Components

• 100 cheese wedges
• 120 curd cash bills
• 25 market wedges
• 5 turn summary cheese knives
• 1 serving tray
• Rulebook

Object of the Game

Cheesonomics aged rules - more choices, same great taste

Play the flavor of Cheesonomics that suits your taste! The sharper the flavor, the older the cheese and recommended age (or sharpness) of players. For your first time, consider using the mild rules, then sample sharper rules as you master the principles of Cheesonomics:

• Mild - You prefer cheese simple yet satisfying: Cheesonomics Mild is for feta-favoring families learning the fundamentals of churning cheese into profit.

• Sharp - You crave complexity and control of your cheese: Cheesonomics Sharp is for Gouda- gorging gamers who want the option of further manipulating and milking the cheese markets.

• Extra Sharp - Your appetite for opportunity is insatiable: Cheesonomics Extra Sharp is an expansion for Edam - eating experts who, on top of everything else, welcome the added challenge of focusing on either the quality or quantity of their cheese. (Must purchase expansion to play Extra Sharp game variation).

Cheesonomics Mild Setup

Shuffle the market (small, thick) and cheese (large, thin) wedges into draw piles. Sort the curd cash into ones, fives, and tens. Nominate a Big Cheese (banker).

Place the serving tray (flipped box lid) within easy sight and reach of all players. With 2 players, remove the top 60 cheese wedges from play; with 3 players, remove the top 40; with 4 players, remove the top 20. With 5 players, no wedges are removed.

The Big Cheese draws 15 market wedges and places them as drawn into 3 market wheels of 5 wedges each. Leftover market wedges are removed from the game.

The Big Cheese deals 5 cheese wedges into each player's hand. The Big Cheese randomly places a cheese knife (cheddar, Edam, feta, Gouda, or parmesan) in front of each player.

Play proceeds clockwise starting with the player whose cheese knife comes first alphabetically.

Cheesonomics Mild Turn Summary

The active player begins his turn by removing his cheese knife he may have placed on the serving tray previously and then by choosing one of 3 culinary actions to complete on his turn:

Churn Cheese & Protect your Product

1. Collect cheese wedges from opponents.

   • Ask for 1 color or animal type, (i.e. red, orange, yellow, green, blue, cow, sheep, goat, yak or reindeer) which must be given if owned.

   • If an opponent has no wedge matching the color or type you churned, he must show you his hand to prove this and then give you any 1 wedge of your choice.

   • Keep any wedges you wish, redistributing one back to each opponent.

   Note: The churning player collects 1 cheese wedge from each opponent and returns 1 cheese wedge to each opponent so that the number of cheese wedges players has in hand remains the same once the action is completed.

2. Protect your Product with your cheese knife and the serving tray after churning cheese.

   • After a player churns for a color or animal type, he then puts his cheese knife over the matching space on the serving tray so that no one else can churn that same color or animal type until that cheese knife owner's next turn.

   • On a player's subsequent turn, that player removes his cheese knife from the serving tray before taking an action.

   
   

   Example: If the cheddar player churns 'blue cheese', he puts his cheddar cheese knife over the blue space of the serving tray so that subsequent player(s) may not churn 'blue cheese' until the cheddar player's cheese knife is absent from the blue space

   However, an opponent could still churn 'goat cheese' and the cheddar player who churned 'blue cheese' may in fact lose one of his blue goat wedges received in a previous churn since it is also goat cheese.

Produce Cheese & Draw More Dairy

1. Form (play) all cheese wedges of one color or animal type from your hand into a face up cheese wheel in front of you. These wedges are now available for sale in future turns.

2. Redraw back to 5 cheese wedges in hand after producing cheese.

   • If no wedges remain during or after redraw, initiate final selling turns and scoring.

   • Players should only ever have up to 5 cheese wedges each in hand. No "hiding" of produced cheese wedges is allowed. Stack produced wedges together into 1 wheel by animal types so that both the colors and types are viewable by all.

Sell Cheese & "Moove" the market

1. Sell Cheese (up to 3 wedges) of one color or animal type from your previously formed cheese wheel at current market prices and collect the appropriate curd cash.

The current market price for sold wedges is the sum of each face-up, matching color market wedge. Market wedges with a blue +1 ribbon count as 2 market wedges each (the "blue" color of the ribbon is inconsequential).

• Keep sold cheese wedges in personal, face down fulfillment piles for end game scoring. These piles are reviewable by owning players only during the game.

• If a cheese color is not present in the markets, it cannot be sold, although it can still be liquidated during end game liquidation (see End Game Liquidation).

• Players may only sell wedges from their wheels that were produced (formed) in previous rounds, so this action is not immediately available.

2. "Moove" the Market after selling cheese.

• No new market wedges will enter a mild game.

• All market changes in a mild game happen by flipping market wedges over.

• At the end of each sale action, the active player must 'flip' a market wedge that represents one of the colors that was sold in the transaction.

End of the Game

Once the cheese wedge draw pile is exhausted during or after a player's turn, opponents may have the opportunity to take one final Sell Cheese action (but this time without "mooving" the market).

• If the starting player (cheese name on knife is first alphabetically) initiates end game scoring, then all other players in turn order each take one final Sell Cheese action at current market prices if possible without changing the market.

• If a non-starting player initiates end game scoring, then each player between him and the starting player takes one final Sell Cheese action.

• If the player to the starting player's right initiates end game scoring, this means that the game ends immediately without any additional selling actions.

End Game Liquidation and Bonuses

The player with the most curd cash after end game liquidation and bonuses wins Cheesonomics!

• Players each receive 1 curd per wedge still remaining (unsold) on their cheese wheels after any last chance to Sell Cheese.

• These remaining, "liquidated" pieces are then removed from play along with players' ending hands (i.e. unsold cheese wedges and players' hands are not used in end-game bonuses).

• End-game bonuses are worth the following: (share ties fully)

Any player(s) with the most sold cows, sheep, goats, yaks or reindeer of any color receives a bonus in curd cash equal to the number of wedges sold of that type.

Tie Breaker

The player who sold the most different colors of cheese breaks ties. If still tied, share the victory.

Cheesonomics Sharp Rules

All of the mild rules of Cheesonomics apply, but with a few added flavors!

Beware of more drastic market demand shifts when players Sell Cheese, especially when they sell wedges with market symbols (bells, shears, mountains, plows or pails)!

Market symbols are found below the animals on half of the cheese wedges (before removal).

Sharp Setup

1. In addition to mild setup, deal leftover market wedges to players rather than removing them:

   • 2 per player with 4 or 5 players
   • 3 per player with 3 players
   • 5 per player with 2 players

2. Set aside any remaining market wedges for drawing during the game.

Sharp Gameplay

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