Elevenses The card game of morning tea
By David Harding Art by T.J. Lubrano
2-4 Players | Ages 10+ | 30 mins
Welcome to Elevenses, a card game in which respectable socialites strive to serve the best morning tea. All around Europe, 11 in the morning is recognised as the perfect time to stop and have a bite to eat. Can you impress your friends and serve the most scrumptious morning teas of all?
Game Contents ■ 44 morning tea cards (4 sets of 11, with different coloured backs) ■ 30 sugar cubes ■ 4 summary cards ■ 1 sugar bowl card ■ Rules booklet
Game Overview In each round of Elevenses, the players strive to serve the best morning tea. is is done by playing morning tea cards that have the highest value. Each player starts the round with an identical set of 11 morning tea cards. Each card has a value and a special action which is carried out when it is played. e lower value cards have useful special actions. e higher value cards have actions that could set you back! Each card must be played to a particular position on the table. When a card is played to a position with a face-down card, this card is picked up. In this way, players will #nd out where the cards they want to use are, and can plan ahead to place and pick up cards in particular positions. e round ends when a player plays the ‘Elevenses’ card. e players compare the value of their morning tea cards. Sugar cubes are awarded to the best morning teas. e game continues until a player has 7 or more sugar cubes. She has served the #nest morning teas of all and wins the game!
Set-up ■ Place the sugar bowl card in the centre of the table. It is simply used to store all the sugar cubes still to be awarded, so place all the sugar cubes on top of it. ■ Each player takes a summary card in front of them to remind them of the value, and special actions of the morning tea cards, as well as the positions they are played. ■ Each player takes a set of 11 morning tea cards, differentiated by the colour of their card backs. e players should choose the set with the colour they #nd most elegant. ■ e player who has most recently #nished drinking a delicious cup of tea is the #rst start player.
©2013 Phil Walker-Harding | Page 1 Overview of a Morning Tea Card 1. e position of the card. is number indicates the position the card must be played to. 2. e value of the card. Every card has a value between 0 and 3, indicated by the number of teaspoon icons. e more teaspoons, the more the card will improve your morning tea! 3. e special action of the card. is action must be carried out when the card is played. 4. Flavour text. For extra fun, the players can read out this text when playing each card!
Starting a Round Each player shuffles her 11 cards and places 8 of them face-down in front of her in two rows of 4. is is called her tablecloth. e remaining 3 cards are taken into her hand and called her kitchen. Each player’s kitchen is kept secret for the game (unless a special action requires it to be revealed).
A player’s tablecloth before starting a round.
Playing the Game In each round, play begins with the start player. en the players take it in turns moving clockwise around the table. As soon as a player plays the ‘Elevenses’ card, the round ends and is scored. On a player’s turn she must take 1 of these 2 actions: 1. PLAY A MORNING TEA CARD OR 2. TAKE UP TO 2 SWAP ACTIONS
1. PLAY A MORNING TEA CARD e player chooses 1 card from her kitchen and plays it face-up to her tablecloth, in its proper position. e position each card should be played is shown on the summary card. Cards 2-5 are played to the top row of the tablecloth and cards 6-9 are played on the bottom row. Card 1 is played to the le of the tablecloth, and card 10 to the right. Card 11 can be played anywhere - all it does is end the round!
©2013 Phil Walker-Harding | Page 2 ■ A player may play a morning tea card that came from another player’s kitchen. ■ A player may not play a morning tea card if another copy of the card is face-up on her tablecloth. If the card played was valued 2-9 then the player then picks up the face-down card that was already in the position it was played to. She adds this card to her kitchen without anyone seeing it. Next, the player must carry out the special action on the card she played. See Special Actions below. Finally, the player announces the total value of all the face-up cards on her tablecloth by adding up the teaspoon icons. is helps the players keep track of each other’s progress.
2. TAKE UP TO 2 SWAP ACTIONS e player chooses a card from her kitchen and plays it face-down to her tablecloth, in any position from 2-9 which has a face-down card. ese positions are shown on the summary card. She then picks up the face-down card that was already in this position and adds it to her kitchen without anyone seeing it. e player may perform a second swap action in this way if she wishes. She may swap the card that she just picked up. ■ e position that a card is placed down in does not need to match its position number. ■ A player may place down a morning tea card that came from another player’s kitchen. Of course, it will now be recognisable due to its different coloured back. In most cases it is better to play a morning tea card than take swap actions!
THE END OF A ROUND As soon as a player plays the ‘Elevenses’ card, it is 11 o’clock and time for morning tea! e round ends immediately. Each player announces the total value of all the face-up cards on her tablecloth to see who has won!
SCORING Whoever has the highest value has served the best morning tea and receives 2 sugar cubes. In a 3 or 4 player game, the player with the second-highest value receives 1 sugar cube and the other player(s) receive nothing. In a 2-player game, the player with the second-highest value receives nothing. If players tie for the highest value, they each receive 1 sugar cube and the other players receive nothing. If players tie for the second highest value, they receive nothing. Players keep the sugar cubes they have won beside their summary card. Any player who played a ‘Tea trolley’ this round now takes the sugar cube from it and places it with her other sugar cubes. Whichever player now has the fewest total sugar cubes becomes the start player and the next round begins! If multiple players are tied for the fewest then the player closest to the current start player in clockwise order becomes the new start player.
ENDING THE GAME If aer scoring the round, any player has at least 7 sugar cubes and has more sugar cubes than anyone else, she wins the game! If multiple players have the same highest number of sugar cubes of 7 or more, then they kiss each other on the cheek and share victory! More competitive players may keep playing additional rounds until there is an outright winner! ©2013 Phil Walker-Harding | Page 3 Special Actions
1. Tea trolley (value 0) is card is played to the le of the player’s tablecloth, so no card is drawn aer playing it. As soon as you play this card, place one sugar cube from the sugar bowl on it. At the end of the round, this sugar cube is added to your score of sugar cubes.
2. Tea (value 1) Choose a player. Flip any one of her face-up tablecloth cards valued 2-9 face- down. e 'ipped card remains in its position and may later be picked up, and even played a second time.
3. Milk (value 1) Choose a player. Look at her kitchen without any other players seeing. You may take 1 of her cards into your kitchen, but must give her a card from your kitchen in exchange. Keep the swap secret from all other players. It is oen a good idea to give your opponent a card of the same value as one already in her kitchen, as it will be useless to her! Important: An ‘Elevenses’ card may never be stolen! If this is the only card your opponent has then you steal nothing - but at least you know she has it! You may also never give your ‘Elevenses’ in exchange for a stolen card.
4. Sugar (value 1) As long as ‘Sugar’ is face-up on your tablecloth, you may look at all of your face-down tablecloth cards at any time. Knowing where certain cards are positioned will allow you to make better decisions on future turns. If your ‘Sugar’ card is turned face-down later on then you lose this ability. Hopefully you can remember where everything is!
5. Cups & Saucers (value 1) You may immediately take up to 3 swap actions (swap actions are described in ‘Take up to 2 Swap Actions’ above). Positioning your cards where you want them can set you up for future turns! Remember, you can swap the card you just picked up from a swap action. So even if you are happy with what’s in your kitchen, you might as well pop a card down and then take it back, just to see what is in a certain position!
©2013 Phil Walker-Harding | Page 4 6. Fine China (value 2) All players must choose a card from their kitchen and place it face-down on the table. When all players have done this, they pass their chosen cards to the player on their le. Each player takes the card they received into their kitchen without anyone else seeing. In a 2 player game, the players simply pass to each other. Important: You may never pass your ‘Elevenses’ card! If this is the only card in your kitchen when ‘Fine China’ is played, you must reveal your ‘Elevenses’ card to all players. You are then ignored in the passing. at is, the player to your right passes to the player on your le. If this happens n a 2 player game, nothing is passed.
7. Biscuits (value 2) All players must choose a card from their kitchen and place it face-down on the table. When all players have done this, they pass their chosen cards to the player on their right. Each player takes the card they received into their kitchen without anyone else seeing. In a 2 player game, the players simply pass to each other. Important: You may never pass your ‘Elevenses’ card! If this is the only card in your kitchen when ‘Biscuits’ is played, you must reveal your ‘Elevenses’ card to all players. You are then ignored in the passing. at is, the player to your le passes to the player on your right. If this happens n a 2 player game, nothing is passed.
8. Sandwiches (value 2) Choose a player. She must take a card from your kitchen without seeing what it is (she will of course see the card backs). You may shuffle your kitchen before the card is taken. Your opponent looks at the taken card secretly and decides to either return it, or to keep it. If she keeps it, she must give you a card from her kitchen. Don’t let any other players see what it is. Important: An ‘Elevenses’ card may never be stolen! If your opponent chooses ‘Elevenses’ from your hand, she must return it. Hopefully she can keep a straight face so the other player’s don’t know what has happened! You may also never give your ‘Elevenses’ in exchange for a stolen card.
9. Cakes (value 2) Choose a player. She looks at your kitchen without any other players seeing. She may take 1 of your cards into her kitchen, but must give you a card from her kitchen in exchange. Keep the swap secret from all other players. Important: An ‘Elevenses’ card may never be stolen! If this is the only card you have then your opponent steals nothing. You may also never give your ‘Elevenses’ in exchange for a stolen card.
©2013 Phil Walker-Harding | Page 5 10. Servants (value 3) is card is played to the right of the player’s tablecloth, so no card is drawn aer playing it. You must show your kitchen to all players! ey now know what you have in your hand. Aer they have seen your cards, your hand becomes secret again.
11. Elevenses is card may be played anywhere to end the round. No card is drawn aer playing it. ‘Elevenses’ may only be played if you have at least 4 face-up cards on your tablecloth. e round ends immediately and is scored. Once you know where your ‘Elevenses’ card is, you must carefully time if and when you play it. If it is early in the round, or you are far behind other players, you may choose to swap it down to your tablecloth to pick up later. Important: You may never pass your ‘Elevenses’ card, or give it in exchange for a card you steal. ‘Elevenses’ may also never be stolen.
Variants If you want to play a shorter or longer game, simply change the number of sugar cubes needed to win. Try playing with 5, 9 or even 11 as the winning score!
Special thanks to the following playtesters: Chris Morphew, Nathaniel van der Reyden, Simon Holding, Christopher de Voss, Jaimie de Voss, Dylan de Voss, Meredith Walker-Harding, Jamie Dunk, Fiona Isaacs, Kerryn Wilson, Andrew Young, Jo Hayes and Jennifer Harding.
©2013 Phil Walker-Harding | Page 6