Food Chain Magnate Gameplay Overview

Actions

Phase 1: Restructuring

Players choose which employees to use this turn and arrange them into a company structure with the CEO at the top.

1. Each player simultaneously chooses which employee cards to use this turn and places them face down. All other cards are placed face down in a separate pile.
2. All players simultaneously reveal the pile of cards to be used this turn. These employees are 'at work'. The rest are 'on the beach'.
3. Place the cards at work into a pyramid company structure. CEO at top, managers below CEO (up to 3), and normal employees below managers (2-10 per manager).
4. If too many cards were played to fit the structure, all cards except CEO go on the beach and the player plays with only the CEO.

• The CEO is always at work and always the top of the pyramid
• During all other phases, players can request to see another player's cards (both at work and on beach)

Phase 2: Order of Business

Players choose their position on the turn order track based on open slots in their company structure.

1. Count open slots (unused slots on CEO and managers). Player with 'First airplane campaign' milestone adds 2 extra open slots.
2. Player with most open slots chooses turn order position first. Ties broken by previous turn order (earlier player chooses first).
3. Continue in descending order of open slots until all players have chosen positions.

Phase 3: Working 9:00-5:00

Players take turns performing actions for each card in their company structure. Actions must be performed in the order listed in the rules.

1. Players take turns in turn order. Each player completes all their actions before the next player begins.
2. Recruit: CEO provides 1 free recruitment. Additional recruitments from recruiting girl (1x), recruiting manager (2x), or HR director (4x). Hire entry-level (●) employees to the beach. Can hire if immediately training to higher level.
3. Train: For each training action (trainer, coach, guru), train one employee on the beach one step. Cannot train cards at work or busy marketeers. Coach can train same card 2 steps, guru 3 steps. With milestone, multiple trainers can train same card.
4. Initiate Marketing Campaigns: For each marketeer at work, place a campaign (billboard/mailbox/airplane/radio) within range (if applicable). Choose what to advertise (pizza/burger/drink type). Place wooden pieces equal to duration on campaign. Place busy chip on marketeer card.
5. Get Food & Drinks: Kitchen staff and buyers collect food/drinks per their card abilities. Kitchen trainee: 1 burger or pizza. Burger cook: 3 burgers. Burger chef: 8 burgers. Pizza cook: 3 pizzas. Pizza chef: 8 pizzas. Errand boy: 1 drink of any type. Cart operator: 2 drinks per source, range 2. Truck driver: 3 drinks per source, range 3. Zeppelin pilot: 2 drinks per source, range 4, ignore roads.
6. Place New Houses/Gardens: New business developer can place a new house connected to a road anywhere on the map, or add a garden (2x3 rectangle) to an existing house on empty squares.
7. Place/Move Restaurants: Local manager places new restaurant within range 3 by road, entrance connects to road, placed 'COMING SOON'. Regional manager places restaurant anywhere entrance connects to road, or moves existing restaurant, active immediately. Both provide drive-in (entrances in all corners).

• Actions of pricing manager, discount manager, luxury manager, CFO, recruiting manager, HR director, and waitress are mandatory
• Actions must be performed in the order listed, regardless of organizational chart position
• Only one copy of each ◆ card allowed per player

Phase 4: Dinnertime

Houses eat based on demand tokens, choosing restaurants by price and distance. Players earn money for sales.

1. Process houses in order of printed house numbers (lowest first).
2. For each house with demand tokens: find chains with restaurants connected by road that can provide ALL demanded goods. If none, inhabitants stay home.
3. If multiple chains can supply: calculate unit price (base $10, +/- price managers). Calculate distance (range from house to nearest restaurant entrance). Add (unit price + distance). Lowest sum wins. Ties broken by most waitresses, then turn order.
4. Winning chain serves food: remove demand tokens and matching goods from stock. Earn unit price + milestone bonuses per item. Houses with gardens: earn 2x unit price (bonuses not doubled). Then add bonuses.
5. After all houses processed: each chain earns $3 per waitress ($5 with milestone).
6. Chains with CFO (or milestone): earn +50% bonus on all cash earned this turn (including waitress tips), rounded up.
7. If bank has insufficient funds, break the bank (first time: open reserve cards, add money, adjust CEO slots; second time: game ends, finish phase 4, most cash wins).

• Bonuses from milestones (e.g., +$5 for burgers) do not affect unit price for competition calculation
• Standard unit price is $10 before any modifiers

Phase 5: Payday

Players may fire employees and must pay salaries for cards with $ symbol.

1. Each player may fire any employees in company structure or on the beach. Return fired cards to general stock. Busy marketeers normally cannot be fired.
2. Pay $5 for each card with $ symbol in structure or on beach, including busy marketeers. Unused recruiting manager/HR director actions give $5 discount each. Apply all discounts. Minimum payment $0.
3. If a player has no money but must pay a busy marketeer, that marketeer must be fired (only if all other salaried employees already fired). Campaign remains on board.

• First billboard placed milestone: marketeers require no salary
• First to train someone milestone: $15 salary discount

Phase 6: Marketing Campaigns

Marketing campaigns run in number order, placing demand tokens on houses they reach.

1. Process campaigns in order of printed campaign numbers (lowest first).
2. Billboard: place 1 demand token of advertised type on each house orthogonally adjacent (including garden-only adjacency).
3. Mailbox: place 1 demand token on each house in the same block (area enclosed by roads and board edge).
4. Airplane: place 1 demand token on each house in a line of 1/3/5 rows or columns from the airplane.
5. Radio: place 1 demand token on each house on the radio's tile and all 8 surrounding tiles (2 tokens with milestone).
6. Houses have maximum 3 demand tokens (5 with garden). Campaigns have no effect on full houses.
7. After campaign runs: remove 1 advertising token from campaign. If no tokens remain, return campaign to stock and return marketeer to player (unless eternal campaign).

• First billboard placed milestone: campaigns are eternal (never end, marketeer unavailable forever)
• First radio campaign milestone: radios place 2 demand tokens instead of 1

Phase 7: Clean Up

Discard unused goods, collect cards, flip new restaurants, and remove claimed milestones.

1. All players without 'First to throw away drink/food' milestone discard all food and drinks they own. With milestone, keep up to 10 in freezer.
2. All cards from company structure and beach are taken back into hand. Other players may request to see them.
3. Flip all 'COMING SOON' restaurants to 'WELCOME' side (they become active).
4. If any milestones were awarded this turn, turn all remaining milestone cards of the same type upside down (no longer available).
5. Advertising tokens on campaigns and demand tokens on houses remain on the board.