Teach the Game
A short read-aloud introduction to the factory game.
How you win
“You have joined an electric-car factory as a new employee. Learn the departments, help produce and test cars, and persuade Sandra that your work deserves promotion.” Earn the most Production Points (PP) by developing car models, completing goals, and improving your standing in the factory.
Each workday, pick a different department from yesterday, then take your turn in workstation order. Use shifts to do that department’s tasks or train there; the five departments let you design cars, get parts, assemble cars, upgrade designs and manage your career.
The boards
The factory board joins five departments with a workstation alley, training tracks, car-production areas, the meeting room and two clocks. Your player board tracks your designs, stored parts, cars, garage bonuses, banked shifts and speech tokens.
A round
- Choose an open workstation in a different department from your previous day. Your place in the alley sets when you act.
- Resolve workers from top to bottom. Spend the shifts printed at your workstation, plus any banked shifts you choose, up to four total.
- Train, complete department tasks or combine them as allowed. Turn newly gained Books, Parts Vouchers and Banked Shifts onto your board only after your turn; they cannot be spent immediately.
- Sandra evaluates her department and performs its task. Check whether a meeting or week scoring follows, then start the next day.
How the game ends
The game ends after a day when the Week marker has reached its third space and the Production Cycle marker has reached its second, or vice versa. Finish any meeting and week scoring triggered that day, then score the final goal, stored resources, cars, training positions and tested designs.
Ways to score
| Source | Points |
|---|---|
| Car upgrades and matching tested designs | Score during each end-of-week check. |
| Performance Goals | At a meeting, score the printed PP for each matching item, capped by the multiplier on the speech space you use. |
| Final Goal | Spend one speech token for each achievement you qualify for, once per achievement. |
| Banked shifts, tokens and resources | Each remaining shift, speech token, Book and Parts Voucher is worth 1 PP. |
| Cars | Score the value printed for each car type on your player board. |
| Training position | In each department, first/second/third score 5/3/1 PP; a player with no training there earns none. |
| Tested designs | Score the current value of each part shown on your matching upgraded design. |
What each resource is for
| Resource | Why you need it | How you get it | How you use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shifts | Do department tasks and training | Your workstation; banked shifts from bonuses | Spend up to four per day. |
| Car parts | Stock the factory and upgrade designs |  Logistics, recycling, vouchers | Assemble cars or upgrade matching designs. |
| Designs | Unlock cars and score when tested |  Design department | Match a design to a car on the test track. |
| Cars | Score now and make matching designs count as tested | Claim them in  R&D | Fill a garage; cars also score at week end. |
| Speech tokens | Compete for meeting and final-goal points | Demand cars, goals, certifications and training | Place during meetings or spend on the final goal. |
| Books and Parts Vouchers | Add options to future turns | Department bonuses | Use on later turns for their listed benefit. |
Teaching tips
- Explain the day’s order first: department choice, workstations from top to bottom, then Sandra.
- Point out the different training tracks and the unlock each certification gives.
- Remind everyone that new Books, vouchers and banked shifts wait until a later turn.
- Keep the Week and Production Cycle markers visible; their combination can end the game quickly.