Kanban: Driver's Edition

Begin by placing the double-sided Kanban board with the colored side face up for easier learning. Place the appropriate test track tile (3 cars for 3 players, 2 cars for 2 players) on the board, along with the large white cube on the car image and a white disc on '0'. Place the white pace car on a finish line space. Shuffle the factory goal tiles and place one face-up in each of the six designated spaces, ensuring lower-numbered tiles are on the left. Add two red seat tokens to each factory goal tile (adjust to one seat on the rightmost tiles for 3 players, or one seat on both tiles for 2 players). Create two stacks of book and parts tiles on the board. Randomly pick three car part cube colors to start in the recycling area, with one cube per space. Place one cube of each color to the left of the first space on the design tracks. Shuffle the five demand tiles and place two face-up in the designated spaces, adding the indicated number of red seats. Place the remaining demand tiles face-down near the board. Place two cars of each color on the assembly lines, one in the top row and one underneath, with remaining cars off-board as a supply. Shuffle the award plaque tokens and place three face-down in a stack at the top of each training track in each factory area (two plaques for 2 or 3 players), adding one red seat token on top of each stack. Leave a supply pile for extra red seats. Each player chooses a color (yellow, blue, purple, or orange) and takes their matching player board (standard side up for first games), large and small meeples, and seven round discs. Deal three performance goal cards and two Kanban order cards to each player. Give each player one parts voucher tile to place on their player board. Each player has five seat tokens; place them face-down around the conference table in the administration department, with one face-up. Place lock tokens on seats with a certificate symbol. Give each player four more lock tokens to place on the four unlocked symbol spots on their player board. Each player places their mini meeple to the left of the '0' space on the certification track and one color disc on the '0' space of the shift bank track. Place one disc of each player's color at the bottom of each training track on the board. If playing the Harsh Manager mode, players start at 15 on the productivity points track. Randomly determine the start player. Starting with them and going clockwise, everyone chooses a space on the certification track to place their mini meeple, gaining any immediate benefits. Then, in the new turn order (right to left on the certification track), each player chooses an available car part cube from the logistics department and a design tile from the design department, placing them on their player board. After these initial choices, you're ready to start play.

In Kanban: Driver's Edition, players take on the roles of new employees in a car manufacturing factory, striving to impress Sandra, the factory manager, by demonstrating their efficiency and productivity. The primary objective is to earn the most productivity points by managing supply chains, improving car designs, minimizing waste, and successfully producing automobiles. Players must also strategically complete factory goals and run the factory more efficiently than their opponents to secure their position as the top employee.

The game unfolds over a series of rounds, each representing a single workday, and comprises two distinct phases: the Department Selection Phase and the Working Phase. In the Department Selection Phase, players choose which of the five factory departments they will visit. For the very first turn of the game, players select their department in order from right to left on the certification track. In subsequent rounds, this order reverses to left to right along the workstation alley. Sandra, the factory manager, also moves to a department during this phase, occupying the furthest left available workstation. Players must choose a different department each day. The Working Phase follows, where players, in the order of the workstation alley (left to right), spend their allocated shifts to perform actions within their chosen department. The number of shifts gained is indicated by clock icons in the workstation. Players can also spend banked shifts from their personal track. A maximum of four shifts can be worked in a day. Once a player completes their actions, they lay their meeple down to indicate they are finished. When Sandra's turn comes in the Working Phase, she performs an assessment of the department she is in, which can result in rewards or penalties for players based on their progress. She does not perform an assessment on the first round. Her assessments also trigger movement of the pace car on the test track or the week marker on the administration track, which can lead to meetings or trigger the end of the game.

Scoring occurs throughout the game and at the end. During the game, players earn productivity points for completing various tasks, such as producing cars, upgrading designs, and fulfilling factory goals. At the end of each week (triggered by Sandra's movement), players score points for their tested designs. At the end of the game, final scoring is conducted: players earn 1 point for each banked shift, unused seat token, book, and parts voucher. Cars in a player's garage score points based on their printed value, which is influenced by upgrades made during the game. Each upgraded design scores points equal to its current value on the upgrade track, provided the player has a matching car in their garage. Finally, players score points based on their final position on each of the five training tracks. The player furthest along a track (and on top of any stacked discs) earns 5 points, the second furthest earns 3 points, and the third furthest earns 1 point. Players who have not progressed on a training track do not score points for it. The player with the highest total productivity points wins. In case of a tie, the tie-breaking order is: most cars, then most tested designs, then most banked shifts, then most certifications. If still tied, all tied players win.

The game concludes when a specific condition is met on the end-of-week track and the production cycle track. This occurs when one of these markers is on the third space and the other is on the second space. Once this condition is triggered, the current day of play is completed, including any remaining end-of-week scoring or meetings that may be scheduled. After all ongoing activities for that day are resolved, the game immediately proceeds to the final scoring phase to determine the winner.