Welcome to Elevenses for One - a game for one player who must load their Tea Trolley with all the accouterments required for a splendid morning tea before the clock strikes 11!
You are Grosvenor, the maid to Lady Agatha Smythe, one of the wealthiest landowners in the district.
She is holding a gala High Tea at 11 o'clock - but, oh dear! You only have 15 minutes to get ready and where is that sugar? You mustn't be late, the madam's reputation is at stake!
Components
- 11 Pantry cards
- 2 time slider cards
- rulebook
Object of the Game
If you are able to place all the cards from the Pantry onto the Tea Trolley in ascending number order (from 1-11) before 11 o'clock (when the timer reaches zero), you win the game.
If the timer gets to zero and you have not placed all the cards in order on the Tea Trolley, you lose the game and must try again, lest your employment be placed in jeopardy.
Setup
First, place the clock card on top of the timer card so that only the number 15 is showing. (You will slide this card down each turn to show the timer ticking down to 0 - the end of the game).
Second, place the (1) Tea Trolley card faceup in front of you.
Third, shuffle the remaining 10 cards (2-11) and then place them face-up in a row to the right of the Tea Trolley. This row is known as your Pantry.
If you do not have enough space for a single, long row, it is fine to place the cards in multiple rows - so long as you know which card is first (left-most) and which card is last (right-most) in the Pantry.
Game Play
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Shuffle the Pantry cards and lay them face up in a line.
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You may choose to take a single face-up Pantry card and place it first in the Pantry, in frontof all the other Pantry cards.
If you did so, lose one minute.
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Look at the first face-up card in the Pantry and choose one of the following three options:
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Score the Card.
If the card has the next number in ascending order as the card on top of the Tea Trolley, you may place it on top of that pile, removing it from the game.
You must then perform the action on the card.
If the card you scored was #11, you win! If it was another number, then lose one minute.
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Use the Card.
Perform the action written on the card. Then turn the card face-down.
Then lose one minute, unless using card #10.
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Discard the Card.
If less than three cards have been discarded, place the card aside "for later" and into your discard pile. If three cards have already been discarded, this option is unavailable.
Do not perform the action on the card. Do not lose one minute.
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Look at the next card in the Pantry:
- If it is face-up, GO TO 3.
- If it is face down, REPEAT 4.
If you have reached the end of the Pantry, GO TO 1.
The Cards
Following is a rundown of all the Pantry cards and their effects:
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Tea Trolley
Set aside this card at the start of the game. Your goal is to "score" all the other pantry cards on top of it. (Do not shuffle this with the other cards at any time).
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Tea
After using or scoring this card, choose any face-up card in the pantry and flip it face-down (without using its action).
If there are no face-up cards available, do nothing.
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Milk
After using or scoring this card, choose any two face-up card in the Pantry and flip them face-down (without using their actions).
If there is only one face-up card available you must flip that one. If there are no face-up cards available, do nothing.
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Sugar
After using or scoring this card there is no action to perform. However, after using or scoring this card, you must lose two minutes from your timer instead of one.
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Cups & Saucers
This card can never be discarded.
After using or scoring this card there is no action to perform.
This card can never be flipped face down by the action on cards (2) or (3) or ()9).
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Fine China
After using or scoring this card, collect all the face-up and face-down cards in the Pantry and shuffle them, returning to step 1 of the Game Chart.
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Biscuits
After using or scoring this card, select two other face-up cards in the Pantry and swap their positions. The two cards must stay face-up and no other cards may be disturbed.
If there are only two face-up cards available you must swap them. If there are less than two face-up cards available, do nothing.
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Sandwiches
After using or scoring this card, take the first card in the Pantry (whether face-up or face-down) and place it at the end of the Pantry face-up. (8) must move itself if it is the first card in the Pantry.
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Cakes
After usingorscoringthis card, flip the next card in the Pantry after (9) face-down. If the next card isalreadyface-down, or iscard (5), do nothing. If (9) is the last card in the Pantry, do nothing.
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Servants
This card can never be discarded.
After using this card you may take a card from your discard pile and place it face- up, directly after
(10) in the Pantry. If you do perform this action, flip (10) face-down but do not lose a minute (Servants are so helpful!)
If you use this card but cannot (or choose not to) return a card from the discard pile, flip it face- down and lose a minute (as is usual), performing no action.
When you score (10), lose a minute (as is usual), and if (11) is currently discarded, you must use this card's action to return it to the Pantry face-up.
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Elevenses
This card has no use action. You may flip it and lose a minute to no effect. However, after discarding this card you may first take a card from your discard pile, score it, and then place (11) in the discard pile.
Any card you score in this way must be a legal move (next in number order to the last card scored).
Notes
Sometimes the instructions on a card cannot be followed. In such cases, there is no action to perform after selecting option 3A or 3B. However, you must still flip the card face-down and lose a minute for "using" the card.
Furthermore, if the instructions on a card can be followed then they must be followed to the letter at all times. The only exceptions to this is the (10) Servants and (11) Elevenses cards. The instructions on these cards are always optional.
Remember that in order to score a card it must display the next number in ascending order after the current top-most card on the Tea Trolley.
You may look through your discards at any time (in fact, it is suggested these stay face-up in their own row separate from the Pantry), but these cards can never return to the Pantry (and therefore, cannot be scored) unless you are permitted to do so by a card's instructions.
Likewise, discards can never be shuffled back into the Pantry.
End of the Game
Once the game has finished - either with a win (scoring all the cards before the timer reaches zero), or with a loss - Lady Agatha will rate your performance based on the following formula:
Number displayed on the top card on the Tea Trolley + Number of minutes remaining.
How well will you do?
0-7 points: You're fired!
8-10 points: The Madam is disappointed. You risk getting replaced.
11 points: You have performed as expected, but haven't excelled.
12-13 points: Lady Agatha congratulates you and rewards you with a half-day off.
14-15 points: You have shown your worth. Lady Agatha raises your wages.
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