We Care: A Grizzled Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• A Cooperative Game
• Components
• Introduction
• Setup
  • Player's Area
• Game Overview
• Sequence of a Week
  • 1. Infection
  • Quarantine
  • 2. Chief of Service Assignment
  • 3. Admittance
  • 4. Players' Actions
    • Side Effects
    • Overflow
  • 5. Support
  • 6. Containment
  • 7. Hospital Discharge
  • 8. Contagion
  • Next Week
• Winning/Losing Conditions
• 2-Player Mode
• Progression
• Special Healthcare Professional - Driss
• Clarifications
• Gameplay Summary

A Cooperative Game

We Care is a game about overcoming the challenges faced by healthcare professionals on a daily basis. It is a tribute to their work and cooperation. We Care is a new game based on The Grizzled game system. It offers new mechanics to fit with the new theme, creating a new gaming experience.

We Care is a cooperative game in which players win or lose together. Players must never discuss, reveal, nor show their cards or tiles to the other players before they're played. However, they may openly discuss strategies based on any visible or deductible elements from the game.

We Care is a standalone game. The game system is very similar, but the challenges are completely new.

Components

• 54 Emergency Cards
  • 35 Beds (7 for each Specialty): 3x 1 Bed, 3x 2 Beds, 1x 3 Beds
  • 17 Burnouts
  • 2 Good News!
• 23 Infection Cards
  • 7 Quarantines
  • 6 Symptoms
  • 10 All is Well!
• 6 Healthcare Professional Cards and 5 Player Aid Cards
• 16 Support Tiles
  • 6 single left arrow, 6 single right arrow
  • 2 double left arrow, 2 double right arrow
• 4 Sick Tokens
• 1 Chief of Service Standee
• 1 Emergencies/Clinical Trials Card
• 1 Health Reserve/Health Disaster Card

Introduction

In We Care, players form a particularly close team of caregivers. Together, they will manage a health crisis, doing the best that they can to avoid an overflow in the Hospital's capacities.

The maximum number of emergencies that the team can handle each week is defined by the Chief of Service, considering the current moment and resources available.

Despite the infections and quarantines, the team will need to face the incoming emergencies with only 7 Beds available in the Hospital.

At the end of each week, the team will express their support for a team member in order to assist them and prevent them from cracking under the pressure.

Thanks to the effects of containment and despite the weekly contagion, the goal is to absorb the emergencies before the health reserve is exhausted, while waiting for the end of the crisis and a cure to be found.

If the players fail, a healthcare disaster will take over the city.

Setup

Each player does the following:

• Chooses 1 Healthcare professional card and places the card in front of them with the active Specialty side up (on the inactive side, the Specialty is uncolored). For a 2-player game mode, check the rules on pg. 13 (see 2-Player Mode below).
• Takes 1 Player Aid and 3 Support tiles: 1 single left arrow, 1 single right arrow, and 1 random tile, and keeps them facedown next to their card. In a 2 or 3-player game, the double arrow tiles are not used.

The Emergency cards are shuffled and separated into 2 decks:

• 27 cards are placed facedown on top of the Emergencies/Clinical Trials card, forming the Emergency Stack.
• The remainder of the cards are placed facedown on the Health Reserve/Health Disaster card and represent the Health Reserve.

Shuffle the Infection cards, creating a deck and place it facedown between the Emergency Stack and the Health Reserve. Then, create an empty Hospital zone to the side of the decks where Emergency cards will be played. The player that most recently saw a doctor takes the Chief of Service standee and the game begins.

Player's Area

Each player has: their Healthcare professional card, their 3 Support tiles next to it, their Infection cards (a facedown pile to the left of the professional), and their Burnout cards (faceup, to the right of the professional). The table has the Emergency Stack (27 cards), the Infection deck, and the Health Reserve (remainder of the cards), with the Hospital zone to the side.

Game Overview

The game is based on a strict global protocol and it's played in a succession of rounds named Weeks.

At the beginning of a Week, players check the spread of the Infection before the new Chief of Service assigns the number of Emergencies that will be dealt with during the Week.

Then, players take turns individually choosing and solving 1 action between 4 available.

Players may take however many turns they want during the course of the Week, choosing strategically when to Rest to prevent Burnouts and an Overflow.

Once all the professionals are at Rest or if an Overflow occurs, their Support is resolved. Then, a new Week begins.

The game continues until Victory (having the Clinical Trials card visible) or Defeat (Health Disaster card visible) is achieved.

Sequence of a Week

A Week is always composed of 8 phases that are performed in order. If at any point of the game Winning or Losing conditions (see Winning/Losing Conditions) are met the game ends immediately.

1. Infection
2. Chief of Service Assignment
3. Admittance
4. Players' Actions
5. Support
6. Containment
7. Hospital Discharge
8. Contagion

1. Infection

This phase only concerns players that have at least 1 Infection card and thus should be skipped during the 1st Week.

Throughout the game, players collect Infection cards representing the number of times their Healthcare professional was exposed to the virus and place them facedown, without checking the card, to the left of their Healthcare professional, forming a pile. The higher their Infection pile is, the greater the risk of contamination.

During this phase, each player reveals the card on top of their Infection pile, if any.

Reveal the card, read it aloud, apply its effects, and then discard it. Discarded Infection cards are always placed facedown at the bottom of the Infection deck.

There are 3 different types of Infection cards:

All is Well! The Healthcare professional is not contaminated and everything is fine for this Week! The card is discarded without any effect.

Symptom The Healthcare professional is presenting Symptoms that usually hinders the team. The effect is applied and then the card is discarded.

Quarantine The Healthcare professional tested positive for the disease and must be moved immediately to Quarantine (see Quarantine, below).

Fever Spike! If a player has 5 or more Infection cards at the start of the Infection phase, they must reveal all of their Infection cards and apply their effects, one by one. If a Quarantine card is revealed, the player goes immediately to Quarantine (see Quarantine, below) and all their remaining Infection cards are discarded with no effect.

In the unlikely case that the none of the player's cards is a Quarantine card, they participate in the following Week as usual.

Quarantine

During the Infection phase, when a Quarantine card is revealed, that player's professional is considered to be contaminated and must be moved to Quarantine for the entire Week. It is possible that more than 1 Healthcare professional is quarantined during a Week. The player(s) takes a Sick token and places the revealed Quarantine card in the Hospital zone.

During a quarantine:

• The Hospital's capacity is reduced by 2 Beds for each Quarantine card in the Hospital zone (see Overflow, pg. 10).
• The remainder of the quarantined player's Infection pile is discarded (without being revealed).
• The quarantined player(s):
  • Cannot speak or participate in any debates, nor be the Chief of Service.
  • Doesn't receive cards during the Admittance phase (see Admittance). However, any cards they had before the Quarantine remain in hand.
  • Keep their Burnout cards. However, they have no effect during the Players' Actions phase (see Players' Actions).
  • Doesn't provide Support during the Support phase but can still receive Support from other players (see Support).

At the end of the Week, the player's cards in hand are still considered for the Contagion calculation (see Contagion). At the start of the new Week, the professionals that were in Quarantine last Week discard their Sick token. The Quarantine card is removed from the Hospital zone and discarded.

2. Chief of Service Assignment

At the start of the game the player that most recently saw a doctor assumes the Chief of Service role, so this phase is skipped during the 1st Week.

The Chief of Service standee moves to the next active player clockwise at the start of each Week. Remember that players in Quarantine cannot take on the role of Chief of Service. If that is the case, the standee is then moved to the next active player.

3. Admittance

Admittance corresponds to the total number of Emergency cards that will be distributed among players and added to their hands for the Week. The Admittance number is chosen by the Chief of Service, however, they may consult the other players for suggestions.

Important: during the 1st Week, Admittance is always 12 cards, regardless of the number of players. This means that in a 5-player game, 2 players will have 1 more card than the other 3 players.

On the following Weeks, the minimum Admittance value is 4. However, the Chief of Service may choose to distribute more cards if they wish.

The cards are dealt from the top of the Emergency Stack in clockwise order one at a time, starting with the player to the left of the Chief of Service. It is possible that some players may receive or have less cards in hand than others. Players cannot look at their cards until all cards have been dealt.

If the Stack runs out when dealing cards, simply stop dealing further cards.

Players in Quarantine are skipped during Admittance and shouldn't receive any additional cards.

4. Players' Actions

Only active players perform actions. Players who are either at Rest or in Quarantine don't perform actions.

Play a card The player plays 1 card from their hand. There are 3 different types of cards:

• Bed: The card is added to the Hospital zone and its Side Effects are applied, if any (see Side Effects).
• Burnout: The card is placed faceup to the right of the Healthcare professional. The indicated effect must be applied as long as the player is active. Burnout cards can only be removed through Successful Support (see Support) and may stay in play for several Weeks!
• Good News!: The effect of the card is applied and then it is removed from the game.

Use their Specialty The player can discard 1 of the Bed cards in the Hospital zone with a Side Effect (see Side Effects) that corresponds to their Specialty. Return the card to the game box. It will no longer be in play for the remainder of the game. The Healthcare professional card is then flipped to the uncolored Specialty side, indicating that it's inactive. They will no longer be able to use the Specialty unless it is activated through a Successful Support (see Support).

Screening Only the Chief of Service can perform this action, and only once a Week. The Chief of Service discards 1 Infection card from the top of the Infection pile of any active player (including themselves). The Chief of Service standee is then laid down to indicate that the Screening has been used during that Week.

Rest The player chooses 1 of their Support tiles, without revealing it to the other players, and places it facedown in front of their professional. The player will no longer play during this Week and the effects of their Burnout cards are ignored for rest of the Week.

Players continue to play, one by one, until all players are at Rest or there is an Overflow (see Overflow).

Side Effects

Bed cards may have Side Effects (top left of the card) that must be applied when the card is played in the Hospital zone.

• Infection: The Healthcare professional has been exposed to the virus! The player draws an Infection card and adds it, facedown, to their Infection pile, to the left of their professional, without looking at it.
• Double Infection: The player adds 2 Infection cards to their pile.
• Complication: If the Emergency Stack is not empty, the player must draw an Emergency card from the Stack and play it immediately in the Hospital zone. Side Effects of this additional card are not applied.
• Complication & Infection: Both Infection and Complication effects are applied.
• No Side Effect.

Overflow

The maximum capacity of the Hospital zone is 7 Beds. As soon as this capacity is exceeded by adding 8 or more Beds, there's an Overflow! Player actions immediately stop and play moves to the Support phase. Note that some game effects such as Quarantine may change the Hospital's maximum capacity. In such cases, consider that there's an Overflow only when the number of Beds surpasses the currently modified capacity.

Only Support tiles that were played before the Overflow are taken into account. If no professionals are at Rest, then no Support is given.

In addition, players will have to face the Emergencies of this Week again (see Hospital Discharge).

5. Support

The Support tiles played this Week are revealed and each player gives their tile to the chosen player. For the Support to be successful, a player must receive more Support tiles than the others. If there's a tie, then nobody benefits from the Support and play moves to the next phase. The players keep the tiles they received regardless if the Support was successful or not.

• Support tiles with a single arrow designate the next player in the indicated direction.
• Support tiles with double arrows designate the next player after the next in the indicated direction (only for 4 or 5-player games).

Successful Support The supported player chooses 1 of 2 options:

• Discard all Burnout cards assigned to their Healthcare professional.

OR

• Discard all of their Infection cards.

In addition, and only if there is no Overflow, the player may activate their Specialty by flipping their professional card over to the active Specialty side (colored Specialty side).

6. Containment

The value of Containment is the total sum of the number of house symbols visible in the Hospital zone, rounded down. A half house = 1/2; a full house = 1.

For each complete symbol, 1 card is moved from the Emergency Stack to the Health Reserve.

Remember that if the Clinical Trials card is visible, and therefore the Emergency Stack is empty, the Containment has no effect.

7. Hospital Discharge

The Hospital Discharge phase differs depending on the result of Week.

If there was no Overflow The occupants of the Beds have been cured and can go home! Take all the cards from the Hospital zone and return them to the game box. They will no longer be in play!

If there was an Overflow: Aggravation The situation got worse! Take all Emergency cards in the Hospital zone and shuffle them back into the Emergency Stack. Players will have to deal with them again!

8. Contagion

Contagion is the number of Emergency cards that need to be transferred from the Health Reserve to the Emergency Stack. Note that if the Health Disaster card becomes visible, the game is immediately lost (see Winning/Losing Conditions)!

To determine the value of the Contagion, count the remaining cards in the hands of the players. This is the number of cards that need to be transferred. The minimum amount is 3 and the maximum 6. If players collectively have less than 3 cards, 3 cards will still be transferred. However, if players have more than 6 cards, then no more than 6 cards will be transferred.

Next Week

If no Winning or Losing conditions are met (see Winning/Losing Conditions), a new Week begins, starting again with phase 1: Infection.

Winning/Losing Conditions

Victory Players win the game if the Emergency Stack is empty, the Clinical Trials card is visible, and the players no longer have any cards in hand. If all conditions are met, then the game ends immediately in Victory. Remember that both conditions need to be met. Once the Clinical Trials card is visible, the promise of a vaccine seems imminent, but the virus is still circulating: the game is not won as long as the players still have cards in hand!

Defeat Players immediately lose the game if any of the following conditions are met:

• If the Health Reserve is empty and the Health Disaster card is revealed.
• If, after the Support phase, a player has 4 or more Burnout cards.
• If, after the Support phase, the players have more than 10 cards in hand collectively.
• If all Healthcare professionals are in Quarantine.

2-Player Mode

In a 2-player game, a 3rd virtual Healthcare professional is added: The Trainee.

The rules remain the same as a regular game, with a few exceptions:

• The Emergency cards of the Trainee are placed faceup on the table.
• The Chief of Service chooses the actions performed by the Trainee.
• The Trainee always chooses their Support tile randomly!

Progression

You can play a sequence of games if you wish and progressively increase the difficulty of the game, adjusting the strength of the virus:

• For every game won, remove 2 All is Well! cards from the Infection deck.
• For every following defeat, add 1 All is Well! card to the deck.

We wish good luck to players trying to win the game without any All is Well! cards!

Special Healthcare Professional - Driss

Driss' Specialty is to discard any Bed card in the Hospital zone, regardless of its Side Effects, making the game easier!

We suggest playing with Driss only in your first games and to entrust it only to a first-time player. This will mitigate the effects of any beginner's mistakes.

Clarifications

• When a player has no more cards in hand, they can always Rest, regardless of the Burnout cards in play.
• In case of conflict between several Burnout cards on the same player, the priority goes to the oldest Burnout card.
• In the case of a conflict between Burnout cards on different players, those of the active player take priority.
• Players' hands must be kept secret at all times. Try deducing their cards based on their actions.
• When any card effect causes a player to reveal and receive Burnout cards (Irresponsible, for example), the new Burnout card effect is immediate and has to be applied even if the effect occurs in the current phase.
• A player without any Support tiles can still Rest.
• If an Immunity card is revealed, the player discards all their remaining Infection cards with no effect.
• When the Emergency Stack is empty, any card that should be drawn from it is ignored (Complication, for example).

Gameplay Summary

1. Infection (5 or more Infection cards = Fever Spike!)
2. Chief of Service Assignment
3. Admittance: min 4 cards (12 on the 1st week)
4. Players' Actions: Play 1 card; Use Specialty; Screening (Chief of Service); Rest. Victory when the Clinical Trials card is visible and 0 cards are in hand. All players at Rest, or Overflow (Hospital zone = 7 Beds max).
5. Support. Defeat: 4+ Burnout cards on a player, more than 10 cards in hand, or all players in Quarantine.
6. Containment
7. Hospital Discharge / Aggravation
8. Contagion (min 3, max 6). Defeat if the Health Disaster card becomes visible.