Recipe for Disaster
Recipe for Disaster Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
How to Play
The aim of the game, is to gather ingredients & use them to try & match the Order Card in the middle of the table. Beware though, all your opposing chefs are making the same order, so resources may be limited! At the end of the round everyone must present their dish as enticingly as possible to gain the most star reviews.
The chef with the most points is awarded a Golden Turnip Token.
Set Up
To set up the game, take all the cards out of the box & shuffle them into their 2 separate decks; Order Deck & Fridge Deck (Fridge). The Fridge consists of Ingredient, Special & Time's Up Cards. Refer to the table below for Time's Up Cards.
| Players | Review Cards | Time's Up Cards In Fridge Deck |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 5, 4 Stars | 4 |
| 4 | 5, 4, 3 Stars | 3 |
| 5 | 5, 4, 3, 2 Stars | 2 |
| 6 | All Review Cards | 1 |
Table Set Up
Game Contents: 120 Ingredient Cards, 15 Special Cards, 35 Order Cards, 30 Review Cards, 13 Golden Turnip Tokens, 12 Strike Tokens, 1 D6 Dice, 1 Egg Timer (10 seconds), 1 Bell, Rules Leaflet, 1 Box
Set up the Market by placing 8 Ingredient Cards face up in the middle of the table, with the Bell in the middle. If any Special Cards come up, re-shuffle them back into the deck. Put 10 cards from the Fridge into the bottom half of the box to create the Dumpster.
The table set up diagram shows the following components:
- Dumpster box/Discard pile
- Strike Token
- Bell
- Market
- Golden Turnip Token
- Fridge Deck
- Order Deck
- Timer
- Inspectors Dice
- Review Cards
Each player starts with 8 cards from the Fridge Deck. (If the Time's Up card is drawn re-shuffle it back into the deck, and draw a new card) Whoever cooked most recently starts. Draw the first order Card & you're off! Once you take your turn, play progresses clock-wise.
Game Phase Overview
Order: Flip over the top card from the Order Deck. This is the dish that everyone must attempt to make!
Prep: Take turns to complete 1 action & attempt to collect all ingredients needed to make the perfect dish. This phase continues until someone rings the bell. (see page 5)
Review: Everyone secretly reviews their rival chef's dishes by placing a Review Card in front of them face down. (see page 8)
Score & Restock: Count up all your points, from your dish and reviews. Whoever has the most points is the winner of the round & gets a Golden Turnip Token.
Each chef discards all ingredients they used to make their dish into the Dumpster & redraws the same number of Ingredient Cards. Don't forget to restock the Market! (see page 9 & 10)
Prep
Your Turn
Each turn during the prep phase, you can take 1 of 5 actions.
Take turns to complete 1 action & attempt to collect all the ingredients to make the perfect dish.
This phase continues until someone rings the bell in the centre of the table. Once the bell is rung, all other chefs get 1 more turn.
Check the Fridge
Discard 1 ingredient from your hand into the Dumpster & draw 1 card from the Fridge Deck.
Go to the Market
Discard 2 ingredients from your hand & pick up 1 card from the Market. This does not get replenished until restock phase.
Dumpster Dive
Dumpster diving is free! As soon as your hands dive into the Dumpster, you have 10 seconds to take 1 ingredient card & put all the other cards back in the Dumpster.
You cannot take a special card from the Dumpster.
Show the card you picked to the rest of the chefs, then put it into your hand. After you dumpster dive you must roll the Health Inspector Dice.
If you roll a 1 or 2 you've been caught & must take a Strike Token! If you have collected 3 tokens this round, you are shut down & must sit out the rest of the round.
If you go over your 10 second timer, you are automatically caught by the Health inspector & must take a Strike Token.
Ring the Bell
The round ends once a chef rings the bell & everyone else takes 1 more turn. Beginning with whoever rang the bell, each chef presents their dish in turn. The bell cannot be rung on the first turn.
Play a Special Card
Play a Special Card from your hand on your turn during prep phase. Follow the text on the card for some spicy effects to give you an edge.
Change of Mind: Your customer has changed their mind! Draw 2 Order Cards. Put 1 into play to replace the current order & put the other on the bottom of the Order Deck. Discard this card into the Dumpster & draw a new card from the Fridge.
Rats!: Release rats in a rival chef's kitchen! They must roll the Health Inspector Dice & are caught on a 1, 2, or 3! They must take a Strike token. Discard this card into the Dumpster & draw a new card from the Fridge.
Time's Up: This works differently to other special cards, as it MUST be played as soon at it's drawn. The chef that drew it must ring the bell & end the round immediately! Everyone else gets 1 more turn, then they must present a dish.
Cook the Books!: Have a sneaky peak in the Fridge. Look at the top 4 cards of the Fridge Deck. Put them back on top in any order you choose. Discard this card into the Dumpster & draw a new card from the Fridge.
If this is drawn in the restock phase, or is in your starting hand, you must reshuffle it into the Fridge & draw a new card.
Don't forget after playing a Special Card, you discard it into the Dumpster & draw a new card from the Fridge.
Presenting
This is your time to shine! 1 at a time, starting with the chef who rang the bell, present your 4 ingredients as enticingly as possible. You may not have all the correct ingredients, so be prepared to explain why you chose them & convince your rivals that your dish is the best.
Reviewing
Using your Review Cards, review all your opponents dishes! Award each rival chef a card face down in front of them (1-5 in a 6 player game). You cannot review your own dish.
Scoring
There are 2 ways you gain points.
1. Dish Score
You receive 2 points for each Ingredient Card that matches the exact ingredient on the order.
You receive 1 point for each Ingredient Card in the right food group (matching colour).
Example: The Order Card is Pizza, a dough base often topped with rich tomato sauce, cheese & meat. Its ingredients are Tomato, Dough, Mozzarella and Pork. A player presents Mozzarella (2 points), Noodles (1 point, dough group), Tomato (2 points) and Chicken (1 point, pork group), for a dish score of 6 points.
If you manage to present the perfect dish with all 4 ingredients matching the Order Card, you are awarded a Golden Turnip Token!
2. Reviews
You get 1 point for each star you are awarded.
If you received a Health Inspector Strike this round, you must lose your highest review. (If you have 2 strikes you must lose your 2 highest reviews & so on.)
The winner of the round is the chef with the most combined points from their dish & reviews. They are awarded a Golden Turnip Token!
If there is a tie, the chefs who are tied must partake in a tie-breaker round where they add 1 more ingredient to their dish & explain how this makes it better. The other chefs then decide whose dish is better & they are crowned the winner of the round & awarded a Golden Turnip Token.
Restock
Once all the reviews have been counted and the winner of the round has been chosen, all Ingredient Cards that have been used to make a dish must be discarded into the Dumpster. Each chef draws 4 new Ingredient Cards from the Fridge. (5 if they participated in a tie-breaker round). If the Fridge is too small for everyone to redraw, reshuffle the whole Dumpster into the fridge, & put 10 cards from the top of the Fridge into the Dumpster.
Return Review Cards so all chefs have a full range. Replenish the Market by laying Ingredient Cards in the empty spaces - any Special Cards revealed while restocking the Market are reshuffled back into the Fridge & replaced with a new ingredient. Return all Strike tokens to the pile.
Now the round is over! Start the next round with a new order. The chef to the left of last round's winner goes first!
Strategy Tips
Dumpster diving, while risky, increases your hand size, giving you an advantage later in the game. Balance your dumpster diving & going to the Market to ensure you have enough ingredients in your hand to choose from.
When dumpster diving, make sure you take a card before the time runs out! A random card is better than no card at all.
When presenting your dish, think about each Ingredient Card you're presenting & how you would prepare it to make it sound as tasty as possible. E.g. if you are making pizza but have no dough, you could play potatoes, but describe them as a 'crispy hash brown base'. (Much more appetizing!)
Definitions
Market: The 8 Ingredient Cards face up in the middle of the table. On a players turn they may discard 2 Ingredient Cards from their hand to pick up 1 card from the Market.
Fridge: The face down deck of Ingredient Cards.
Discard: All Ingredient & Special Cards discarded from a players hand go into the Dumpster.
Shut Down: A player is shut down when they receive 3 Strike Tokens in a round. They are out of that round & must not participate in the presentation, but they may still review. At the end of the round, all strike tokens are returned.
Dumpster: The Dumpster acts as the discard pile. If you put the pile back in the Dumpster before time's up, but forget to take a card, tough luck! You get no card, but must still roll the dice!