Fantastic Factories

To set up, shuffle the blueprint and contractor decks separately and place them face-down. Deal four cards from each deck face-up to form the marketplace. Place one random tool token above each face-up contractor card, which will remain there for the entire game. Create a general supply of metal, energy, goods tokens, and white dice. Each player receives a headquarters player board, four dice of their chosen color, one metal, and two energy resources. Players are dealt four blueprint cards to hold in their hand, keeping them secret. Each player also takes a player aid card. The player who most recently used a tool becomes the first player, or one can be chosen randomly.

The goal of Fantastic Factories is to accumulate the most points by the end of the game. Points are primarily earned by manufacturing goods and building structures that provide prestige points. Players will strategically build factories, hire contractors, and manage resources to create efficient production chains and outmaneuver their opponents.

Each round consists of two phases: the Market Phase and the Work Phase. In the Market Phase, players take turns clockwise, starting with the first player. On your turn, you can optionally spend one metal or one energy to discard and refill either the blueprint or contractor row in the marketplace. Then, you must either gain one face-up blueprint card from the marketplace (adding it to your hand) or hire one face-up contractor by discarding a blueprint from your hand that matches the tool symbol above the contractor (resolving its immediate effect and refilling the contractor spot). After all players have taken a turn in the Market Phase, everyone simultaneously proceeds to the Work Phase. Here, players roll their four colored dice (workers) and can perform three main actions in any order, repeating them as desired: use their headquarters, build cards from their hand, or activate built cards in their compound.

At the end of the game, each player calculates their total score. This includes one point for each good token they have produced and any prestige points indicated on their built buildings. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most leftover metal resources wins. If there's still a tie, the tied player with the most leftover energy resources wins. If a tie persists, the tied player with the most blueprint cards still in hand wins. If all these tie-breakers fail, the tied players share the victory.

Rounds continue until one of two conditions is met: either a player has manufactured a total of 12 or more goods, or a player has built 10 or more buildings in their compound. Once either of these conditions is triggered, players finish the current round, and then play one final full round. After this last round, the game immediately ends, and players proceed to final scoring.