Ramen! Ramen!
Ramen! Ramen! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
Outwit the other line cooks by serving the most and best bowls of ramen to gain the most total points.
Your Ingredients
56 total ingredient cards, valued 0 to 7 (one of each), for the following fresh ingredients:
- (8) Ajitama / Eggs
- (8) Chashu / Pork
- (8) Kamaboko / Fish Cake
- (8) Menma / Bamboo
- (8) Negi / Green Onion
- (8) Nori / Seaweed
- (8) Shiitake / Mushroom
Plus:
- (4) Reference Cards
- (3) Bowl Cards
Important: Only one card exists for each value and ingredient type combination.
Setup / 2-Player Rules
For solo, 3-player, or 4-player rules, see the variant sections below.
To set up a game of Ramen! Ramen! thoroughly shuffle the deck. Next, deal 4 cards from the top of the shuffled deck to each player. These cards are each player's starting hand. You may also wish to take a player aid.
Lastly, draw 4 cards from the top of the deck. Flip these cards face-up and place them in a row next to the deck of cards so that all players can see them. These cards are referred to as the Fridge.
The player who most recently ate a bowl of ramen goes first. Play then proceeds clockwise around the table.
Important: Make sure you leave enough space between the players for the Bowls. These are piles of cards that represent the workspace of the kitchen. In a two-player game, Bowls are communal and available to both players.
Turn Overview
Complete the following, in order. The summary of each section is displayed in blue for future reference.
Step 1. Play cards to Bowls. Choose two cards from your hand and play them into two different Bowls, one card to each. Bowls should be spread out and set between the players, as each player will need to see what cards are in each Bowl and be able to easily play their cards into them. No more than three Bowls may be active at any time (after all, there are only three seats in the ramen-ya; it's rather exclusive).
Important: If a Bowl is ready to be served as explained in the next step, it may not be served until after both cards have been played. Thus, you may not remove a Bowl and start a new one in the same spot.
Step 2. Check if any Bowls are ready to be served. A Bowl is complete and ready to serve if the sum of card values in that Bowl is equal to or greater than 14, or if all 7 types of ingredients are present in the Bowl. Collect all of the cards from any served Bowls and add them to your side, face down, to be scored at the end of the game. Make sure you keep each separate for scoring.
Important: Neither player may look at the cards in a served bowl until end game scoring.
Step 3. Take 1 card from the Fridge and add it to your hand. The Fridge is the row of 4 cards next to the deck.
Step 4. Add 1 new card to the Fridge from the face-down deck. There should be 4 face-up cards available.
Step 5. Draw 1 card from the face-down deck and add it to your hand. You should have a total of 4 cards in hand.
This ends your turn, and the next player begins.
The rulebook illustrates this five-step turn sequence with a worked example spanning steps ONE through FIVE, showing cards being played into Bowls, a Bowl being served, and new cards being drawn into hand and Fridge.
End of Game
When the draw deck is empty, play continues as normal but players will skip steps 4 and 5 on their turn. When all cards have been played and all players' hands are empty, the game is complete and players score the Bowls they served. Did you prove your worth?
Important: The game may end with some Bowls that aren't served. These Bowls are simply discarded and not counted towards anyone's score.
Scoring
Players earn points for each unique type of ingredient present in a Bowl as follows:
| Unique ingredient types | Points |
|---|---|
| 1 ingredient type | 0 Points |
| 2 different types | 1 Points |
| 3 different types | 2 Points |
| 4 different types | 3 Points |
| 5 different types | 5 Points |
| 6 different types | 7 Points |
| 7 different types | 10 Points |
Important: Values on the cards do not affect scoring.
The player who has the most total points at the end of the game is the winner! Congratulations!
In the case of a tie, the player who served the most Bowls wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the least total cards is the winner since they didn't waste ingredients - otherwise, share in the victory!
Scoring Examples
Nori (1), Nori (4), Chashu (3), Shiitake (0), Negi (6) = 3pts
In the above example, there are 4 different types of ingredients. Additional quantities of an ingredient type provide no additional point benefits to the players (a wasteful kitchen can't stay in business for long!)
Nori (0), Chashu (0), Shiitake (0), Ajitama (2), Kamaboko (5), Menma (7) = 7pts
In the above example, there are 6 different types of ingredients. The value of individual cards of a type has no effect on their final point total for the player at the end of the game.
Nori (0), Chashu (0), Shiitake (0), Ajitama (0), Kamaboko (2), Menma (3), Negi (0) = 10pts
This Bowl has all 7 ingredients so it is complete even though the sum of the values on the cards isn't equal to or greater than 14. A perfectly executed dish!
3-Player Rules
Instead of three communal Bowls, each player has a Bowl in front of them. Whenever the Bowl in front of a player is served (either by that player playing a card into it or a different player playing a card into it) they receive that Bowl for end game scoring. No other rules are changed.
4-Player Rules
Players form two teams of two players. Teammates must sit across from one another at the table. There is one communal Bowl, one Bowl belonging to Team A, and another belonging to Team B. Players take turns going clockwise around the table, with players from opposing teams taking alternating turns (A1, B1, A2, B2, etc).
Players may play ingredients into any Bowl but only gain points for their team by scoring the communal Bowl, or their own team's Bowl. For example, if a player from Team A plays an ingredient in Team B's Bowl that causes it to be served, Team B still receives those points.
At the end of the game, players on each team total the points they earned from Bowls served. The team with the highest total wins. No other rules are changed.
Solo Rules
Managing the kitchen by yourself is a rewarding puzzle. Do your best to get the most out of all your ingredients!
Set up according to the 2-player rules, but with only one hand. After shuffling, and before drawing your hand, discard 4 cards from the deck, face down. They won't be used in this game.
Play as normal, until the entire deck and Fridge have been consumed, and all cards in them have been played.
How did you do? To find out what the critics thought of your ramen, check your points with the reviews below:
The Critics Have Spoken
| Rating | Score | Review |
|---|---|---|
| ☆☆☆☆☆ | Less than 38 | Was that meant to be food? |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | 38 - 43 | Diners left disappointed, not delighted. |
| ★★☆☆☆ | 44 - 47 | Ramen declared exceptionally average. |
| ★★½☆☆ | 48 - 52 | You've got some regulars. |
| ★★★☆☆ | 53 - 55 | Lovely noodles and broth. Great service. |
| ★★★½☆ | 56 - 57 | The smells alone are worth the wait. |
| ★★★★☆ | 58 - 59 | True elevation of the humble ramen bowl. |
| ★★★★½ | 60 - 61 | Not to be missed. Edible transcendence. |
| ★★★★★ | More than 61 | A world-class gastronomic wonder. Ramen redefined. Eager eaters make pilgrimages from all over the world for one taste of your legendary broth and homemade noodles. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to tell the other player what I drew from the face-up Fridge cards?
Yes, kitchens are raucous environments. If another player requests to know the type and value of the last card that you took from the Fridge area you must tell them. However, beyond that, it's on them to remember what you have in your hand.
If another player asks how many bowls I've served, do I have to tell them?
Yes, the number of bowls a player has served is open information, however, all scoring is done at the end of the game.
Is there an equal number of ingredient cards?
Yes. There are 8 cards for each of the ingredient types with one card of every value between 0 and 7.
What if a Bowl is served with only one ingredient type present, does the player receive 0 pts?
Yes, if a Bowl is served (sum of cards within is equal to or greater than 14) with just one ingredient type in it then the player who served that Bowl receives 0 pts. Even though it is a pitiful excuse for a Bowl of ramen, it does count towards total Bowls served in the case that a tiebreaker is needed.
Is a player able to play into a Bowl that was already served this turn?
No, players must follow the steps in order and may not serve a Bowl until after both cards have been played. Therefore, serving a Bowl and then playing into a newly emptied Bowl isn't allowed.
What if I can't draw because the draw deck is empty?
Do as much as you can following Steps 1 through 5. If the draw pile is empty, select 1 card from the Fridge to add to your hand instead.
I'm playing solo and only have 1 card in hand to play near the end of the game. What do I do?
If you only have 1 card in hand to play then play 1 card to a single bowl and proceed with completing as much as you can in the following steps—add another single card from the Fridge to your hand and repeat until all cards have been played out.
I'm playing solo. Can I look at the contents of a served bowl?
Yes, it's fine to peek at served bowls. You may not look at the 4 cards discarded facedown at the start until the completion of the game, however.
From the Designer
Like all good Bowls of soup, Ramen! Ramen! stewed for quite some time before making it to your table. Beginning its journey in the Fall of 2016 in Austin, Texas I knew I wanted to make a game that was easy to learn, familiar but fresh, and something anyone could enjoy. After a few spills, remaking all the game's ingredients from scratch at least twice, and a lot of work getting the seasoning just right, it simmered into what it is today. Sometimes it's the simplest formulas that are the toughest to get just right.
My sincere thanks to Maya Polan, the inspiration of my joy and the individual on the planet who's slurped her way through more games than anyone, Spencer McElmurry for keeping me hungry, the members of New Haven Game Makers Guild for being willing taste-testers and helping Ramen! Ramen! find its home, and Eric Price for believing in the power of a humble bowl of noodles.
All of you are a crucial ingredients in your own way.
- Brendan Hansen