Overview

Fromage is a simultaneous worker-placement game where players are French cheesemakers in the early 20th century, making, aging, and selling artisanal cheeses. Players place workers onto the board quadrant facing them to make cheese and gather resources. After all players finish their actions, the board rotates 90 degrees clockwise, aging the cheese and presenting each player with a new quadrant. At game-end, players score Prestige Points for cheese placement and resource management. The player with the most Prestige Points wins.

Components

• 4 Board Quadrants (each represents a different Venue)
• 1 Resource Tile (placed in the center)
• 12 Inserts (4 per player count, with sides I and II)
• 4 Player Boards (each with unique but parallel abilities)
• 2 Resource Trays
• 12 Workers (3 per player: Soft, Hard, Bleu with matching bases)
• 60 Cheese Tokens (15 per player color)
• 36 Order Cards
• 36 Structure Tokens
• 36 Livestock Tokens
• 36 Fruit Tokens
• 32 Structure Tiles (for advanced mode drafting)
• 6 Customer Tokens
• 8 x3/x5 Tokens

Setup

1. Find the 4 Inserts matching your player count. Use side I for first games; experienced players may mix I and II sides or use the additional 4-player setup printed on the Boards.
2. Slot Inserts into matching Board quadrants. Return unused Inserts to the box.
3. Fit the 4 Board quadrants together in any configuration. Place the Resource Tile in the center in a random orientation.
4. Orient the Board so 1 quadrant faces each player. For 2-player games, sit facing opposite quadrants. For 4-player games, sit in a square formation.
5. Place a random Customer Token on each designated spot on the Villes Board quadrant.
6. Shuffle the Order Cards. Place roughly half the cards and Resource Tokens in each Resource Tray, positioned on opposite ends of the table.
7. Each player takes 15 wood Cheese Tokens and 3 Workers of their chosen color. Attach Workers to Soft, Hard, and Bleu Worker Bases.
8. Each player takes a random Player Board.
9. Determine starting Resources from the Resource Tile: take 2 Resources matching the quadrant to your left, and 1 Resource matching the quadrant opposite you.
10. Place resources on your Player Board: Structures to the left of Structure abilities, Livestock in the pasture, Fruit in the basket, Orders face-up to the left of the Player Board.

Advanced Mode (Structure Tiles): Draft Structure Tiles. Each player takes 4 random tiles, keeps 1, passes the rest left. Repeat until each player has 4 tiles. Place any number over the printed ones on your Player Board.

Turn Structure

Each turn consists of three phases performed simultaneously by all players:

1. Retrieve Workers — At the start of each turn, take back any of your Workers that are in the quadrant currently facing you. These Workers are now available.
2. Take Actions — In any order, perform up to ONE Make Cheese action and ONE Gather Resources action in your current quadrant.
3. Rotate Board — When all players are ready, rotate the board 90 degrees clockwise.

If 2+ players refuse to play until seeing each other’s actions, those players take turns clockwise from the player facing the Structure quadrant of the Resource Tile.

Actions

Make Cheese (once per turn)

Place a Cheese Token on an empty cheese space in your current quadrant, then place your Worker of matching Cheese Type (Soft, Hard, or Bleu) on top.

• Cheese Types: Soft, Hard, Bleu — determined by the space’s icon
• Cheese Ages: Bronze (aged 1 month), Silver (aged 2 months), Gold (aged 3 months) — determines how many turns before the Worker returns
• Fruited Cheese/Jam spaces: Require spending a Fruit Token from your basket to the corresponding spent area
• Blocked spaces: In 1-3 player games, some spaces are marked unavailable

Gather Resources (once per turn)

Place one available Worker on an empty space in the Resource Tile quadrant facing you. Each quadrant provides a resource type (Structures, Livestock, Fruit, or Orders) with 3 spaces labeled 1, 2, and 3. Immediately take that many Resources from the Resource Tray. The Worker type does not matter for gathering. Resources are unlimited.

Resource Details

Resource	Placement	Usage
Structures	Left of Structure abilities	Move tokens to fill scaffolding spaces to unlock abilities
Livestock	Pasture on Player Board	Move required number to a Milking Parlour to place a Bonus Cheese without using a Worker
Fruit	Basket on Player Board	Spend to make Fruited Cheese or Jam; score = (Fruited Cheese count) x (Jam count)
Orders	Face-up left of Player Board	Complete by placing a matching Cheese Token; move completed Orders to right side

Livestock and Bonus Cheese

Use a Milking Parlour by moving the required number of Livestock from your pasture to it. Then immediately place a Cheese Token on a space matching the Milking Parlour’s Bonus Cheese Type and Age in your current Venue — no Worker needed. You can use each Milking Parlour once. You can place multiple Bonus Cheeses and do a Make Cheese action in the same turn.

Orders

Each Order Card requires a specific Cheese Type and Age. When you place a matching Cheese Token, you may immediately complete the Order. Only 1 Order per Cheese Token. You cannot retroactively complete Orders. Bonus Cheese from Livestock can complete Orders.

Structure Abilities

Each Player Board has 4 unique but parallel abilities:

• Leftmost: Place a Worker here to gain the shown Resource. Retrieve the Worker next turn. Does not count as a Gather Resources action, so you can use all 3 Workers in 1 turn.
• Second: When gaining the shown Resource, gain 1 additional of that type. Once per turn.
• Third: When placing a Cheese Token in the shown Venue, gain 1 of the shown Resource (including Bonus Cheese).
• Rightmost: At game-end, gain 1 Prestige Point per used Resource of the shown type.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game ends when a player places their final Cheese Token (they must declare it). All players finish the current turn, then score.

Venue Scoring

Venue	Scoring Method
Festival	Score for groups of orthogonally adjacent cheeses (not diagonal). Free Sample spaces count as having all players’ Cheese Tokens. Consult the scoring rubric on the board.
Fromagerie	Each shelf’s Display Sign has a bonus. Longer-aged shelves offer more valuable bonuses. Score for number of different shelves with your Cheese Tokens. Point bonuses per token on shelves with point icons.
Bistro	Score for each plate with your Cheese Token. Pairings = 2 of your Cheese Tokens on the same table. Number of pairings determines how many points each plate is worth.
Villes	Cheese spaces influence touching regions (Bronze=1, Silver=2, Gold=3 regions). Most influence in a region = take Customer Token. Ties = flip to tied side for reduced points. In 1-2 player games, ties worth 0.

Other Scoring

• Fruit: Multiply number of Fruit used for Fruited Cheese by number used for Jam
• Orders: Consult scoring rubric based on number of completed Orders
• Structures: Based on unlocked abilities (rightmost ability scores per used Resource)
• Unused Resources: 1 Prestige Point per 2 unused Resources

Tiebreaker: Player who made more cheese wins. If still tied, victory is shared.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• All Cheese Tokens on the Board count at game-end regardless of whether they have fully aged. On the final turn, make the best available cheese and gather as many Resources as possible.
• Do not retrieve Cheese Tokens when retrieving Workers — they stay on the board.
• When placing a Worker, plan where you want it available next: it returns when the quadrant it points at rotates to face you.
• Resources are unlimited — if a tray runs out, use the other tray or swap with x3/x5 tokens.
• You may use Resources on the same turn you acquired them.
• If placing a Bonus Cheese on a Fruited Cheese or Jam space, you must still use Fruit.

Solo Mode

Play against the Corporation. Use the Level 1 Corporation Board for your first game. The Corporation does not use Workers or start with Resources. Each turn, the Corporation draws an Order Card and places its leftmost Cheese Token on a matching empty cheese space in your current Venue. If no space matches, the Order Card is placed on the Corporation Board to score 3 points each at game-end. The Corporation triggers game-end if it has no Cheese Tokens remaining. Corporation scores: highest visible number on its cheese track + Customer Tokens + 3 points per stored Order Card.

Player Reference

Cheese Age	Worker Return	Adjacent Spaces
Bronze (1 month)	1 turn	0 adjacent
Silver (2 months)	2 turns	1 adjacent
Gold (3 months)	3 turns	2 adjacent

Turn Checklist:

1. Retrieve Workers facing you
2. Make Cheese (optional, once) — place Cheese Token + matching Worker
3. Gather Resources (optional, once) — place any Worker on Resource Tile space
4. Rotate board 90 degrees clockwise

Scoring Checklist:

• Festival adjacency groups
• Fromagerie shelf diversity + point bonuses
• Bistro plates and pairings
• Villes region majorities
• Fruit (Fruited Cheese count x Jam count)
• Orders completed
• Structure scoring abilities
• 1 PP per 2 unused Resources