Teach the Game
A script to teach Algae, Inc. at the table — how you win, the boards, a week, the end of the month, every way to score and what each resource is for.
How you win
“We all work for Algae, Inc., one company turning algae into food, fuel, plastics and cosmetics. Each of us runs one department. In four weeks — four rounds, about two hours — we grow algae, push it through our machines and export the finished goods to cities across Europe. The most efficient department, the one with the most
victory points, is Department of the Month.”
What you need, and how you get it:
Exports — the heart of the game. Each export puts one of your
export disks on a city, unlocks income on your side board and can complete
milestones.
Finished goods to export — algae you took from the map and moved through
Machine A, 
Machine B and 
Machine C.- Upgrades —
engineering tiles make your machines faster;
science tiles you remove open storage, raise income and raise the
market value of your goods.
The loop: take algae → run the machines → export, and between those, hire staff and upgrade the factory so the next loop is bigger.
The boards
- Map board — Europe with 24 cities (8 capitals) in four colour regions, each with a
demand token and a city bonus; the algae tanks (four species), the
byproduct tanks (
bio-oil and 
biomass), the
energy track, the milestone tiles and the score track. - Action board — a column of action strips. Each week your
supervisor climbs
it one strip per turn; where it stands is the action you take. - Your department board — your factory: algae storage, three machines with their conveyor belts, the dispatch area for finished goods, the facility with your staff, and the byproduct converter. Department board
- Your side board — export disks and milestone markers on top of your export/2x tiles, the science grid with your engineering and combo tiles, and your three contract cards. Side board
- Algae storage — where algae from the map arrive.
- Machine A — storage to Station 1; loses algae as byproduct.
- Machine B — Station 1 to Station 2.
- Machine C — Station 2 to finished goods.
- Dispatch area — finished goods waiting for export.
- Byproduct converter — how many cubes Machine A turns into byproduct.
- Facility — your operators, engineers and scientists.
- Player aid — Monday Morning, Work Week, Weekend.
A week
Four weeks; each week has three phases. Full rules
- Monday Morning — income:
1 algae per operator, 
1 cube move
per engineer, 
1 science per scientist, plus the €2 and the euros and VP your
export tiles have revealed. Monday Morning - Work Week — five turns each. On your turn move your supervisor up one strip to a connected
spot, then take that action or the alternate action (a choice token, €1, an algae cube or one
cube move). Work Week
recruit a staff member;
activate your operators (take algae or export),
engineers (place engineering tiles) or
scientists (gain science or remove science tiles);- / / activate one machine.
- Weekend — weekend bonus by energy level, flip the action strip, refill and balance the tanks, pass the first-player token. Weekend
How the game ends
After the fourth Work Week there is no weekend: go straight to the End of the Month scoring. Most VP wins; a tie goes to the player whose milestone marker sits on the bottommost milestone row, then to whoever reached it first. End of the Month
Ways to score
| Source | How and when |
|---|---|
| Contract export | Once per game, export to your own contract card for its VP and euros. |
| Milestones | When an export completes one: VP printed on the tile, more for being first. |
| Recruiting | Some facility spaces show VP, scored when you place staff there. |
 Monday income | 1 VP per VP icon revealed on your export/2x tiles, every week. |
 Excess energy | Energy gained above the top of the track becomes 1 VP each. |
| Re-exports | After exporting to 10 cities, re-exporting scores half the city’s demand, rounded up. |
 Milestone bonus | End of the month: by energy level, VP × your milestones of the colours beside your supervisor. |
 Export bonus | End of the month: 1 VP per revealed VP icon on your export/2x tiles. |
| Science bonus | End of the month: 1 VP per tile in your largest group of adjacent science tiles. |
| Contract bonus | End of the month: your end-of-the-month contract. |
| Resource bonus | End of the month: 1 VP per 4 leftover cubes, tokens, unplaced combo tiles, resources and science points. |
What each resource is for
| Resource | Why you need it | How you get it | How you use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algae cubes | They become your products | Operators (Monday and activation), alternate action, €1 each when a tank is empty | Move them through the machines; export them from the dispatch area |
 Euros | Recruiting and transport | €2 + revealed €1 icons each Monday, storing byproduct, bonuses | Pay staff, transport, empty-tank algae, missing energy (€2 each) |
| Energy | Many belts cost it; high energy unlocks weekend and end-of-month bonuses | Burning byproduct, belts, bonuses | Pay belt costs; keep it positive for the bonuses |
 Science points (max 10) | Removing science tiles | Scientists (Monday or activation), bonuses | Pay 2–5 to move a science tile to your grid |
 Freelance engineers | Extra engineering points | City bonuses, weekend bonuses | +1 engineering point each when you activate engineers |
 Market value tokens | Meet a city’s demand | City bonuses, bonuses | +1 market value to one export each |
 Choice action tokens | Change which team or machine you activate | Alternate action, staff draft, bonuses | Spend one to swap team for team or machine for machine |
 Wild action tokens | Take any action instead | Recruiting, science grid, bonuses; or 3 resources | Spend one for any action or sub-action |
| Export/2x tiles | Income — or a second action | Unlocked when both markers on them are gone | Keep for Monday income, or spend once for an extra action (max one per turn) |
| Staff | Bigger activations and income | Recruit (cost above the column) | Each member adds 1 to that team’s activation and income |
Anything except energy can be exchanged 2 for 1 — but only while paying a cost. Exchanging resources
Teaching tips
- Before Monday, trace five connected workdays and distinguish Choice from Wild tokens (rehearsal).
- Start with the conveyor belts: algae only move when a machine runs or income moves them, and only the machine’s own activation turns on its secondary belts.
- Walk through one export together: pick a city, add up market value against demand, pay transport, place the disk, check milestones.
- Show that export/2x tiles pay income while they stay — spending one for an extra action costs that income for the rest of the game.
- Warn that energy below zero at the weekend or the end of the month means no bonus at all.
- Each player should read their own department guide page before the first turn: The four departments.