AUTOMA
Designed by Lines J. Hutter and Morten Monrad Pedersen
When you don’t have the time, option, or desire to play with a partner, don’t worry—we have you covered!
This solo variant introduces an artificial opponent called “Automa” to PATCHWORK, so that it can be played solitaire.
Note: The numbers (1-24) printed on the bot-
Components tom left of the cards have no effect during the
game. For legal reasons, card #12 shows a bar
24 Automa cards, code and additional product information that
divided into two decks: have no relevance during play.
The 12 cards The 12 cards
(numbered (numbered
1-12) without 13-24) with
buttons on the buttons on
back form the the back form
normal deck. the tactical
1 base game deck.
(not included)
Set up the game as described in the base game rules. Automa does not
Setup 1 get a quilt board or any starting buttons.
2 Choose which deck you want to use, shuffle its 12 cards, and
place them face down on the table as the Automa deck. Discard
two cards from the deck unseen, placing them in a discard pile.
III
3 Depending on your experience with PATCHWORK, you can compete
with Automa on one of five levels of difficulty. The level you choose
II
I
will decide when Automa gets
the 7×7 special tile and how Il. Intern: 1 space away
it will score at the end. Take a IIll. Apprentice: 9 space away IV
button from the general supply III
and place it a number of spaces
lll. Fellow: 12 space away V
away from the final space of the IV
lV. Master: 15 space away
time board, according to your V
V. Legend: 18 space away
chosen difficulty:
Course of Play
The game is played as normal. The changes only affect who takes the first turn, Automa’s turn, and how Automa
scores points at the end of the game.
You always take the first turn.
Automa plays according to the following rules:
Automa’s patch choice is determined by a card from the Automa deck.
Automa does not spend buttons for its patches.
Automa receives button income according to special rules.
Automa does not place patches on a quilt board but rather collects them in two piles: patches with
buttons go in one pile; patches without buttons go in the other pile.
Automa scores based on the chosen level of difficulty.
Automa’s Turn
When it is Automa’s turn, reveal a card from the top of the Automa deck. Each card shows a number of buttons
at the top indicating how many virtual buttons Automa has available to spend on a patch. Even though Automa
can have buttons in its supply, it never spends any on patches!
Note: In the tactical deck, the number of buttons is also shown on the back of each card, so you know ahead of
time which patches Automa can afford.
Look at the next three patches in the circle and determine which patch Automa can afford. There are three cases
to consider:
A Automa cannot afford any of the three patches.
Automa passes and moves its time token accordingly, which may trigger button income (see next section).
Automa does not get any buttons for passing, but it can gain buttons for moving past a button income
symbol.
B Automa can afford exactly one of the three patches.
Take that patch and place it in the appropriate pile. Move Automa’s time token per the normal rules, which may
trigger button income (see next section).
C Automa can afford more than one of the three patches.
In this case, consider the three filters shown on the Automa card, which will narrow the choice down to
exactly one patch (see box). Apply the filters from top to bottom until there is only one patch remaining.
Skip a filter if it leaves Automa with no patch. Once you determine which patch Automa chooses, take that
patch and place it in the appropriate pile. Move Automa’s time token per the normal rules, which may trigger
button income (see next section).
Finally, discard the current Automa card and determine whose turn is next, according to the normal rules.
Filters
- Automa takes the patch that costs so
little time that Automa’s time token - Automa takes the largest
will not overtake yours. (Reminder: If patch.
none of the three patches work, apply
the next filter.)
- Automa takes the patch
- Automa takes the patch with the most furthest from the neutral
buttons. token.
Button Income
You get income as normal. Whenever Automa triggers button
income, it gets a number of buttons equal to the number shown
at the bottom right of the current Automa card (0 to 5 buttons).
Empty Automa Deck
When the Automa deck is empty, shuffle the discard pile (including the two cards discarded
during setup) to form a new face-down Automa deck.
7x7-Special Tile
Automa gets the special tile when its time token moves onto or
past the space marked with a button during setup, unless you
cover a 7×7 square on your quilt board before that happens. In
either case, remove the button from the time board.
Scoring
Determine your score as normal. Automa scores 7 points if it has the 7×7 special tile. Based on the chosen level
of difficulty, Automa also scores:
I No additional points. (Automa scores either 0 or 7 points.)
II 1 point per collected button.
III 1 point per collected button and 1 point per collected
I II III IV V
patch with buttons.
IV 1 point per collected button and 1 point per button on 7x7-Special Tile X X X X X
its collected patches. Collected Buttons X X X X
V 1 point per collected button, 1 point per collected patch #Patches with Buttons X X
with buttons, as well as 1 point per button on these #Buttons on Patches X X
patches.
You win if you have more points than Automa. In case of a tie, the normal tie-breaker applies.
Acknowledgments: This PATCHWORK solo variant is designed by Lines J. Hutter and has been developed and
thoroughly tested by Morten Monrad Pedersen and his Automa Factory team. We would like to express our great
gratitude to Lines and Morten for their hard work and permission to publish this variant. The designer and us
would also like to thank the lead play-testers, Mike Martins and Nick Shaw, and all the other play-testers for their
invaluable feedback; in particular: Stéphane Martineau, Jerry Santos, Dimitris Xs, Mihnea Cateanu, Alexandre
Correia, Franziska Steiner, Roslyn M. Jordan, Brie Zobel, Ben Griffiths, Cesar Tonatiuh Garcia Ramirez, ektopia,
Andrew Shields, Maria Bertram, David Studley, Jay Atkinson, Ben Griffiths, James Gordon, Jon Beach, Kevin
Wilkinson, Marcius Fabiani, Pablo Pizarro, Paul Jennings, arkroyal, David Wiley, Eric Miller, and Jessica Rickardsson.
About Automa Factory: The Automa Factory team has been developing solo variants for
games since 2013. Six of these variants have been published so far. Their first project was
developing a solo variant for Viticulture by Stonemaier Games, which is set in Italy. “Automa”
is the Italian word for “automaton”.
Questions, suggestions or
Designer: Lines J. Hutter © 2018 Lookout GmbH criticism? Contact us at:
Development: Morten Monrad Pedersen Office: buero@lookout-games.de
Elsheimer Straße 23
Editing: Grzegorz Kobiela 55270 Schwabenheim If you have any damaged or missing
Germany parts, please contact us at:
Graphic design: Klemens Franz | atelier198 www.lookout-games.de parts.asmodeena.com
