Space Lunch
Space Lunch Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
About
Space Lunch is a 1-2 player set-collection game where you win by eating your favorite meals repeatedly. Eat a variety of amazing foods enough times and you'll win the game, but your opponent has their own plans and may snatch the winning meal away from you!
Components
- 36 Food cards (3 x 12 different types)
- 15 Beverage cards (5 x 3 different types)
- 2 Coupon tokens
- 1 Pick token
- 1 Solo token
- 2 Player aid cards
Setup - 2 Player
- Shuffle the 36 food cards into a face-down draw deck.
- Draw 9 food cards and place them face-up into a 3 x 3 grid.
- Sort the Beverage cards by type and put one stack next to each of the three grid rows.
- Place the Pick token below the left column of the grid.
- Give both players one Coupon token, "used" side down, and one Player aid card.
- The player who most recently ate at a restaurant starts the game.
Game Flow
On each turn you will potentially play Beverage cards to manipulate the grid. After this you will take a food and beverage card from the grid as you attempt to collect sets of each. Play alternates between the two players until one of the game end conditions are met, they are explained on the Game End section.
On Your Turn
There are two phases to each turn and they are taken in order. After performing both, the next player can take their turn.
Beverage Phase
You may choose to perform one beverage action by returning beverage cards to their draw piles or by flipping your Coupon token:
- Return 3 x Hot Drink cards: Remove one food card from the grid and place it at the bottom of the food deck. Refill the empty space from the top of the food deck.
- Return 3 x Jelly Bubbles cards: Swap the positions of 2 food cards on the grid. Neither card can be in the same column as the Pick token.
- Return 3 x Chill Jar cards: Take a food card by choosing from one of the two columns that don't have the Pick token underneath. Then collect the Beverage card in that same row. Refill the empty space immediately with the top card of the food deck. Move the Pick token to the next column and skip the Food phase. This action closely follows a standard Food phase and each of these processes are explained in more detail below.
- Flip your Coupon token: If your Coupon token does not say "used", then flip it over and then perform any of the three beverage actions.
If, at the start of this phase, you have 5 beverage cards then you must return all cards of one type back to the associated pile. If you discarded at least 3 cards of that type then you can perform the action explained above.
Important: You may only perform one beverage action per turn.
Food Phase
You must now take 1 food card from the grid, and may only select a card that is in the same column as the Pick token. Then draw the top beverage card that is in the same row as the taken food card. Both of these cards are placed face-up in front of you so that all cards are visible for both players.
You must now refill the grid by drawing the top food card from the deck. Place the new food card face-up onto the empty location in the grid. Then, move the Pick token so that it's under the next column to the right. If the Pick token was in the right-most column then move it underneath the left-most column.
Note: If there are no food cards left and the game hasn't ended then continue playing with less than 9 cards in the grid.
Game End
Continue playing the game until one of the game end conditions have been met:
Victory with Triples
At any point, if a player has 3 matching cards in 3 different types (3 triplets) of food then they win the game immediately.
Victory with Doubles
If there are only 6 food cards left on the grid at the end of a player's turn then the game immediately ends. Each player must then count the number of food types for which they have exactly 2 matching cards (pairs). This means you do not count food types for which you have all 3 matching cards (triplets). The player who has the most doubles then wins the game. If there is a tie then the player who did not use their Coupon token will win. If there is still a tie then the player who has the most beverage cards remaining in front of them will win. If there is still a tie then the players share the victory.
Solo Game
In the solo game you will play against an artificial opponent, the Automa player.
Solo Setup
Ignore the multiplayer player setup instructions and instead follow these:
- Place the Beverage cards back into the box, they are not used in the solo game.
- Select a difficulty from the chart below and then use that selected row for this game.
| Difficulty Level | Coupons | Player Victory | Automa Victory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 2 | 3 triplets | 4 pairs |
| Medium | 1 | 3 triplets | 4 pairs |
| Hard | 2 | 3 triplets | 3 pairs |
| Extreme | 1 | 3 triplets | 3 pairs |
- Shuffle the food cards and place them face-down to create the food draw deck.
- Draw 9 food cards from the deck and place them face-up into a 3 x 3 grid.
- Place the Pick token below the left-most column of the grid. Then place the Solo token to the left of the lowest row in the grid.
- Take 1 or 2 Coupon tokens, based on your selected difficulty, and place them in front of you with the "used" side facing down.
- You are the first player.
Solo Gameplay
You may perform a Beverage phase by flipping one of your unused Coupon tokens to its used side. You may then perform one of the three Beverage actions that are shown on the Player aid card. You may only use one Coupon token per turn.
Your Food phase follows the same rules as the multiplayer game, with the exception of not taking any Beverage cards.
After your turn it will be time for the Automa player to take their turn. The Automa will take the food card that is in both the Pick token's column and the Solo token's row. That card is then placed face-up into the Automa player's food area. The Automa player's turn ends by moving the Pick token following the multiplayer rules as well as moving the Solo token. The Solo token always moves up one row unless it's in the top row and in that case it is moved to the bottom-most row.
Note: This means the Pick token will move on each player's turn but the Solo token will only move every two turns since it only moves during the Automa player's turns.
After the Automa player's turn is done, it is once again time for you to take your turn. The game will continue in this way until a game end condition is met.
Solo Game End
Continue playing the game until one of the game end conditions have been met:
- Human Victory with Triples: At any point, if you have 3 matching cards in 3 different types of food then you win the game immediately.
- Automa Victory with Doubles: If the Automa player has exactly 2 matching cards in a number of food types dictated by the selected difficulty, then the game immediately ends with the Automa winning the game. This means sets of 3 food cards do not count towards an Automa doubles victory.
- Automa Victory Through Persistence: If there are only 6 food cards left on the grid at the end of a player's turn then the game immediately ends and the Automa player wins the game.