Teach the Game
A script to teach Ada’s Dream at the table: the goal, the boards, a turn, the end and every way to score.
How you win
“It is 1843 and Ada Lovelace wants to build Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine. You are her assistants. Over about 18 turns each you draft dice, recruit the great minds of Victorian Britain and build your own section of the machine. When someone has placed their ninth die in their machine, the round finishes and the player with the most Prestige
wins.”
You need dice in your Mill, Gears between them and discs out on the board. You get dice from the shared Workshop; every die you place in your machine also takes an action on the main board, and each action usually puts one of your discs out — which frees a space on your Player board to build a Gear. Most Prestige comes from your machine (completed lines of dice and Gears, Programs) and from where your discs sit (Universities, Lectures, Meeting rooms, Objectives).
The boards
- The Workshop — the ring of six dice spaces where you draft dice.
- Ada’s Study (purple) — Programs, Books, Addition Gears and Assignments.
- Travel (blue) — move round Britain for resources; Universities hold discs worth Prestige.
- Meetings (yellow) — recruit Partner cards; room majorities score Science tokens.
- Institutions (green) — give Lectures for strong rewards; row majorities score.
- Research tracks — one per action area: Breakthroughs and advanced actions.
- Objectives — one per area; the first to complete it scores most.
- The supply — Coal, Brass and coins (Books sit in Ada’s Study).
- Store — three slots for drafted dice waiting to be used.
- Mill dice spaces — the nine spaces where your dice go when you take an action.
- Gear spaces — twelve spaces between the dice; your discs start here.
- Program spaces — one per row and column, each with a placement bonus.
- Steam track — caps what each completed line can score.
- Innovation track — spent at Meetings and Institutions; scores at the top.
- Assignment columns — one column per action colour below the board.
- Deck and discard spaces — your eight Partner cards.
- Line scores — where a completed row or column is scored.
A turn
Each turn you choose one of two turn types (full rules):
| Turn | What you do |
|---|---|
| Workshop turn | Move a Workshop die one space clockwise; it pushes out an equal or lower die, which you take into your Store. Gain the bonus, maybe play one Partner card, and gain Research from Assignments of that colour. |
| Actions turn | Put a die from your Store into your Mill and take the main action of its colour —  Ada’s Study,  Travel,  Meetings,  Institutions,  any — then the advanced action if your Research allows. |
Then, at the end of either turn, you may either spend a 
Book to Publish in the area you used, or build one Gear 
. A game is almost always 9 Workshop turns and 9 Actions turns.
How the game ends
When a player places their 9th die in their Mill, finish the round so everyone has had the same number of turns (the player to the right of the first player ends it). Then score with the scorepad (final scoring). Ties: most Gears built, then highest total of Mill dice, then the tied player closest clockwise to the first player.
Ways to score
| Source | How and when |
|---|---|
| Objectives | The disc you put on an Objective scores its higher value (first to complete, or same turn) or lower value. |
| Universities | Each University where you have a disc scores its value once, plus 2 per disc stacked on top of each of your discs there. |
| Lectures | Each Institution level row: most discs scores 8 / 6 / 4 / 2 / 2 (levels 6 to 2); tied players score half. |
| Meetings | Science Scoring tokens (2 for the room majority, 1 otherwise) × your Partner cards of that Science. |
| Partner cards | The Prestige printed on your eight cards (some are 0). |
| Programs | A Program scores if its line has 3 dice that meet its condition. |
| Completed lines | A row or column with 3 dice and 2 Gears, worked out left to right or top to bottom, capped by your Steam. Can be negative. |
| Unbuilt Gears | Lose 2 for each of the 12 Gear spaces without a Gear. |
| Innovation | 2 or 4 if your marker ends on the top spaces (5 or 6). |
| Assignment tokens | Each token (2 or 1) × your Assignments in that colour’s column. |
| Leftovers | 1 per Book; 1 per 10 in any mix of £, Coal and Brass. |
[Exhibition] Exhibitors give rewards, not points (The Great Exhibition). [Objectives] Alternative Objectives have their own values (Alternative Objectives).
What each resource is for
| Resource | Why you need it | How you get it | How you use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dice | Every action, and your machine’s score | Workshop turns | Store, then into the Mill on an Actions turn |
 Coal | Workshop control and Steam | Travel cities, Workshop bonus, cards | Move a die one more space or change a Workshop die by 1; pay Steam advances; build Gears |
 Brass | Building Gears | Workshop bonus, Institutions, cards | Gear costs (an Addition Gear is 2 Brass and 1 Coal) |
 Money | Travel and Meetings | Workshop bonus, many spaces | Routes (£1 / £2 / £4), Meeting rooms, Exhibitors, some card costs |
| Books | The rare Publish actions | Ada’s Study, some spaces and cards | Spend one at the end of a turn to Publish |
 Innovation | Lectures and Meetings | Cards, Workshop bonus, spaces | Pay Lecture levels and Meeting rooms; at 6 you may spend 2 for a Workshop bonus; scores at the top |
| Discs | Points and room for Gears | Start on your Gear spaces | Placed by actions; each one placed frees a Gear space |
 Gears | Lines that score | You start with 1 Addition and 2 Subtraction; Study, Meetings Publish | Build one at the end of a turn by paying its cost |
| Partner cards | Effects and points | Meetings, rewards | Play one on a Workshop turn if the die fits; deck stays at 8 |
 Assignments | Research | Ada’s Study, rewards | Each one in a colour’s column gives 1 Research when you draft that colour |
 Programs | Points and a bonus | Ada’s Study | Placed on a row or column; score if the dice match |
 Steam | Big lines | Workshop Publish, some rewards | Raises the cap per completed line (up to 40) |
Teaching tips
- Before the first Actions turn, rehearse Study rewards and the final Publish-or-Build choice (rehearsal).
- Teach the push in the Workshop with a real die: move one space, push out an equal or lower die, take it.
- Say early that every disc you place opens a Gear space, and every unbuilt Gear costs 2 at the end.
- Show one completed line: 5 + 3 × 4 is worked left to right (32), then capped by Steam.
- Leave the Institution cost rule until someone first goes there, then show it on the board.
- [Exhibition] Add the Great Exhibition only once everyone knows the base game (setup).