Rules of the game
In this game, two to four players or teams of players compete to launch innovative projects in order to end the game as the most innovative company.
The game is played in a series of 3 rounds, played in the same way but using separate decks of cards marked appropriately (I, II, and III) called “Asset Cards”.
In each round Players take turns picking asset cards one at a time, or allocating their existing assets into new projects if they meet the required conditions to do so.
Obstacle cards are special cards a player can collect like any other asset card, and use at any point in the game to harm the progress of an opponent.
The game is played in a series of 3 rounds, played in the same way but using separate decks of cards marked appropriately (I, II, and III) called “Asset Cards”.
In each round Players take turns picking asset cards one at a time, or allocating their existing assets into new projects if they meet the required conditions to do so.
Obstacle cards are special cards a player can collect like any other asset card, and use at any point in the game to harm the progress of an opponent.
The objective is to win, not to "make friends along the way"
Projects
Each project card contains two levels of investment and their matching rewards: Minimally Viable and Transformative.
Project cards come in 3 main families: Configuration, Offering, and Experience, that all produce rewards of any 2 types:
Growth
and Growth Fuel
A player can pause a project to free the asset cards that were allocated to it but the ”pause” cost is an added burden if they choose to later restart it. For example this .............would mean that restarting this project after a pause would cost an additional Tailwind
Starting a new project costs a turn, allocating more assets to existing projects to upgrade them does not and can be done anytime. When a project is at its “Minimally Viable” level, the asset cards are placed under the project card to the left side; when it reaches its Transformative state the asset cards are shifted to the right side
Project can also have acceleration potential, marked by the symbol
If a player has an active project with an acceleration condition AND the matching acceleration card [regardless of which project the card is allocated to], as noted on the project, they may receive extra rewards at the end of the game, as listed on the project card. Use the acceleration tokens to remind yourself of these extras.
Project cards come in 3 main families: Configuration, Offering, and Experience, that all produce rewards of any 2 types:
Growth
and Growth Fuel
A player can pause a project to free the asset cards that were allocated to it but the ”pause” cost is an added burden if they choose to later restart it. For example this .............would mean that restarting this project after a pause would cost an additional Tailwind
Starting a new project costs a turn, allocating more assets to existing projects to upgrade them does not and can be done anytime. When a project is at its “Minimally Viable” level, the asset cards are placed under the project card to the left side; when it reaches its Transformative state the asset cards are shifted to the right side
Project can also have acceleration potential, marked by the symbol
If a player has an active project with an acceleration condition AND the matching acceleration card [regardless of which project the card is allocated to], as noted on the project, they may receive extra rewards at the end of the game, as listed on the project card. Use the acceleration tokens to remind yourself of these extras.
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Assets
Each asset card may contain a condition to meet before a player can pick it up, and an outcome that the card grants its owner.
Obstacle cards contain a description of the impact they each deal to the affected player, and in some cases a Defense condition that allows the player with the matching Defense card the option to skip a turn instead of suffering the obstacle impact.
Asset cards come in 5 main families: Resources, Relationships, Culture, Tools, and Open Innovation (only in round 2 and 3), that all produce outcomes of any 3 types used to invest in projects, they are:
Obstacle cards contain a description of the impact they each deal to the affected player, and in some cases a Defense condition that allows the player with the matching Defense card the option to skip a turn instead of suffering the obstacle impact.
Asset cards come in 5 main families: Resources, Relationships, Culture, Tools, and Open Innovation (only in round 2 and 3), that all produce outcomes of any 3 types used to invest in projects, they are:
BudgetBecause money helps (a lot)
HeadcountsBecause people make things happen
TailwindBecause momentum and culture matter
Some asset cards have added benefits, such as being useful to defend against obstacles, or being able to accelerate a project’s rewards (as long as the player has the card, but regardless of whether it is allocated to any project).
Use these symbols on asset cards to spot cards with these added benefits, and use the provided tokens to keep track of the fact you have these perks easily even if you remove the cards from your active hand to allocate them to projects.
When allocating asset cards to a new project, their outcome points (including any leftovers exceeding the project requirement) cannot be used for any other project (except via freeing the asset cards altogether via a project pause, see later).
However, the cards retain their other benefits, such as defense and boost abilities, or their usefulness to count towards other acquisition conditions unless specified otherwise.
Players cannot have a hand size of unallocated asset cards exceeding 7 cards, if a player picks a card that increases their hand size to 8 cards, they must use or discard one or more card to reduce the hand size to no more than 7 cards.
This includes at the beginning of rounds, when players receive asset cards, so remember to use your cards on hand.
Use these symbols on asset cards to spot cards with these added benefits, and use the provided tokens to keep track of the fact you have these perks easily even if you remove the cards from your active hand to allocate them to projects.
When allocating asset cards to a new project, their outcome points (including any leftovers exceeding the project requirement) cannot be used for any other project (except via freeing the asset cards altogether via a project pause, see later).
However, the cards retain their other benefits, such as defense and boost abilities, or their usefulness to count towards other acquisition conditions unless specified otherwise.
Players cannot have a hand size of unallocated asset cards exceeding 7 cards, if a player picks a card that increases their hand size to 8 cards, they must use or discard one or more card to reduce the hand size to no more than 7 cards.
This includes at the beginning of rounds, when players receive asset cards, so remember to use your cards on hand.
The Bonuses:
Shields show you that a card can defend against some obstacles.
Forward shows you that a card has potential to accelerate a project
Forward shows you that a card has potential to accelerate a project
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Macro Trends
Macro Trends take place in-between rounds.
Before the start or Rounds 2 and 3, shuffle the 6 macro events cards. One player takes a card at random and reads it aloud before placing it for all to see. The macro events card impact the rules of the game for an entire round, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively.
Before the start or Rounds 2 and 3, shuffle the 6 macro events cards. One player takes a card at random and reads it aloud before placing it for all to see. The macro events card impact the rules of the game for an entire round, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively.
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Set Up & Rounds
Start of the game
At the beginning of the game, project cards are shuffled and 5 projects are made visible as “available projects”. Other project cards are face down in a draw pile. At any point in the game, 5 projects must be available, so that if a player takes a project card, a new one from the draw pile is made available.
Start of each round
At the beginning of a round, assets cards from that round are shuffled; 2 are given randomly to each player to start the round, and 3 of them are made visible as “available assets”, while others go face-down in a draw pile used to replenish the available list to 3 cards throughout the round.
End of each round
At the end of each round, players count the number of new projects started during that round, and all players except the one with the most new projects must discard an asset card of their choosing. In case of a tie for first no discards take place.
At the end of Round 1 and 2, play the Macro Trends step
At the end of Round 1 and 2, play the Macro Trends step
End of Game & Scoring
At the end of round III, the Growth and Growth Fuel points generated by each player’s projects are counted to determine the winner.
Players score 1 point for each, up to the lesser total of the two, representing a balanced innovation strategy. Whatever Growth or Growth Fuel is in excess, then returns 1 point for every 3 units.
Any paused project at the end of round III is considered abandoned and a cost of -1 point (per abandoned project) to the player score..
Players score 1 point for each, up to the lesser total of the two, representing a balanced innovation strategy. Whatever Growth or Growth Fuel is in excess, then returns 1 point for every 3 units.
Any paused project at the end of round III is considered abandoned and a cost of -1 point (per abandoned project) to the player score..
The winner is the player with the projects that yield the best point total at the end!
TL;DR
Set up with 5 projects and 3 assets (round specific) visible
Players take turns:
– Taking a card from the asset draw pile, OR
– Starting a new project from the project draw pile, AND
– Use an obstacle card they hold (if they wish to), AND/OR
– Expand, or pause existing projects (if they wish to)
Set up with 5 projects and 3 assets (round specific) visible
Players take turns:
– Taking a card from the asset draw pile, OR
– Starting a new project from the project draw pile, AND
– Use an obstacle card they hold (if they wish to), AND/OR
– Expand, or pause existing projects (if they wish to)
Playing your turn
Building a project
The digital version (pdf to download and print yourself) is free to play, you can otherwise buy the professionally produced card deck (see "Shop"), or contact license@intrapreneurs-game.com or mathieu@m-guerville.com if you plan to incorporate it into a paid facilitated workshop.
Mathieu Guerville
Creator
