Fromage

Story

You are a small-town French cheesemaker in the early 20th century making, aging, and selling your artisanal cheeses. Your journey is a symphony of passion and dedication as you strive to create the most prestigious creamery with the most sought-after cheeses in all of France.

Overview

Fromage is a simultaneous worker-placement game where you make cheese and gather resources by placing Workers onto the board quadrant that is facing you. Once all players have finished their actions, the board rotates, aging the cheese, and presenting everyone with a new quadrant. At game-end, you score Prestige Points for your cheese and for managing your creamery’s resources. The player with the most Prestige Points wins.

Component List

• 4 Board Quadrants
• 1 Resource Tile
• 12 Inserts
• 4 Player Boards
• 2 Resource Trays
• 12 Workers
• 60 Cheese Tokens
• 36 Order Cards
• 36 Structure Tokens
• 36 Livestock Tokens
• 36 Fruit Tokens
• 32 Structure Tiles
• 6 Customer Tokens
• 8 x3/x5 Tokens

Standard Setup

1. Inserts: Each Insert shows a player count and a numeral (I/II). Find the 4 Inserts that match your player count. Use side I for your first game. Experienced players may use any combination of I and II sides, or the additional 4-player setup printed on the Boards. Slot the Inserts into the matching Board quadrants. Return unused Inserts to the box.
2. Board Assembly & Seating: Fit the 4 Board quadrants together in any configuration. Place the Resource Tile in the center of the Board in a random orientation. Orient the Board so 1 quadrant faces each player.
   • For 2-player games, sit facing opposite quadrants.
   • For 4-player games, sit in a square formation.
3. Customer Tokens: Place a random Customer Token on each on the Villes Board quadrant.
4. Order Cards & Trays: Shuffle the Order Cards . Place roughly half the cards and Resource Tokens in each Resource Tray . Position them on opposite ends of the table so everyone can reach a tray.
5. Player Pieces: Each player takes the 15 wood Cheese Tokens and 3 Workers of their chosen player color. Take a Soft , Hard , and Bleu Worker Base and attach your Workers to them.
6. Player Board & Starting Resources: Each player takes a random Player Board . To determine your starting Resources, look at the Resource Tile . Take 2 Resources matching the Resource in the quadrant to your left, and 1 Resource matching the quadrant opposite you.
   • Structures go in the space to the left of your Structure abilities.
   • Livestock go in the pasture.
   • Fruit goes in your basket.
   • Orders go face-up to the left of your Player Board.

Structure Tiles (Advanced Mode)

Draft Structure Tiles : Each player takes 4 random tiles. Set 1 tile aside to keep and pass the rest to the left; repeat until you have chosen 4 tiles. Then, place any number of your chosen tiles over the ones printed on your Player Board. Return unwanted tiles to the box.

Round Overview

At the start of each turn, all players Retrieve Workers. Then, all players simultaneously take actions in the quadrant that is currently facing them. Using your available Workers , you may perform ONE Gather Resources action and ONE Make Cheese action in either order.

When everyone is ready, rotate the board 90 degrees clockwise and begin the next turn.

In the rare case that 2 or more players refuse to play until they see each other’s action first, those players take turns clockwise from the player facing the Structure quadrant of the Resource Tile. (Developer Note: Over hundreds of playtests, we never had to resort to this. This rule is included only because it is theoretically possible.)

Retrieve Workers

At the start of each turn, check if any of your Workers are facing you. Take those Workers and place them in front of you. These Workers are now available to Make Cheese or Gather Resources.

Clarifications:

• At the start of the game, you haven’t placed any Workers yet, so all your Workers are available and there are no Workers to retrieve.
• Do not retrieve Cheese Tokens . These will be scored at game-end.

Board Rotation & Aging Mechanics

When the Board rotates, your Workers rotate with it. This automatically counts down the turns until your Worker is ready to be used again.

The more valuable cheeses take longer to age, and gathering more Resources takes more time. So, when you choose a more powerful action, you have to wait longer to retrieve your Worker.

Make Cheese

A creamery is only as good as the cheese it makes! You will score most of your Prestige Points by Making Cheese.

To Make Cheese, place a Cheese Token on an empty cheese space in your current quadrant. Then place your Worker of matching Cheese Type on top.

Each cheese space has a Cheese Type (Soft, Hard, or Bleu). A space’s Cheese Type determines which Worker you must use to make that cheese.

Each cheese space also has an Age. Making Cheese with a greater Age is more valuable, but comes with a greater cost of having to wait longer before that Worker is available again.

• Cheese on a Bronze space will take 1 turn to fully age.
• Cheese on a Silver space will take 2 turns.
• Cheese on a Gold space will take 3 turns.

The benefits of the Bronze, Silver, and Gold spaces vary by Venue.

Some cheese spaces have a or icon. You must use a Fruit Token to make these cheeses.

You can only Make Cheese ONCE per turn.

In 1-3 player games, some cheese spaces have a . You cannot make cheese here.

Gather Resources

Send Workers to acquire Resources that can be used to expand your creamery and make it more efficient.

To Gather Resources, place one of your available Workers on an empty space in the quadrant of the Resource Tile that’s facing you. Each quadrant provides a type of Resource (Structures, Livestock, Fruit, or Orders) with 3 spaces (labeled 1, 2, and 3).

When you place a Worker on one of these spaces, immediately take the corresponding number of Resources from the Resource Tray. Remember, the more Resources you gather, the longer it will take for your Worker to be ready again.

You can only Gather Resources ONCE per turn.

Clarifications:

• Do not place Cheese Tokens on Resource spaces.
• The Worker type (Soft, Hard, or Bleu) does not matter when Gathering Resources.
• You may use Resources on the same turn you acquired them.
• The Fruit, Livestock, and Structures come in a variety of shapes, but are functionally the same.
• Resources are unlimited. If a Resource Tray runs out, take Resources from the other tray or swap some of your used Resources with a x3/x5 token .

Strategy Tip

When placing a Worker, plan where you want your Worker to be available next. Your Worker will become available when the quadrant that it points at has rotated to you.

Festival

Show off your cheese to crowds gathered at the cheese festival in the town square.

Score points by making orthogonally adjacent cheeses (diagonal cheeses are not adjacent). The Free Sample spaces count as having all players’ Cheese Tokens there.

• Bronze spaces are adjacent to 0 .
• Silver spaces are adjacent to 1 .
• Gold spaces are adjacent to 2 .

At game-end, count your adjacent cheeses and consult the scoring rubric on the board. You may score multiple groups of adjacent cheese.

Fromagerie

Impress customers with your wide selection of cheeses displayed at the local fromagerie.

Each shelf’s Display Sign has a bonus. Shelves for longer-aged cheeses offer more valuable bonuses. If a sign shows a Resource bonus, immediately gain the bonus after placing a Cheese Token there. At game-end, count the number of different shelves with your Cheese Tokens and consult the scoring rubric on the board. For each of your Cheese Tokens on a shelf with a point bonus, add the indicated number of points.

• : Gain 2 different Resources.
• : Gain 1 of any Resource.
• : Discard an unused Resource. If you do, gain any Resource.

Bistro

Serve cheese pairings to prestigious guests of a famous French restaurant.

Score points for each plate with your Cheese Token. Make pairings by placing 2 of your Cheese Tokens on the same table. At game-end, consult the scoring rubric on the board. The number of pairings you made determines how many points each plate is worth.

Villes

Deliver cheese to cities across the country to expand your customer base.

The map is divided into 6 regions. Cheese spaces influence the regions they touch:

• Bronze spaces influence 1 region.
• Silver spaces influence 2 regions.
• Gold spaces influence 3 regions.

At game-end, if you have the most influence in a region, take the Customer Token . The value of a token varies by player count, as indicated on the board.

If tied for most influence, flip the token to the tied side . Tied players score the indicated number of points. The value varies by player count. In 1-2 player games, ties are worth 0 points.

Fruit

Use Fruit to make Jam and Fruited Cheeses to add a twist to traditional cheese flavors. Fruit gives you access to some cheese spaces that are otherwise blocked.

When gaining Fruit Tokens, place them in your Player Board’s basket. To make cheese in a space with a Fruited Cheese or Jam icon, you must use Fruit. Move the Fruit Token from your basket to the corresponding spent area. At game-end, score Fruit by multiplying the number of Fruit you used for Fruited Cheese by the number of Fruit you used for Jam.

Livestock

Livestock provide milk that helps you make more cheese. When milking Livestock, you can place a Cheese Token without using a Worker. This enables you to make multiple cheeses in a turn and possibly end the game earlier.

When gaining Livestock Tokens, place them in your Player Board’s pasture. At any time, use a Milking Parlour by moving the required number of Livestock from the pasture to the chosen Milking Parlour. Then immediately place that Milking Parlour’s Bonus Cheese: Place a Cheese Token on a space in your current Venue matching the Bonus Cheese Type and Age. Do not put a Worker on it. You can use each Milking Parlour once.

Clarifications:

• You can do a Make Cheese action and place a Bonus Cheese in the same turn.
• You can place multiple Bonus Cheeses in the same turn.
• If placing a Bonus Cheese on a space with a Fruited Cheese or Jam icon, you must use Fruit.

Orders

Fulfill Orders to build a loyal customer base. Optimize your Order and Venue scoring by carefully planning which cheese spaces to use for completing Order Cards.

When drawing Order Cards, place them face-up to the left of your Player Board. Orders have 2 requirements: a Cheese Type and Age. When you place a Cheese Token that matches the requirements, you may immediately complete the Order by placing it to the right of your Player Board. At game-end, consult the scoring rubric.

Clarifications:

• You can only complete 1 Order per Cheese Token, even if it would satisfy multiple Orders’ requirements.
• You cannot retroactively complete Orders; if you draw an Order and previously made a cheese that matches its requirements, the Order is not completed.
• You can complete Orders using Bonus Cheese from milking Livestock.

Structures

Build Structures to upgrade your creamery and increase its efficiency. Structures give you unique abilities and scoring bonuses.

When gaining Structure Tokens, place them on the space to the left of your Structure abilities. At any time, unlock a Structure ability by moving Structure Tokens from this space to fill the set of empty scaffolding spaces . Then you can start using its ability. Abilities can be triggered any number of times. Evaluate scoring abilities at game-end.

(Clarifications for Player Board Structure Abilities are on the back of the rulebook.)

Overview

Each Player Board has a set of 4 unique, but parallel, abilities. For example, the leftmost ability on each Player Board functions the exact same way while outputting a different Resource.

Abilities List

• Ability 1 (e.g. Barn): Place a Worker here to gain the Resource shown. Retrieve the Worker at the start of the next turn. This does not count as a Gather Resources action, so you could use all 3 Workers in 1 turn.
• Ability 2 (e.g. Greenhouse): When gaining the shown Resource (whether from Gathering Resources, the Fromagerie, or another Structure ability), gain 1 additional Resource of that type. You can use this ability once per turn.
• Ability 3 (e.g. Loading Dock): When placing a Cheese Token in the Venue shown, gain 1 of the Resource shown. This includes when placing a Bonus Cheese from a Milking Parlour.
• Ability 4 (e.g. Headquarters): At game-end, gain 1 Prestige Point for each of the Resource shown that you used. Unused Resources do not count.

Game-End Trigger

When a player places their final Cheese Token, they must declare that game-end is triggered. When all players finish the current turn, the game ends.

Scoring & Victory

Remove Workers from the Board. Total the scores for each Venue and Resource. Score 1 Prestige Point for every 2 unused Resources. The player with the most Prestige Points wins. If tied, the player that made more cheese wins. If still tied, victory is shared.

Clarification:

All Cheese Tokens on the Board count, regardless if they have fully aged or not. So, on the final turn, make the best available cheese and gather as many Resources as possible.

Plan Ahead!

When placing a Worker, plan where you want the Worker to be available next. The Worker will become available when the quadrant that it points at has rotated to you.

Use this method of planning to ensure that you have the desired number of Workers available on future turns.

• If your 3 Workers point in the same direction, you will retrieve all 3 on the same turn. This may be undesirable as you can usually only place 2 of them (unless you have certain Structure abilities), so you may have 1 Worker that can’t take an action.
• If you want to take actions in a particular quadrant, make sure to point your Worker(s) toward it. If none of your Workers point toward it, you may have no Workers available that turn.

Focus on a Few Things

Each Venue and Resource gives an increasing number of points the more you interact with it. So, focus your strategy on a couple Venues and a couple Resources.

Complete Orders Strategically

You should not always complete an Order Card just because you can. If the cheese does not fit your strategy for the Venue, you could end up scoring poorly in that Venue.

Overview

As factories rise, your small creamery must now compete against mass production. Can you preserve tradition, and avoid disappearing in the shadow of the corporate cheese manufacturers to secure your place in cheese-making history?

In this mode, you play against the Corporation. Follow all the standard rules of play with the following exceptions:

Setup

1. For your first game, place the Level 1 Corporation Board beside your Player Board.
2. Place the Corporation’s Cheese Tokens on the Corporation Board’s cheese spaces. On the higher difficulty boards, you will need to combine 2 different player colors. There will be no functional difference between the Corporation’s different color Cheese Tokens.
3. The Corporation does not use Workers, nor start with any Resources.
4. Form a single deck of all the Order cards.

For experienced players, do the following instead of the Structure Tile draft:

• Draw 4 tiles, keep 1, and discard the rest.
• Then, draw 3, keep 1, and discard the rest.
• Then, draw 2, keep 1, and discard the other.
• Finally, draw 1.

Gameplay

Each turn, the Corporation acts first and draws an Order Card. Take the Corporation’s leftmost Cheese Token and place it on an empty cheese space in your current Venue that matches the card’s requirements. If there are multiple cheese spaces that meet the card’s requirement, choose one. The Corporation does not need Fruit to place on a Fruited Cheese or Jam space. Then discard the Order Card. If you run out of Order Cards, shuffle the discard pile.

If there are no available cheese spaces that meet the Order Card’s requirement, place it on the Corporation Board’s card space to be scored at game-end.

Game End

The Corporation triggers game-end if it has no Cheese Tokens remaining.

The Corporation scores:

• The highest visible number on its cheese track,
• plus its Customer Tokens,
• plus 3 points per Order Card.

If you win, try defeating the Corporation at the next Level. Each Level introduces an additional Corporation Rule to increase the difficulty.

Game Designers: Ben Rosset & Matthew O’Malley | Developers/Publishers: Andrew Nerger & Jeffrey Chin
Artist: Pavel Zhovba | Assistant Artists: Arning Echano, Brian Masangkay, John Morris
Graphic Designer: Jeffrey Chin | 3D Modeler: Hector Lopez | Cheese Consultants: Nate Willis & Lisa Little (Prairie Fruits & Farms)
©2024 R2i Games