FAQ
30 answered questions15 official
Rules questions from the BoardGameGeek forum. Answers marked Official were confirmed by Game Brewer or the designers.
Common mistakes
- Running secondary belts or making byproduct with Monday engineer moves — only a machine activation does that. Ruling · Rule
- Counting byproduct per belt in Machine A — it is the total of cubes moved through the machine. Ruling · Rule
- Splitting the team after a team upgrade — the whole team does both tasks. Ruling · Rule
- Adding a storage tile’s 3+/4+ minimum on top of the grid cost — it is a minimum, not an extra. Ruling · Rule
- Exchanging resources when nothing is being paid — exchanges are only allowed while paying a cost. Ruling · Rule
- Taking +2 per member with an income upgrade — it is +2 for the whole team, and only on Monday. Ruling · Rule
Showing 30 of 30
Does Phase I movement of algae count as a Machine activation for Conveyor Belt Upgrades?
No. Monday engineer moves are not a machine activation: conveyor belt upgrades do not apply, secondary belts do not run and no byproduct is made, however many cubes pass Machine A.
Source: BGG thread
Can machines only be activated if there is at least one algae cube in the storage on the left side of the machine? Official
The cleanest rule across all departments: a machine can be activated only if its input station is not empty at the start of the activation. The designers add that they would find it fine to run Cosmetics’ Machine B back loop or Biofuel’s vertical belts even when that input is empty. Once a machine is running, you may spend its moves on vertical main belts too — for example one cube from Station 2 into finished goods and a second move down to the value-2 storage.
Source: BGG thread
Can I move one cube several times in one activation? Official
Yes. You can move the same cube two or more times — on Cosmetics, around Machine B’s loop — but every move uses one point of capacity.
Source: BGG thread
Can you use L-shaped conveyor improvement tiles without having the square machine improvement tile in place first? Official
Yes. The L-shaped conveyor belt upgrade does not need the square capacity upgrade in that machine.
Source: BGG thread
How does the conveyor belt upgrade work on the Cosmetics board?
The 2 free moves happen in the next machine only, on main belts only. With the upgrade on Machine A you could push a cube into Station 1, then use the 2 moves to take it to Station 2 and back down to the next level of Station 1. With it on Machine B, the 2 moves can only take cubes from Station 2 to finished goods.
Source: BGG thread
How does the Biofuel main belt between the 2nd and 3rd finished good storage work? Official
During a normal activation of Machine C you may spend moves on the vertical belts instead of moving cubes forward, usually to raise their quality. You can split them: one move from Station 2 to finished goods, another moving a cube down a storage. Paying energy moves even more cubes vertically.
Source: BGG thread
When determining byproduct conversion in Machine A, does the total count include cubes moving on different conveyor belts? Official
Yes. The total number of cubes moved through Machine A decides how many become byproduct, whichever belts they use; you choose which cubes are converted.
Source: BGG thread
When are byproducts produced — only during a Machine A activation?
Only during a Machine A activation. Moving cubes any other way (Monday moves, the alternate action) never runs the secondary belts, so no byproduct is made; on Bioplastics no cube is lost either.
Source: BGG thread
What does “byproducts can never be added to an empty machine” mean?
When you activate a machine you may add byproduct to an empty station on its left, as long as the machine can run — at least one cube somewhere on its left. On Bioplastics’ Machine B you can add the biomass to the upper Station 1 even when only the lower one holds cubes. Added that way it counts against capacity when it moves on; byproduct added to a moving belt (Cosmetics’ soap belt) does not.
Source: BGG thread
Does byproduct tank balancing happen during the weekend in solo games? Official
Yes. Otherwise the tank of the byproduct you cannot make would eventually run dry.
Source: BGG thread
With team upgrades, do I get benefits for all team members or do I need to split the team strength? Official
All members do both: 3 scientists with the upgrade gain 3 science and may then place up to 3 tiles, paying their costs. The same goes for operators.
Source: BGG thread
With the +2 income upgrade, do I get 3 per team member or 1 per member plus 2?
1 per member plus 2 in total: 3 scientists give 3 + 2 = 5 science on Monday.
Source: BGG thread
Can I spend several freelance engineers or market value tokens at once? Official
Yes, as many as you like; each adds 1.
Source: BGG thread
What does the round bonus tile do?
It is the export bonus: the first operator activation with at least one export in each of weeks 1–3 gives the team upgrade on that week’s tile — flip your operator or scientist upgrade tile, or flip all your machine capacity tiles.
Source: BGG thread
For science tiles with minimum costs (3+ or 4+), can I place them anywhere on the science grid as long as I pay the minimum cost? Official
By the rules, yes: place them in any zone and pay at least the minimum, even in the cost-2 zone. The designers themselves play with these tiles in the 3+/4+ zones only.
Source: BGG thread
Are the Algae Depot Improvement tiles’ science costs added to the grid placement cost, or a minimum? Official
A minimum, not an extra charge.
Source: BGG thread
When placing a science tile covering two sections, do I pay the higher or lower cost?
The higher one.
Source: BGG thread
When I remove a blank science tile, such as Cosmetics’ increased capacity tile, does it go to my science grid?
Yes — like every science tile, it must be placed in your grid, paying its cost. What a science tile shows no longer matters once it is in the grid.
Source: BGG thread
Do market value tokens add 1 to the whole delivery regardless of how many cubes it has?
Yes. Group your goods into one delivery per city, then add tokens to any delivery, +1 each. The number of cubes in it no longer matters.
Source: BGG thread
Can I divide one cube's value to export to different cities?
No. You can combine cubes for one city, never split one cube between two.
Source: BGG thread
Can you export one cube with a value of 0 if you use market value tokens? Official
Yes — a single nori or wakame, or a value-0 biofuel, can be exported with one or more market value tokens.
Source: BGG thread
How do you fulfill the Bioplastic contract card 8 that requires cubes worth 1, 2, and 3? Official
Pay three cubes and raise two of them with market value tokens (one by 1, one by 2). It is meant to be expensive — and it is the best-paying private contract, at 8 VP.
Source: BGG thread
What does Cosmetics contract card 2’s ability mean?
When you export a second time in the same action to a city that costs transport, that transport is €2 cheaper — least useful for 1-step cities.
Source: BGG thread
Must I export all my cubes of one food type at once?
No. Choose which finished goods go to each city to meet its demand.
Source: BGG thread
Can I exchange resources several times at once, for example 6 € for 6 market value tokens with a 1-for-1 ability?
The rulebook sets no limit on exchanges while paying a cost, so several exchanges in one turn are allowed.
Source: BGG thread
Why can't you exchange resources when there's no cost to pay? Official
Because of the 10-point science cap: otherwise you could trade science away instead of losing the excess.
Source: BGG thread
With Food’s ability (freelance engineer → also market value and €1), do I get the extra when I exchange 2 for 1 into a freelance engineer? Official
No. A freelance engineer from a 2-for-1 exchange is only spent to pay a cost, so it brings no extra token or money.
Source: BGG thread
In what order is setup done, and when are contracts and the starting staff chosen? Official
Player boards, then the map, then the action board, as in the rulebook. Contract cards and science inlay sides are chosen simultaneously. Experienced groups may choose contracts and draft the starting staff at the very end of setup.
Source: BGG thread
The department guides show an extra staff member on each board — is that in addition to the drafted one?
No. The guide pictures show the board after the staff draft: each player starts with one hired member besides the printed ones.
Source: BGG thread
How do I pick Bruno’s starting capital, and does it score?
Pick one of the capital demand tokens at random to choose the city; Bruno scores its demand value. His first disk also counts as the game’s first export for transport.
Source: BGG thread