The Factory is worker placement game developed for the Green Box but obviously inspired by the classic mechanics of the genre. Place your workers wisely across a range of options, and compete in auctions with the other players to gain access to resources and the right to produce goods.

WARNING: This is a rather complex game that has not been thoroughly playtested, so proceed at your own risk 😉 (and send us you feedback when you have tested it)

At a glance:

2-4 players

45 minutes

Complexity: High

Components used:

All cards

All tiles

11 cubes pr player

Setup:

Sort out 12 tiles with 2 of each symbol, place one of each face up, and the 6 remaining in a face down stack. This is the Factory Floor.

Shuffle the remaining tiles, place 6 face up and the rest in a draw pile. This is the Machine Shop.

Shuffle the deck and turn up 20 cards on the table. The rest form a draw pile. These are the Manufactured Goods.

Give each player 4 cubes of his or her chosen colour. These are the Workers.

Place 6 more cubes of each colour in a joint pile. This is the Recruitment Center.

Take one additional cube of each colour, and draw a random turn order from these. Lets call this the Head Office.

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Play:

The goal of the game is to produce Goods (that means collect cards) to score points. You produce Goods by placing Workers (cubes) on Machines (tiles) either in your possession or on the Factory Floor.

Phase 1: Place Workers

In turn order, players each turn place one or more Workers into one area.

  • Factory Floor:
    • Place here to get Manufactured Goods at the end of the round. Only one player can occupy one tile, but if a second player places more Workers into a tile than is already present, then the present workers are returned to their owner. The Factory Floor is resolved when all Workers are placed, and
  • Machine Shop
    • Place here to be able to get Personal Production Machines. This is one field with a single auction that is resolved when all Workers are placed. The final selection order is determined by the number of Workers each player has placed, and the order in which they were placed.
  • Personal Production Machines
    • After you have bought Machines from the Machine Shop, each Machine can be used once every turn. Place a Worker on the Machine to *immediately* produce goods, i.e. take a card from the table with the same symbol as your Machine.
  • Recruitment Center
    • Place here to recruit more workers. Single auction like the Machine Shop.
  • The Head Office
    • Place here to affect turn order. Single auction.

Phase 2: Resolve Stations

Resolve all stations in the following order:

  • The Head Office
    • The auction determines the new turn order, i.e. the player winning the auction becomes first player and so on.
  • The Machine Shop
    • In auction order, each player takes one Machine from the ones available face up. If ALL players have entered this auction, then the winner of the auction can take one additional Machine.
  • The Factory Floor
    • The winner of each Machine (tile) can take one card of Manufactured Goods matching the symbol on the tile. Turn order at the Head Office decides who goes first when there are more tiles with the same symbol.
  • The Recruitment Center
    • The winner of the auction gets 2 new Workers of her colour, the other players get 1.

Phase 3: Cleanup and prepare for next round

All Workers used are returned to their respective owner.

New Machines are turned up in the Machine Shop for a total of 6 available Machines.

One new Machine is turned up to expand the Factory Floor.

New Goods Cards are turned up for a total of 20 available Goods.

Winner

The game ends when either the last of the 6 available new Machines for the Factory Floor has been turned up, OR when there are not enough cards to replenish the table up to 20. Then one last round is played, and then scores are calculated.

Scoring:

  • Cards are worth the value printed on the card
  • 3 cards of the same colour are worth 5 bonus points
  • 5 cards of the same colour are worth a total of 10 bonus points.

The winner is the player with the highest total score.