If the Harvest action is not blocked (by another Robot's Trap on the same Junkyard), the player takes all the Gears from the target Junkyard and places them with his Robot.
Sharing Gears
If two or more players get Gears from the same Junkyard (from successful Harvest or Trap actions), or from the same Robot (from successful Attacks) at the same time, they must divide all the Gears equally (priority is given to Gears of the players' own colors). If there are some Gears left after the division, they remain on the Junkyard or with the Robot. If there are not enough Gears to divide them equally, nobody gets any of those Gears that turn.
Phase 2: Activate Robots
2.1 Attacks
All players who played an Attack must reveal their Robot Programs. Any attacker that is blocked by a Defense must lose one Gear to the defending player, then return his Program cards to his hand. The defender also returns his Program cards to his hand. Any attacker that is successful takes all Gears from the target Robot then returns his Program cards to his hand. Always resolve all defenses before attacks, to avoid confusion during the game.
2.2 Traps
All players who played a Trap must reveal their Robot Programs. Then, one at a time, they read aloud the number of their target Junkyards. If one or more players played a Harvest that matches a trapped Junkyard, they must reveal their Robot Programs and return their Program cards to their hands. If this happens, the Trap was successful, and the player takes all the Gears from that Junkyard. At the end of this phase, all players who played a Trap return their Program cards to their hands.
2.3 Harvests
All remaining players reveal their Robot Programs and take the Gears from the Junkyards they are harvesting, putting them with their Robots. Then, they return their Program cards to their hands.
Phase 3: Assemble Gears
Once all Robot actions are complete, it's time to move the Gears to a safe place. Each player who has three or more Gears with his Robot chooses two of them to move to his Internal Circuit boards. Remember: Gears on Internal Circuit boards are immune to the Attack action.
Phase 4: Explore
Now it's time to find more Gears: Draw one Gear from the reserve and place it face up on each Junkyard in play.
End of the Game
If there are no more Gears in the reserve at the end of a turn and at least one Junkyard is empty, the game ends. Each player moves all the Gears with his Robot to his Internal Circuit board, then adds up his points: Each gear of that player's color is worth 2 points, each Gear of a different color is worth 1 point. The player with the highest score is the winner! If there is a tie, the winner is the tied player with the most Gears of his own color.