Weather Machine Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Components
  • Credits
• Weather Types and Chemicals
• Game Setup
  • 2-Player Setup Changes (Action Spaces)
• Player's Laboratory
• Vouchers
• Your Workshop
• Game Structure
• Executive Exchanges
• Post-Setup Supply Round
• Phase A: Player Turns
  • 1. Use a Subsidy Tile or Investment Tile
  • Funding Tracks
  • 2. Move Your Scientist
  • Moving Lativ
  • 3. Perform Actions
  • 4. Place Research Tokens
• Location Actions
  • Location 1: Supply
  • Location 2: Government
  • Government Runs Their Machine
  • Location 3: Lativ's Lab
  • Citations
  • Location 4: Research & Development
  • Building a Prototype
• Phase B: Run Weather Machine Experiment
  • If the Experiment Runs...
  • If the Experiment Does Not Run...
  • Preparing for the Next Experiment
• Phase C: End of Round
  • Adjusting Turn Order
  • Income
• End of Game and Final Scoring
  • Final Scoring
• Drafting Variant
• 2-Player Summary
  • Setup Changes
  • Game Play Changes
  • 2-Player Variant: New Scientists
• Designer Tips
• Explanation of Benefits

Game Overview

In Weather Machine, you take on the role of one of the Scientists working with Professor Lativ. You must manage your own Laboratory, acquiring Vouchers to spend in other Locations, building Bots, acquiring Chemicals, and increasing the size of your Workshop where you will store resources and build prototypes. Once you have conducted enough research into a particular type of weather, you want to publish a paper on the subject, and then build a prototype to help fix some of the extreme weather caused by experiments made by Lativ's flawed Weather Machine. The research into those flaws will lead to breakthroughs that will help humanity to fix extreme weather forever, getting you Awards and possibly a Nobel Prize!

The game is for 2 to 4 players.

Components

• 1 Game Board
• 4 Laboratories (1 per player)
• 1 Rulebook & 4 Player Aids
• 4 Scientist meeples (1 per player)
• 48 Bots (12 per player)
• 4 Scoring markers (1 per player)
• 20 Voucher markers (5 per player)
• 4 Initiative & 4 Turn Order markers (1 per player)
• 12 Funding markers (3 per player color)
• 24 Breakthrough markers (6 per player color)
• 3 Government markers
• Lativ, his Assistant & 5 Lativ Bots
• 12 Citation tokens* & 5 Lock tokens
• 12 Award tokens & 1 Nobel Prize
• 10 Government Research tokens (2 each in 5 types)
• 15 Lab Research tokens (3 each in 5 types)
• 10 R&D Research tokens (2 each in 5 types)
• 25 Chemicals (5 each in 5 different types)
• 15 Extreme Weather tiles (5 each in 3 different levels)
• 15 Experiment tiles (5 each in 3 different Stages)
• 30 Workshop tiles
• 15 Subsidy tiles & 12 Investment tiles*
• 36 Goal tiles in 4 sets
• 50 Machine Parts (10 each in 5 colors)*

Investment tiles, Machine Parts, and Citation tokens are unlimited. If you run out of them, use a suitable replacement. All other components are limited to what is included in the box.

Credits

• Game Design: Vital Lacerda
• Game Art: Ian O'Toole
• Graphic Design & 3D Illustrations: Ian O'Toole
• Rulebook & 3D Illustrations: Vital Lacerda
• Game Developer: Paul M. Incao
• Solo Version: David Turczi
• English Rules Writing and Editing: Paul Grogan
• Published by Eagle-Gryphon Games

Weather Types and Chemicals

There are five types of weather, each associated with a Chemical:

Weather	Chemical
Rain	Verdino (green)
Wind	Melgoth (white)
Sun	Delugium (pink)
Fog	Calorium (orange)
Snow	Radieu (blue)

Game Setup

Each player chooses a color and takes all of the pieces of that color.

1. Place the main board in the middle of the playing area.
2. Each player places their Scoring marker on space 0 of the Climate Points (CP) track.
3. Place the Investment tiles, Citation tokens, and Award tokens next to the board in the reserve. Place the Nobel Prize on the board.

Location 5 – Lativ's Office:

4. Place the Turn Order marker for each player in a random order on the current turn order spaces. This determines the turn order at the start of the game.

Location 1 – Supply:

5. Place the Initiative markers on their spaces in the same order as the Turn Order markers.
6. In turn order, each player places their Scientist on the action spaces from left to right.
7. Place Lativ on his space in Supply.
8. Place the Chemicals on their matching spaces.
9. Shuffle the Workshop tiles and place 4 of them at random on the board. Separate the remaining tiles into two equal stacks, placing one face up and the other face down.

Location 2 – Government:

10. Shuffle the Subsidy tiles and place them at random, blue-side up, on the spaces as shown.
11. Place the 10 Government Research tokens (blue) in stacks of the same type on the indicated spaces.
12. Place the 3 Government markers on their proper space.
13. Place all the Machine Parts next to the main board in the reserve.
14. Each player places one of their Funding markers on the leftmost space of the Government Funding track.

Location 3 – Lativ's Lab:

15. Separate the Experiment tiles by Stage (I, II, III) and shuffle each Stage separately, keeping the tiles face down. From the Stage III tiles, choose 3 at random and return them to the box unseen. Then create a single face down deck by placing the Stage I tiles first, the Stage II tiles on top, and lastly the remaining 2 Stage III tiles on top. Finally, flip the entire deck face up and place it on the indicated space.
16. Place the top 3 tiles of the Experiment deck in the 3 spaces to the right of the deck (the display). Then place the next tile from the Experiment deck in the space below the deck.
17. Place the Assistant below the Machine branch indicated by the weather on the tile on top of the Experiment deck. (In the setup image, the top tile on the Experiment deck depicts Wind, therefore the Assistant is placed in the Wind branch.)
18. Place Lativ's 5 Bots to the side of the Lab.

• 2-Player Game: Place 1 of Lativ's Bots on the bottom space of each branch of the Machine.

19. Place the 15 Lab Research tokens (green) in stacks of the same type on the indicated spaces.

• 2-3 Player game: Use only 2 of each type.

20. Place a Lock token on each of the 5 Citation spaces.
21. Each player places one of their Funding markers on the leftmost space of the Lab Funding track.

Location 4 – R&D:

22. Separate the Extreme Weather tiles by type and place the Level 1 tiles on their indicated places on the board.
23. Place the other Extreme Weather tiles in stacks by type next to the main board with the Level 2 tiles on top of the Level 3 tiles.
24. Place the 10 R&D Research tokens (lilac) in stacks of the same type on the indicated spaces.
25. Each player places one of their Funding markers on the leftmost space of the R&D Funding track.

2-Player Setup Changes (Action Spaces)

Place a Voucher marker of a non-player color on the rightmost action space of each Main Location (2, 3, 4). That space cannot be used during the game.

Player's Laboratory

Each player sets up their own Laboratory as follows:

a. Your Assembly Line is divided into 4 sections, each with 3 spaces. Place your 12 Bots on these spaces. b. Place your Voucher markers on the starting positions of each of your Voucher tracks as follows: 4 Supply, 1 Government, 1 Lab, 1 R&D, and 2 Science. c. Place your Breakthrough markers on their spaces to the right side of your Office. d. Take 1 Machine Part of each color and give one at random to each player, returning any leftovers back to the reserve. Place your Machine Part on the space in the middle row of your Workshop. e. Take 1 Workshop tile from the top of the face-down stack per player and give one at random to each player. Place your tile next to the middle row of your Workshop, oriented so that the colored half-circles are at the top and bottom. f. Take a random set of 9 Goal tiles (ones with the same symbol in the bottom left corner) and place them face up below your Laboratory.

Note: Page 23 contains a variant rule for expert Goal drafting which replaces step f.

Vouchers

Scientists spend and receive Vouchers from Lightning Technologies to access other locations and be able to continue their crucial work.

Your Voucher markers track how many Vouchers you currently have of each type. Vouchers are gained by moving your Scientist to a Location and also spent at other Locations to perform actions. Whenever you gain a Voucher, move the corresponding marker up. Whenever you pay a Voucher, move the marker down.

You can only gain a Voucher if you have space for it. If you do not, gain only what you can.

You can never pay what you do not have. However, Science Vouchers may be spent as if they were any other type of Voucher.

Your Workshop

Scientists must increase the size of their Workshop as they require more and more space for holding chemicals, bots, and to build bigger branches of their prototype machines.

At the start of the game, your Workshop consists of the 3 spaces on the right side of your Laboratory and your first Workshop tile. This will increase in size as you add new Workshop tiles to it.

Your Workshop is where you store your Bots, Chemicals, and Machine Parts. Whenever you gain one of these, you must immediately store it in your Workshop. If you do not have space for something, you cannot gain it.

You also build your prototypes in your Workshop with your Machine Parts.

• The space in the top left of your Workshop can hold 1 Chemical of any type. Other Chemicals are stored on a matching colored space formed by two adjacent Workshop tiles (one per space).
• The space in the middle left of your Workshop can hold 1 Machine Part of any type. Other Machine Parts are stored on Workshop tiles (one per space).
• The space in the bottom left of your Workshop can hold 1 Bot. Other Bots are stored on Workshop tiles (one per space).

Note: A Workshop tile can only store 1 Machine Part OR 1 Bot.

Bots, Chemicals, and Machine Parts may be moved around your Workshop at any time (including swapping the positions of two items), as long as each one is moved to a legal space. Workshop tiles cannot be moved or rotated after placement.

Note: You may not remove a Bot, Chemical, or Machine Part from your Workshop unless you are explicitly allowed to do so. I.e., if you gain a Chemical and have no space for it, you cannot remove another Chemical from your Workshop to make space.

Whenever you pay a Machine Part, return it to the reserve. Chemicals are either returned to the Supply or placed in R&D when spent (as indicated by the action). Bots are never spent, but instead moved to spaces on the board as determined by your chosen action.

Game Structure

After an initial Supply round (see below), the game is played over a series of rounds, with each round divided into 3 Phases.

• PHASE A: Player Turns. In turn order, each player takes a turn.
• PHASE B: Run Weather Machine experiment.
• PHASE C: End of Round. Adjust turn order. Possible income.

This continues until the end of the game is triggered (see End of Game). After final scoring, the player with the most CP is the winner.

Executive Exchanges

To help the Scientists work efficiently, Lightning Technologies allows them to exchange vouchers to speed up their research by granting them some advantages. You can perform the following Executive Exchanges during the game:

• Science Exchange: Whenever you need to pay a Voucher, and you do not have one of the required type (or a Science Voucher), you may pay any 3 other Vouchers instead to gain 1 Science Voucher which you then pay as the required Voucher.
• Chemicals Exchange: Whenever you need to pay a Chemical, and you do not have one of the required type, you may pay any 2 Vouchers to exchange one of your Chemicals with one of the required type from the Supply. The returned Chemical is placed on the rightmost matching empty slot of the Supply. Then, take the leftmost Chemical of the required type from the Supply, and immediately use it for the originally intended action (you do not need space in your Workshop for this Chemical).
• Machine Parts Exchange: Whenever you need to pay a Machine Part, and you do not have one of the required type, you may pay any 2 Vouchers to exchange one of your Machine Parts with another Machine Part from the reserve.

Post-Setup Supply Round

After setup is complete, but before the game begins, in turn order, each player takes a turn during which they perform any number of the actions in the Supply Location (paying the cost as usual). These actions are described in Location 1: Supply.

After all players have performed their actions, if any player performed the Take the Initiative action, the turn order is adjusted at the end of the Post-Setup Supply Round.

Phase A: Player Turns

In this Phase, each player in turn order takes a turn. On your turn, perform the following steps in order:

1. Use 1 Subsidy tile OR 1 Investment tile.
2. Move your Scientist.
3. Perform actions.
4. Place Research tokens.

Also, at any time during your turn, if you have any Award tokens on the space to the top-left of your Office, you may place them on any empty spaces of your Office, gaining the benefit depicted on the spaces, if any.

1. Use a Subsidy Tile or Investment Tile

Start your day with the advantage of a Government subsidy or an investment in your work.

If you have any Subsidy tiles that are blue-side up to the left of your Laboratory, you may flip one of them over to gain the benefit printed on it. These benefits are all described in the Player Aid.

Note: Subsidy tiles are single-use only; once flipped, they cannot be flipped back over.

Alternatively, if you have any Investment tiles to the left of your Laboratory, you may return one of them to the reserve to do one of the following:

1. Setting a Goal: Move one of your Goal tiles from below your Laboratory onto an empty Goal space of your Laboratory matching the color of the tile. Gain the benefit depicted on that space.
2. Receive funding: Flip one of the face up Goal tiles already on your Laboratory and gain the benefits from the corresponding Funding track (see Funding Tracks).

Note: Each Goal tile on one of your Goal spaces is an objective that will be scored at the end of the game if you meet the conditions depicted on the tile. The reverse side of a Goal tile has a black background. This indicates it has already been flipped over; it is still scored at the end of the game.

Note: You can have more than 6 Subsidy / Investment tiles next to your Laboratory. Just place any excess nearby.

Funding Tracks

For each Location, the work done by you and your Bots increases your recognition, thereby gaining more external sponsorship and funding for your research. The more you do, the more funding you get.

Whenever you receive funding (by flipping over one of your Goal tiles), you gain the benefits of the track corresponding to the color of the tile flipped (blue = Government, green = Lab, purple = R&D).

The position of your Funding marker on each track will determine how many CP you get at the end of the game from that track.

• Lab Funding track: offers Science Vouchers and access to one of the other Funding tracks. First, gain the Science Vouchers depicted below the space your marker is on and every space to the left of it. Then, choose one of the other two tracks and gain the benefits of that track, treating your marker as if it were a number of spaces further ahead on the track, as depicted by the modifier shown below the position of your marker on the Lab Funding track (do not move the marker).
• R&D Funding track: offers Machine Parts and CP. Gain one benefit depicted on the space your marker is on OR any space to the left of it.
• Government Funding track: offers grants in the form of resources. Gain the benefits depicted below the space your marker is on and every space to the left of it.

2. Move Your Scientist

Scientists need to move around every location to be able to do their work. To support this, Lightning Technologies provides vouchers to give them access to the different locations.

Choose any empty action space in a different Location from your current one and place your Scientist on the space.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In Round 1, all players must move to the middle space of a Location if the Location is empty. If the middle space is occupied, the rightmost space may be chosen instead. The leftmost action space cannot be selected in Round 1.

After placing your Scientist, you gain/pay Vouchers depending on the Location chosen:

• For the Main Locations (2, 3, 4), you gain the Voucher depicted on the space where you place your Scientist, plus an additional 1 Voucher of the same type for each other player to the left of your space. You also gain 1 Science Voucher if Lativ is at that Location and also to your left.
• In the Supply Location (1), you first gain a Voucher of any type (including Science) and, if Lativ is there, you also gain 1 Science Voucher. Then, you must pay 1 Voucher of any type for each other player on spaces to the left of your space. If you cannot pay the Vouchers, you cannot place your Scientist in this Location.

Moving Lativ

Lativ is the chief Scientist of the company and the inventor of the Weather Machine. His role is to make sure his team has all that they need to ensure their research runs as smoothly as possible.

After gaining / paying Vouchers, if Lativ is at the Location you moved to, move him to the next Location in numeric order. For Locations 1 & 5, place Lativ on his designated space. For Locations 2-4, Lativ moves to the leftmost empty action space. If all action spaces are full, Lativ moves to the next Location.

If Lativ moves, check the active branch of the Weather Machine in the Lab (the one where the Assistant is). If Lativ does not have one of his Bots in that branch, place 1 of Lativ's Bots from the area next to the Lab onto any empty space of the branch (it doesn't matter which one). If Lativ already has a Bot in the branch, or the branch was full, place a Bot in the next branch (following the arrows). If all the branches are either full or already contain one of Lativ's Bots, nothing happens.

2-Player Game: If Lativ moves to Government or R&D, discard a Research token from Lativ's current Location of the same type of weather as the branch where Lativ's Assistant currently is.

3. Perform Actions

Time to improve this great invention and save the world.

The symbol on the action space where your Scientist is determines how many actions you can perform. Action spaces in the Main Locations (2-4) depict one of the following symbols:

• You may perform 1 of the actions.
• You may perform 1 or both of the actions.

The Supply Location is explained in Location 1: Supply.

All actions are optional; it is allowed to perform no actions at a Location. Full details on each Location action are provided below.

4. Place Research Tokens

Close your day's work recording your research.

At the end of your turn, if you have any Research tokens on the space to the top left of your Office, you must now place them onto empty spaces in your Office that match the color of the token. After placing a token, gain the benefit depicted on the space you just covered, if any.

Remember, you may place any Award tokens at any point during your turn (including now), or save them to place on a future turn.

Note: Each row can only have Research tokens of one type of weather. However you are allowed to start more than one row with Research tokens of the same type of weather.

If you are unable to legally place a Research token, remove it from the game.

Note: Any Research tokens gained during the running of the Weather Machine must be placed immediately (see Phase B).

Location Actions

All of the actions available at the Locations in the game are described in this section. Remember that to take an action, you must have first moved your Scientist to an action space in the Location and spent/gained Vouchers as described above. Many of the actions require you to pay Vouchers, move a Bot, pay a Machine Part, use a Chemical, etc. For all of these actions, if you do not have the required items (or perform an Executive Exchange to get them), you cannot perform the action.

Location 1: Supply

Bots, Chemicals, and Workshop extensions are all needed tools and resources to allow you to keep researching and improving the Weather Machine.

In this Location, all action spaces depict the Supply symbol. Therefore, any player at this Location may perform any number of the actions listed below, and each of the actions may be taken multiple times.

Extend Workshop: Pay 1 Supply Voucher to take any face-up Workshop tile from the offer (the 4 tiles on the board, or the tile from the top of the face-up stack). Place that tile next to your Laboratory. Immediately after taking one of the tiles from the board, place the top tile from the face-up stack to refill the offer. As soon as the face-up stack is empty, flip over the face-down stack so there is a new face-up stack.

Placing Workshop Tiles: Each Workshop tile you gain must be placed immediately, extending the size of your Workshop. Workshops can extend as far to the right as you like, but may not extend above or below the edge of your Laboratory (3 rows high). Each tile must be placed orthogonally adjacent to an existing part of your Workshop (the pre-printed spaces on the right side of your Laboratory and any other Workshop tiles previously placed). You can choose one of two orientations when placing the tile (with the semicircles at the top and bottom), but the colors on touching semicircles must match. Once placed, Workshop tiles cannot be moved or rotated during the game.

Construct a Bot: Choose one of the Bots from your Assembly Line, pay the cost in Supply Vouchers depicted at the top of the section the Bot is in, and then move that Bot to an available space in your Workshop. When you remove a Bot from your Assembly Line, immediately gain the benefit depicted next to the slot.

Note: At the start of the game, you may only choose from the top two sections. The bottom two sections are only available once you have constructed the depicted number of Bots (6 or 9), or you have the depicted number of Research/Award/Citation tokens in your Office (5 or 8). Any tokens on the space to the top left of your Office also count towards this.

Bots must be placed in your Workshop. If there is no space, you cannot perform this action.

Acquire a Chemical: Choose a type of Chemical and take the leftmost Chemical of that type from the Supply, paying a number of Supply Vouchers as indicated by the section it is in. Place the Chemical in your Workshop. Chemicals can be placed in your Workshop on any empty space matching the color of the Chemical. The space you start with can hold 1 Chemical of any type. If there is no available space, you cannot perform this action.

Return a Chemical: Choose a Chemical from your Workshop, place it on the rightmost empty matching space of the Supply. Then, gain the indicated Supply Vouchers for the section it was placed in.

Take the Initiative: Pay 1 Supply Voucher to move your Initiative marker into a new position, sliding all other markers to the left or right, as appropriate. During Phase C, the order of the Initiative markers will determine the turn order for the following round.

Location 2: Government

Realizing the huge advantages of the Weather Machine, the government wants a piece of the pie. So, in exchange for the company building new prototypes for them, they are willing to offer subsidies and share their research data.

There are two possible actions in this Location. Each action may only be performed once per turn.

Sell a Part (Cost: 1 Government Voucher). To perform this action, follow these steps in order:

1. Advance your marker 1 space on the Government Funding track.
2. Place 1 Bot from your Workshop onto an empty Bot space of the Government Machine. You must have a Machine Part in your Workshop matching the color of the space where you place the Bot.
3. Take 1 of the Subsidy tiles (can be either side up) from the same column as the Bot you just placed and place it blue-side up to the left of your Laboratory.
4. Take a Research token from below the column where you placed the Bot (if available), placing it on the space to the top left of your Office. If there are no Research tokens remaining in the column, take an Investment tile from the reserve and place it next to your Laboratory.

Then, replace the Subsidy tile you took with a Machine Part from your Workshop. The color of the Machine Part must match the color of the space where you placed your Bot.

After these 4 steps are complete, check to see if the Government runs their Machine (see below).

Secure Subsidy (Cost: 2 Government Vouchers). To perform this action, follow these steps in order:

1. Choose a blue-side up Subsidy tile from the Government area and gain the benefit depicted at the top of the column and to the left of the row that the tile is in.
2. Gain the benefit of the tile chosen and then flip it over.

Note: You must take a Subsidy tile that does not match one you already have, if able. If you are unable to do this (you already have a Subsidy tile of each type in the column), take any 1 tile from the column and discard it.

Government Runs Their Machine

The government are also building their own machine to help fix the extreme weather caused by Lativ's experiments.

If, after performing the Sell a Part action, all Bot spaces in a branch of the Government Machine are full, the Government activates that branch of their Machine. Follow these steps:

1. Each player gains 3 CP for each of their Bots in the just completed branch.
2. Move 1 Government marker from the Government area to the leftmost empty space on the Extreme Weather tile that matches the branch. If all the spaces on the Extreme Weather tile are now full, the weather is fixed: Return the tile to the top of the corresponding stack next to the board (discarding any Breakthrough markers on it to the box, and returning any Government markers on it back to the Government area).

Location 3: Lativ's Lab

Lativ's Lab is where the original Weather Machine was built. It is where all the experiments are run, and the place where all the data about the glitches is gathered to improve the machine. The Lab is where you publish your research and where you can increase your reputation in the eyes of the government.

There are two possible actions in this location. Each action may only be performed once per turn.

Work on Experiment (Cost: 1 Lab Voucher). To perform this action, follow these steps in order:

1. Advance your marker 1 space on the Lab Funding track.
2. Move 1 Bot from your Workshop to an empty space in any branch of the Weather Machine (one of the 5 columns).

Alternatively, you can move one of your Bots to a space already containing one of Lativ's Bots. If you do this, move Lativ's Bot to another empty space of the same branch. If there is no other empty space, return it to the side of the Lab.

Note: Having more Bots in a branch gains you more CP when the experiment runs (see Phase B).

Note: At the end of every round, if the branch with the Assistant has Bots in every space, the experiment may run (see Phase B).

Publish a Paper (Cost: 2 Lab Vouchers). To perform this action, choose a completed row in your Office which has a Breakthrough marker next to the tokens and at least one of the tokens is a Research token (a completed row is one with 3 tokens in it).

Note: If you only have two tokens in a row, you may cite a previous piece of work at this time to complete the row immediately before publishing (see Citations).

Then follow these steps in order:

1. Slide the Breakthrough marker to the rightmost space of the row, gaining the benefit that you moved the marker over.
2. Score CP for the published paper: 2 CP for each Research token in the row and 4 CP for each Award token in the row. Citation tokens are not worth any CP.
3. Take an Investment tile from the reserve and place it to the left of your Laboratory.

Note: If the Citation space matching the weather of the published paper still has a Lock token on it, remove that Lock token from the game. If you do, you may immediately pay 1 Science Voucher to gain 3 CP.

Citations

Immediately before publishing, if you have 2 tokens in a row of your Office and the Lock token from the corresponding Citation space has been removed, you can cite the previous work to complete your row (even if that work was your own).

To do so, choose a Goal tile from below your Laboratory whose color matches the space in your Office you want to place a token. Remove that Goal tile from the game (put it back in the box), take a Citation token from the reserve and place it on the chosen space in your Office, gaining the benefit depicted on the space, if any.

Note: The 2 tokens you have in the row in which you place a Citation token could be either 2 Research tokens, or 1 Research token and 1 Award token.

Location 4: Research & Development

This Location is where you help to make a better world by finding a way to fix the extreme weather conditions. R&D is where you collate the results of the Lab experiments and send your Bots to build an improved prototype. As a Scientist, it is also the place where you show the world your work and get recognition for it. You may be driven by the Awards and even dream of a Nobel Prize.

There are two possible actions in this Location. Each action may only be performed once per turn.

Research (Cost: 1 R&D Voucher). To perform this action, follow these steps in order:

1. Advance your marker 1 space on the R&D Funding track.
2. Move 1 of your available Bots from your Workshop to an empty Research space in any branch of R&D.
3. Pay 1 Chemical of the type depicted to the left of the space, moving it from your Laboratory to the left of where you placed your Bot (not back to the Supply).
   • Note: If placing on the bottom space of a branch, also pay any 1 Chemical or any 1 Machine Part (as depicted to the right of the space). A Chemical spent in this way is returned to the rightmost empty space of the Supply matching the type of Chemical.
4. Gain the benefits depicted on the space where you just placed your Bot.
   • Note: If you placed a Bot on the bottom space, you gain another Bot from your Assembly Line (in the same way as described in the Supply Location, but without paying any Supply Vouchers).
5. Take a Research token from below the column (if not available see next paragraph), placing it on the space to the top left of your Office.

Completing a Branch in R&D: If you place the last Bot in a branch, take an Investment tile instead of a Research token. Also, if that type of weather still has a Lock token on the Citation space (no player has published a paper for this type of weather), remove the Lock token from the game and you may immediately pay 1 Science Voucher to gain 3 CP. From this point onwards, players can cite that type of weather.

Breakthrough (Cost: 2 R&D Vouchers). To perform this action, follow these steps in order:

1. Choose a row in your Office where you have published a paper and the Breakthrough marker is on the rightmost space.
2. Pay a number of Science Vouchers as depicted on the Extreme Weather tile on the board that matches the weather of the chosen row (from 0 to 2). Then, move the Breakthrough marker from that row to any empty space on the Extreme Weather tile, gaining the benefit depicted on the space.
3. Build the prototype, granting CP to you and possibly other players (see below).
4. Take an Award token from the reserve, and place it on the space to the top-left of your Office. If this was your 3rd Award token, also take the Nobel Prize if still available (this is one of the end of game triggers).

After performing this action, if all the spaces on the Extreme Weather tile are now full, return the tile to the top of the corresponding stack next to the board. Discard any Breakthrough markers on it to the box, and return any Government markers on it back to the Government area.

Note: Each player may have no more than 1 Breakthrough marker on each Extreme Weather tile. If you publish another paper on the same type of Weather, that Breakthrough marker cannot be placed on the same tile.

Building a Prototype

As part of the Breakthrough action, you must build a prototype. The Machine Parts required by the prototype are the three depicted below the Extreme Weather tile, plus any depicted at the top of the tile itself.

Each Bot on a Research space in the branch (belonging to you or another player) may provide the required part for you, or you can provide it yourself (the more parts you provide, the more CP you get). For each Bot of another player that provides a part for you, that player gains 2 CP.

All Machine Parts you are providing must be in the same row of your Workshop.

• Gain 2 CP for each of your Bots in the branch, plus 2 CP for each Machine Part you provided.
• Return all Machine Parts used to build the prototype to the reserve, along with any additional Machine Parts in the same row of your Workshop (you do not get CP for any additional parts returned in this way).

Remember: You can rearrange Machine Parts and Bots in your Workshop at any time.

Phase B: Run Weather Machine Experiment

Time to run the Weather Machine and get some recognition for our work with Lativ. These experiments are crucial to get the data we need to improve the Weather Machine. Worsening the weather is just collateral effect. A small price to pay for the greater good.

In this Phase, Lativ's Assistant attempts to run the Weather Machine in the Lab. The active branch is the one where the Assistant is.

The first thing to do in this Phase is to check if the experiment runs or not. The experiment runs if both of the following conditions are met:

• There is at least one Experiment tile in the display matching the weather of the active branch.
• There is a Bot on every space in the active branch.

If only one, or none of the conditions are met, the experiment does not run.

2-player game: See the 2-Player Variant for a special rule.

If the Experiment Runs...

The Experiment tile in the display matching the weather of the active branch is known as the active Experiment tile. If there is more than one matching tile, the rightmost tile is the active one.

In turn order, each player with a Bot in the active branch performs the following steps in order:

1. Return your Bots from the active branch to your Workshop. If you do not have space for a Bot, return it to any empty space in the top two sections of your Assembly Line.
2. You may pay the number of Science Vouchers as depicted on the active Experiment tile. If you do, continue with steps 3-5. If you do not, skip steps 3-5.
   • Remember: If you do not have a Science Voucher, you may pay any 3 Vouchers of other types to gain 1 Science Voucher at this time.
3. Gain CP as depicted on the Experiment tile for each Bot you just returned.
4. Gain one of the two benefits depicted on the tile (no matter how many Bots you had in the branch).
   • Note: If you are unable to receive the full benefit (e.g., you only have room for 1 Machine Part when the benefit is to gain 2 Machine Parts), you may take as much of the benefit as you can.
5. Take a Research token from below the active branch (if available), immediately placing it in your Office. If you do not have a legal space for the token, remove it from the game. If there are no Research tokens remaining, gain 1 Science Voucher instead.

Once all players have performed the steps, the experiment is completed. Return any of Lativ's Bots on the active branch to the side of the Lab.

Then, take the top Extreme Weather tile from the stack matching the type of weather and place it on the corresponding space in R&D, covering any tile already there. Any Breakthrough markers on the existing tile are returned to the box, and any Government markers are returned to the Government area.

If the Experiment Does Not Run...

All players with Bots in the active branch may choose to return them to their Workshop. If you do not have space for a Bot, return it to any empty space in the top two sections of your Assembly Line.

Return any of Lativ's Bots on the active branch to the side of the Lab.

Preparing for the Next Experiment

At the end of this Phase, whether the experiment runs or not, perform the following steps:

1. Remove from the game the rightmost Experiment tile in the display matching the weather of the active branch (if any). Slide any other tiles in the display to the right to refill any gaps, then place the tile below the deck to the leftmost space in the display, and finally, place the top tile of the deck on the space below the deck, if able.
2. Move Lativ's Assistant to the next branch. If already in the Snow branch, move them to the Rain branch.

Phase C: End of Round

Preparing for tomorrow is an important task of the day. During this Phase, the turn order is adjusted, and if Lativ is in his Office, players gain income.

Adjusting Turn Order

Adjust the Turn Order markers to match the order of the Initiative markers.

Income

This only happens at the end of the round in which Lativ is at his Office - Location 5.

Each player gains the depicted benefits on each empty space of the top two sections of their Assembly Line (spaces marked with the icon).

After players have gained their income, move Lativ to his space in Supply (Location 1).

End of Game and Final Scoring

The end of the game is triggered once any of the following happens:

• A player takes the Nobel Prize.
• The last Experiment tile is placed in the display during Phase B.
• The Government Machine is completed (all Bot spaces are occupied).
• All Research spaces in R&D are occupied.

Finish the current Round, and then play 1 last round, skipping Phase C in the final Round.

During Phase B of the Final Round, starting with the branch where the Assistant is, and proceeding in order of the arrows, check each completed branch of the Weather Machine. For each branch, if there is a current Experiment tile matching the type of weather, run the experiment following the usual rules. Then, proceed to final scoring.

Final Scoring

Just before final scoring, all players, in turn order, may place any Research tokens and/or Award tokens they have next to their Laboratory onto empty spaces of their Office, following the usual rules. This is done to help them meet the conditions of their Goal tiles. Players may also use their Investment tiles to place or flip a Goal tile.

Each player then scores for the following:

• CP according to the position of their marker on each Funding track. Score the highest value CP above or to the left of your marker.
• 5 CP for each Goal tile on one of their Goal spaces that they meet the conditions for (see Player Aid).
• 5 CP if a player has the Nobel Prize.

The player with the most CP wins. Tiebreakers are as follows:

1. Number of Awards.
2. Number of published papers.
3. Number of completed rows in the Office.
4. If there is still a tie, tied players share the place.

Drafting Variant

Instead of each player getting a set of 9 Goal tiles at the start of the game, divide the tiles by their symbol (in the bottom left) and then subdivide them by color. You should now have 12 sets, each consisting of 3 tiles of the same color.

• In turn order, each player chooses a set of 3 tiles and places it below their Laboratory.
• Then, in reverse order, each player chooses a second set of tiles, which must be a different color from their first set.
• Finally, in turn order, each player chooses a third set of tiles, which must be a different color to their first set and second set.

Each player should now have 9 Goal tiles, 3 in each color.

2-Player Summary

Only 2 scientists are enough to save the world. With a little help from Lativ.

Setup Changes

• Place one of Lativ's Bots in each branch of the Weather Machine in the Lab.
• Use only 2 Research tokens of each type in each Main Location.
• Place a Voucher marker of a non-player color on the rightmost action space of each Main Location (2, 3, 4). This action space cannot be used during the game.

Game Play Changes

• When Lativ moves to the Government or R&D, discard a Research token from Lativ's current Location of the same type of weather as the branch where Lativ's Assistant currently is.
• When the experiment runs, after all players have performed their steps, if there is one of Lativ's Bots on the branch, remove from the game 1 Research token from below the active branch, if able.

2-Player Variant: New Scientists

In addition to the 2-player rules above, Lativ counts as another player for the purposes of gaining Vouchers when placing a Scientist in a Location. This is in addition to gaining a Science Voucher.

Designer Tips

Saving the world is never easy.

• Take Subsidy tiles that give you extra actions early in the game.
• Place one of Lativ's Bots in each branch of the Weather Machine in the Lab.
• Focus on only one or two types of weather at the beginning of the game for your Research.
• If you don't have the right Machine Part, Chemical, or Voucher, remember the Executive Exchanges.
• Think carefully when placing a Bot in the Lab. They will only be useful if that branch runs an experiment.
• Always make sure you are sending your Bots to an experiment that you know will come out.
• Having more than one Bot in a branch of the Government Machine or the Weather Machine will earn you more CP.
• Try to Publish a Paper as soon as you can.
• When you build a prototype, if you use other players' Bots, you will need fewer Machine Parts, but gain fewer CP.
• Build a prototype as soon as you can; the Award you gain will help you in your other research.
• Choose a couple of Goal tiles at the start of the game and then work towards achieving them.
• Use your Investment tiles carefully. Setting a new Goal can gain you CP at the end of the game, but receiving the benefits from the Funding tracks can also be very useful.

Explanation of Benefits

Whenever you gain a benefit, you never pay Vouchers for it, even if it would normally cost Vouchers. You can find all the Subsidy tiles and Goal tiles in the Player Aid.

• Perform the 'Sell a Part' action. You still need to pay the Machine Part.
• Perform the 'Work on Experiment' action. You still need to pay the Chemical.
• Perform the 'Work on Experiment' action without paying the Chemical.
• Perform the 'Publish a Paper' action.
• Perform the 'Breakthrough' action.
• Perform the 'Extend Workshop' action.
• Construct a Bot.
• Acquire 1 Chemical from the Supply.
• Take any 1 Machine Part from the reserve and place it in your Workshop.
• Gain any 1 Voucher (including Science).
• Take 1 Investment tile.
• Advance your marker 1 space on the indicated Funding track.
• Advance 1 space on any Funding track.
• Gain the depicted CP at the end of the game.
• Gain the depicted CP immediately.