Round & Revel / Worker placement and retrieval

Open Bench Hours

An occupied bench helps you now, but your worker cannot be in two places at once.

2–4 players, competing; no separate hostEstimated 25–40 minutes for twelve laps

Original authored print-and-play game. Time is a planning estimate; this edition has not had a live group playtest.

Good for: A small table wanting a first worker-placement game with visible resources.

What you need

One copy of the six action-space cards, arranged as a shared board
One player mat per player, up to four; two matching worker tokens per player
Pencils for resource and point tallies; the supplied lap record and starting-player marker

How to play

Two workers, six spaces

Your two workers take actions at six shared benches. A worker stays on its bench until you recall it, preventing anyone else from using that bench. You will gather TIMBER and CORD, then spend them on three kinds of job. These are imaginary game materials recorded on paper, not purchases. Earn the most points over twelve laps. Each lap gives every player exactly one turn.

Set out the benches

Place all six action cards face up in a two-by-three rectangle. Their positions are only for convenience; adjacency does not affect play. Give each player a mat and the two worker tokens bearing their letter. Begin with 1 TIMBER, 1 CORD and zero points. Both workers begin at home beside the mat. Choose a first starting player and mark lap 1. All resources, workers and scores stay visible.

A placement turn

On your turn, place one home worker on one unoccupied bench and perform its entire printed action once. A bench holds only one worker, regardless of owner. You cannot place a worker if you cannot pay that action’s required cost. Pay before taking its reward. A worker already on the board cannot move directly to another bench. Placing your second worker on a later turn is allowed if a legal bench remains.

Gather materials

TIMBER YARD adds 2 TIMBER. CORD LOFT adds 2 CORD. MIXED CART adds 1 TIMBER and 1 CORD. Your storage holds at most six materials total, adding both types together. After a gathering action, choose and discard any excess immediately; you may discard either type, including material already stored. Record the remaining amounts clearly. You may use a gathering bench even when full, but it never holds more than one worker.

Complete a job

SIGN BENCH costs 2 TIMBER and earns 3 points. BUNTING BENCH costs 2 CORD and earns 3 points. DISPLAY BENCH costs 2 TIMBER plus 2 CORD and earns 7 points. Subtract the materials and add the points immediately. Jobs do not run out, produce extra resources or create cards in your collection. A later visit can repeat the same job after that bench has been cleared.

A recall turn

Instead of placing, return all your workers currently on benches to your home area. This uses the whole turn and gives no resources or points. At least one of your workers must be on the board to choose recall. You cannot recall only one, leave another blocking a bench, or recall and place during the same turn. Freed benches become available to later players immediately; there is no reservation for the person who left.

Waiting and crowded boards

You may wait, doing nothing, as your whole turn. Waiting is always legal, including when you have no home workers or every desirable bench is occupied. This prevents a crowded board from creating an undefined turn. Workers never eject one another. A player with all workers home might need to wait while other players occupy the board; laps still advance normally. You may discuss public possibilities, but workers and resources cannot be traded or lent.

Move through twelve laps

Start each lap with its marked starting player and proceed clockwise until everyone has taken one turn. Then move the starting-player marker one seat clockwise and advance the lap number. Keep workers, resources and points exactly where they are between laps. Twelve is divisible by every supported player count, so each player starts the same number of laps. Someone may act last in one lap and first in the next; that is intentional.

Finish and check

After everyone’s turn in lap twelve, stop immediately. There is no final free recall, job or conversion. Highest recorded points wins; tied leaders share the win. Unspent materials and workers do not score or break ties. Retain enough crossed-out resource figures to check a disputed payment. If an illegal placement or underpaid job is noticed before the next turn, restore the earlier totals and let that player choose a legal turn. Correct arithmetic slips from a known payment at any time.

Access and replay

If an older game state cannot be recovered after an error, agree a visible correction and finish as practice rather than claiming a comparison score. Read the selected bench aloud and let a helper move named workers. Resource tallies avoid handling many tiny counters; large handwritten worker labels work equally well. For another game, reset everything and choose a different first starting player. There is no hidden information or speed test, and the timing estimate has not been validated with a group.

A worked example

Nia starts with 1 TIMBER and 1 CORD. She places a worker on TIMBER YARD, reaching 3 TIMBER and 1 CORD. On a later turn she places her other worker on MIXED CART, reaching 4 TIMBER and 2 CORD, exactly the six-material limit. She must spend a turn recalling before she can place another worker. If DISPLAY BENCH is still free later, she pays 2 TIMBER and 2 CORD, keeps 2 TIMBER, and earns 7 points.

With 4 TIMBER and 2 CORD, CORD LOFT would temporarily produce eight materials. Keeping 3 TIMBER and 3 CORD is legal after discarding one timber and one cord. The action does not award points.

Printable materials

Print each bench once and leave enough room for a worker. Print one mat per player. Cut two workers bearing the same letter for each player; omit unused letters. Print the public lap strip once. Nothing needs a hidden back or a separate answer sheet.

OBH-1