Scream Machine
Scream Machine Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 32 Customer Cards (4 each of 8 different types): Roller Coaster Lover, Water Ride Lover, Kiddie Rider, Gourmand, Family Rider, Thrill Seeker, Nostalgia Seeker, Cheapskate
- 84 Attraction Cards (4 each of 21 different types):
- Roller Coasters: 5 Star: The Scream Machine; 3 Star: Cyclone; 1 Star: Rolling Breeze
- Water Rides: 5 Star: The Tsunami; 3 Star: Rocky Canyon Water Ride; 1 Star: Log River
- Kiddie Rides: 5 Star: Barfo's Sit and Spin; 3 Star: Kermie's 3-D Circus Experience; 1 Star: Dingo Dog Driving Time
- Food: 5 Star: Chez Paul; 3 Star: Troff und Slopp, authentic Bavarian buffet; 1 Star: Joe's Weiner Rolls
- Family Rides: 5 Star: Ferris Wheel; 3 Star: Bumper Cars; 1 Star: Merry-Go-Round
- Thrill Rides: 5 Star: Gravity Ball 360; 3 Star: Aldrin's Turbo Bungie; 1 Star: Captain Branham's Mystery Pirate Ride
- Nostalgic Rides: 5 Star: The Whip; 3 Star: Tumble Bugs; 1 Star: Tunnel of Love
- 1 Start Player Card
- 3 Action Summary Cards
- 1 Scoreboard
- 12 Player Pawns (2 each of 6 different colors)
Objective
Whoever can attract the most customers to their amusement park during the course of the game wins.
Preparation
- The Customer Cards are shuffled and set aside initially.
- The Attraction Cards are shuffled, and five are dealt to each player. These cards represent attractions developed "in-house", and therefore available only to the player who holds them. The remaining Attraction Cards are set aside.
- The scoreboard, which indicates how many customers each park has drawn, is placed in the center of the table. Each player takes a pawn and places it on the "0" space on the scoreboard.
- The action summary cards are placed so that players have ready access to them.
- A start player for the first round is chosen, and is given the start player card.
Opening the Parks
Before the main game begins, each player must set up their park using 4 actions to build attractions from their initial hand of cards. Each player simultaneously chooses the card(s) that will form their park and puts them face down in front of him. These cards are revealed simultaneously. Every player who used only 3 actions to create their park uses the other action to advertise, bringing in one customer. This customer, as with all customers a park brings in, is noted on the scoreboard.
Note: 5 Star attractions take three actions to build. 3 Star attractions take two actions to build. 1 Star attractions take one action to build.
Setting Up For A Round
Before the first round only, seven attraction cards are laid out, representing the offerings of ride manufacturers.
Before every round, customers are laid out. First, five national customers are laid out face up parallel to the seven available attraction cards. Next, two local customers are set out between each pair of players, one face up and one face down. If any customers remain from previous rounds, the new customers are added to those remaining. For example: if a local "water ride" customer was not awarded the previous round as the result of a tie, then that customer remains in position and a face-down and face-up customer are added to that local pool.
Play Of A Round
During a round, each player will receive one turn consisting of four actions, starting with the start player and proceeding clockwise.
Most actions will be used for building attractions, either "in-house designs" from the player's hand or from among the offerings of the ride manufacturers. Attractions built from the seven offered by the manufacturers are not replaced until the end of the player's turn. If the deck of attractions ever runs out, discarded attraction cards are shuffled and made available again.
Each player has five additional options available. Each requires one action to perform, and each may be performed only once each turn. These choices are:
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Advertise. One action is used to advertise, bringing in one customer. Mark this customer on the scoreboard.
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Research local preferences. One action is used to look at both face-down adjacent local customers.
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Develop a new in-house design. One additional attraction card is taken from the top of the attraction deck and added to the player's hand.
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Tear down an existing ride. One existing ride may be removed, and placed in the attraction discard pile.
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Request different choices from the manufacturers. One action is used to discard and immediately replace two attractions from the current manufacturer offerings.
You are not required to use all four actions; any number of actions may be passed. Passed actions are forfeited, and may not be used later in the game.
End Of A Round
After each player has taken a turn in the round, customers decide where they wish to go. National customers will go to the park with the most symbols of their type. In case of a tie, they remain out and available for the next turn.
Local customers work in the same way as national customers, but only consider the two parks they are adjacent to.
As each customer is awarded, the player whose park attracted the customer receives one point on the scoreboard, and the card is returned to the stack of customer cards.
Cheapskates - who have the dollar symbol - are treated differently. They only consider the cost of visiting a park, and attend the park among those they consider with the lowest ticket price. A park's ticket price is equal to the total number of symbols of all seven types in the park.
Once all customers have been awarded, the customer card deck is reshuffled in preparation for the next round.
End Of The Game
The game ends after a fixed number of rounds: 4 rounds with 4 players, 5 rounds with 5 players, and 6 rounds with either 3 players or 6 players. The winner of the game is the player with the most customers, including those drawn in by advertisement. In case of a tie, the winner among the tied players is the player who has attractions in the most different categories.
Action Summary
Any number of actions may be used:
- to purchase manufactured rides
- to build in-house rides
- to pass
One action per turn may be used:
- to advertise
- to research local preferences
- to develop a new in-house design
- to tear down an existing ride
- to request two new offerings from the ride manufacturers