Gamehelpsteamworks

Overview

Steam Works is a worker placement game in which you are an inventor of ingenious devices, competing for the favour of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Over the course of the game you will take components from the conveyor belts on the main board, and combine them with power sources to manufacture Devices which function as action spaces for all players. You gain prestige points when an opponent uses a device you manufactured, and from activating certain certain components, and for the components in devices you own.

Each player takes one persona board (these can be distributed randomly, or drafted in reverse order of play), and elects to play side A or B. The side A of all boards have different starting resources but the same action spaces available, while side B of each board also has differing action spaces and some special rules.

Each turn, you place one mechanic on an unoccupied action space (one on your own persona board, or on a power source in any built device). The cost to place a mechanic is printed below that mechanic's space on the persona board; if you cannot (or do not wish to) pay that cost, you may instead pass with that worker and collect that cost.

When all players have placed all their mechanics, the round ends. All workers return to their owner's persona board, the conveyor belts fill up, and the first player marker advances. If the current age's clock tokens have all been awarded, then the next Age opens: each player gains a worker, and a new supply of more powerful tiles becomes available. At the end of Age III the game is over and the player who has the most prestige is declared the winner. (Ties are decided by the most leftover money, sources and components combined).

Action Spaces

The action spaces on side A of the persona board have the following effects:

1. Take the rightmost tile of any conveyor belt.
2. Take a basic power source of your choice.
3. Manufacture a device containing exactly two tiles from your hand.
4. Activate one power source in a device you have already built, without placing a worker on it.

A manufactured device must contain at least one source, and at least one component. A source and a component are connected when the source provides at least one type of power that the component accepts. Invalid connections are allowed to exist in your device but every tile is required to have at least one valid connection.

When a mechanic is placed on the power source of a built device, every component connected to it may be activated in the order of the player's choice. Some components have different effects depending on whether they are supplied with clockwork, steam or electrickal power - if the source is capable of providing more than one of these, you have the choice of which effect is applied.

Age I components

When you activate the Alarm Chronometer you advance the start player marker once, and again for each £1 spent. When you activate the Condenser you may take two basic sources of whichever type of power is supplying the Condenser. When you activate the Distiller you may discard one source from your hand to gain £5. When you activate the Innovation Turbine you may take a tile from an unlocked supply deck, or pay £1 to choose one tile from two revealed.