PBM Cube Farm v2.0
Original © 2002 by Cheapass Games. Modified for PBM by Howard Bishop 2002.
This is an experimental set of PBM rules. There is no attempt to infringe the copyright.
1.0 BASIC CONCEPT
1.1 The game is for three players who represent one of three departments in a dodgy start-up company. Sales & Marketing is on the top floor, Product Development is on the middle floor and Support & Training is in the basement.
1.2 Players attempt to score points by playing cards representing floor plans and then placing their own employees near the "good stuff", photocopiers, candy machines, etc.
1.3 At the end of 5 turns, the game is scored.
2.0 START-UP
2.1 5 cards are dealt to each player.
2.2 An elevator card is placed on each of the three floors to start the floor layout.
3.0 TURN SEQUENCE
3.1 There are 5 turns altogether. Each postal turn is split into 3 phases.
3.2 In each phase players play one card to one of three floors, and then try to position one of their staff members in a cube on that floor. It doesn't have to be a cube on the card just played.
3.3 In the first phase, the card/employee played must be on the player's own departmental floor.
3.4 In phase 2, Sales plays to the PD floor, PD plays to Support's floor and Support plays to the Sales floor.
3.5 In phase 3, Sales plays to Support's floor, PD plays to Sales' floor and Support plays to PD's floor.
3.6 Orders can not be conditional. If a card/employee placement instruction is illegal because of moves in previous phases, that placement is lost.
3.7 At the end of each turn players receive 3 new cards, except at the end of turn 4, when only 1 card is received.
4.0 CARD PLACEMENT
4.1 Each new card must align with the existing grid/layout and it must touch the existing cards.
4.2 If an area becomes completely surrounded and is too small for another card, that area becomes passable floor space.
4.3 If a card is played to enlarge an existing cube, that cube becomes a single larger cube. If an employee was already in that cube, he would expand into the other part. This also happens when cubes with negative values are enlarged.
4.4 An occupied cube cannot be enlarged with a negative point cube.
4.5 A Vice President (VP) cannot be played to a floor that already has one.
4.6 The order for a particular card is the card number, square occupied by the top left corner of the card (after rotation) and the number of 90 degree clockwise rotations.
5.0 EMPLOYEE PLACEMENT
5.1 A new employee must be placed in an unoccupied cube.
5.2 The employee must be able to walk to the elevator from his cubicle. Employees can walk through open spaces and bonus squares, but not through other cubes or cube walls.
6.0 SCORING
6.1 A cube's base value is ONE point for each space inside it. Employee B in figure 2 is worth TWO points.
6.2 Every cube scores a bonus for "stuff" within walking distance. Walking distance varies with the point value (e.g. a 2 point space like the coffee machine is 2 steps away).
6.3 It is possible to score several bonuses with one well-placed cube.
6.4 Negative cubes are worth negative points and have the same range as the bonus spaces (e.g. a -3 cube like the Vice President (VP) can be up to 3 steps away to score the -3 penalty).
6.5 There are certain benefits for employees occupying floors other than their own departmental floor. Firstly, they are immune to the VP on that floor (ie. they don't get the 3 point penalty). They also get an extra bonus for being closest to certain other information sources (knowledge is power!!). The shredder and photocopier are worth an extra +1, the fax machine and laser printer are worth an extra +2. To be closest, the number of steps must be LESS than any other employee.
6.6 In the following examples, assume that all the cubes are legal plays and can reach the elevator.
6.6.1 Figure 1. (A) can't reach anything from this cube, so it scores only its base value of ONE.
6.6.2 Figure 2. (B) can't reach the photocopier in 4 steps, so it scores its base value of TWO.
6.6.3 Figure 3. (C) and (D) are within 2 steps of the coffee machine, so score THREE points. (E) is 4 steps away so scores only its base value of ONE.
6.6.4 Figure 4. You can't walk through the elevator, you have to walk around it. (A) gets the bonus for the photocopier (and possibly the knowledge is power bonus if he isn't on his own departmental floor) so scores FIVE (or possibly SIX). (B) is 5 steps away so scores only ONE.
6.6.5 Figure 5. (C) scores EIGHT (cube/photocopier/printer). (D) scores FIVE (cube/photocopier). If (C) is outside its own department it would be eligible for 2 Knowledge Is Power bonuses.
6.6.6 Figure 6. (E) scores only ONE because the soda machine bonus is wiped out by being within 2 steps of the receptionist.
6.6.7 Figure 7. (A) scores MINUS TWO, because it's three steps from a cube containing a VP. The VP is assumed to expand into the neighbouring cube. If (A) was on a floor other than its own departmental floor the penalty wouldn't count.
