How to Play

Kanban EV

1-4 players 60-180 min 8.4 Board Game Geek Rating

Players oversee electric vehicle production as rookie employees competing for career advancement. Using kanban scheduling principles, you manage suppliers, innovate parts, and work assembly lines while racing against factory deadlines. Smart recycling and resource management are crucial when supplies run short. Earn the most production points through efficient actions to win.

Published 2020

Kanban EV

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Establish player order
Players begin positioned on the Certification Track, with turn order determined from right to left
2
Place workers initially
In the first round, each player in Certification Track Order chooses an empty Workstation in any Department and places their Worker there
3
Prepare Banked Shift reminders
Use a Banked Shift reminder if you start your turn with less than 3 Banked Shifts
4
Place Charger Tokens
Put 3 Charger Tokens per player plus 2 next to the Game Board
5
Distribute Charging Boards
Each player places 1 Charging Board to the left of their Player Board
6
Prepare Performance Goals
Shuffle the 4 Speedcharger Performance Goals into the Deck
7
Select Final Goal
Optionally use 1 of the Speedcharger Final Goals

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Move to new department
Each player in Worker order from top to bottom selects a different Department from their current one and places their Worker on an empty Workstation there
2
Handle Sandra's movement
When Sandra moves (apart from the first turn), she is placed in the next empty Workspace of the next Department from top to bottom, ignoring Administration Workstations
3
2-Player restriction
Players cannot move to the Department where Sandra is, but Sandra can move to a Department where a player is
4
Determine available shifts
The number of Shifts you have to complete Tasks is determined by your Workstation
5
Spend Banked Shifts
If you have Banked Shifts, you may spend any number of them to work more
6
Observe shift maximum
The maximum number of Shifts you can work in a Round is 4
7
Delay new resources
Banked Shifts, Books, and Parts Vouchers cannot be used on the turn they are gained; place any gained to the left of your Player Board
8
Complete your turn
Once you have completed your Shifts, lay your Worker down to indicate your turn is over and move any Books and Parts Vouchers gained this turn onto your Player Board
9
Evaluate training levels
When it is Sandra's Turn (apart from the first turn), she evaluates the player(s) who have the least Training in the Department she is in
10
Apply penalties
If player(s) meet the Penalty Criteria, they lose 1 VP; plus if you have less than 5 Banked Shifts, lose 1 VP for any Banked Shifts you have below 5
11
Execute Departmental Task
Sandra then performs a Departmental Task in the Department she is in
12
R&D penalty
Have 2 or fewer Upgraded Designs; Sandra advances the Pace Car 1 space
13
Assembly penalty
Have 2 or fewer Cars in your Garage; Sandra removes Car Parts from all Assembly spaces
14
Logistics penalty
Have 2 or fewer Car Parts on your Player Board; Sandra removes all but 1 Car Part from each Warehouse
15
Design penalty
Have 2 or fewer Car Designs on your Player Board; Sandra returns the rightmost 4 Design Tiles to the bottom of the Central Stack (8 Tiles in 2-player games)
16
Administration penalty
Be certified in 2 or fewer Departments; Sandra performs END OF WEEK SCORING
17
Select Designs
(Cost: 1 Shift per Design) Choose 1 of the 8 available Designs for each Shift spent if you have space on your Player Board
18
Upgrade a Design
(Cost: 1 Shift) You must have a Design depicting both the Model and Part you are Upgrading, plus the Car Part itself
19
Design Department certification benefit
Store 1 additional Design on your Player Board and take Designs from draw Stacks
20
Double-Upgrade ability
When certified, gain a one-time ability to increase Car Part's Value by 2 steps instead of 1, gain VP equal to new value, then flip your Double-Upgrade Tile
21
Claim Cars
(Cost: 1-3 Shifts per Car) You must have at least 1 matching Design and Garage space
22
R&D certification benefit
Gain a 5th Garage Space on your Player Board
23
Clear full assembly spaces
At the start of your turn, if a Model has all Assembly spaces full of Car Parts, return all those Parts to the Supply
24
Provide a Needed Part
(Cost: 1 Shift) Move 1 Car Part from your Player Board to an empty Assembly Space for any Model
25
Handle conveyor completion
If a Car moves off the end of a Conveyor, move it to the Test Track in R&D
26
Refresh Demand Tiles
At the end of your turn, if either Demand Tile has no Speech Tokens, replace it and place indicated Speech Tokens next to it
27
Issue Kanban Order
(Cost: 1 Shift, once per turn) Gain 1 Banked Shift, place 1 Kanban Order Card from your hand on the Kanban space
28
Collect Car Parts
(Cost: 1 Shift) Take any number of Car Parts from any 1 Warehouse and place them on your Player Board
29
Receive Parts Voucher
(Cost: 1 Shift, once per turn) Gain 1 Parts Voucher, place next to your Player Board for use next turn
30
Logistics certification benefit
Store 1 additional Car Part on your Player Board and access the Receive Parts Voucher task
31
Work remotely
When you work in Administration, you may also choose 1 other Department to work in, splitting Shifts and Books between the chosen Department and Administration Training
32
Gain Charger Token
(Speedcharger expansion) Once per turn, spend 1 Shift to gain 1 Charger Token and place it on a free space on your Charging Board
33
Administration certification benefit
Store 1 additional Speech Token on your Player Board
34
Train in departments
For each Shift spent on Training Track Task, move your Marker to the next space, placing it on top of any other Markers
35
Use Books for training
Discard any number of Books to move your Marker 1 space forward
36
Become certified
A player who crosses the arrow on a Department's Training Track is Certified
37
Achieve Expert status
Continue training until reaching the final space on the Track to become an Expert
38
Create Tested Designs
If you have a Car in your Garage that matches one of your Upgraded Designs, that Design is considered "Tested"
39
Exchange Car Parts
At any time during your turn (except during Meetings), you may exchange 1 Car Part from your Player Board with 1 from the Recycling Pool, as many times as you'd like
40
Use Generic Speech Token
When you gain a Generic Speech Token, discard it to move 1 of your Speech Tokens next to your Player Board onto an empty space on your Player Board
41
Save for later
If you don't have any Speech Tokens next to your Player Board, save the Generic Token next to your Player Board for the next Meeting
42
Claiming Cars goal
Have the indicated number of Cars in your Garages
43
Upgrading Designs goal
Have the indicated number of Upgraded Designs
44
Certifications goal
Have the indicated number of Certifications
45
Claim reward
If you meet the requirements of a Goal, immediately take 1 Generic Speech Token from its Tile; once all Speech Tokens are removed, discard the Goal
46
Score Cars in Garages
For each Car in your Garages, gain 1 VP for each Upgrade made to that Model (by all players) and 1 VP for each Tested Design you have of that Model
47
Advance Week Marker
Move the Week Marker by 1 Space, unless it is in position 3
48
Trigger Meeting
If the Meeting Marker is on the Meeting Space at the end of the Work Phase, a Meeting takes place
49
Take turns speaking
Players take turns in Certification Track Order (from right to left) until all players have passed consecutively; Recycling cannot be used during a Meeting
50
Option A: Speak
Perform 1 or both of the following steps:
51
Option B: Pass
You cannot Pass until you've played 1 Performance Goal Card
52
Return Speech Tokens
Return all used Speech Tokens to players to place next to their Player Boards
53
Convert Generic Tokens
Each player may discard any number of Generic Speech Tokens to move their own Speech Tokens back onto empty spaces on their Player Board
54
Discard played cards
Discard the face-up Performance Goal Cards from the Player Board
55
Prepare next Meeting
Each player places 1 Performance Goal Card from their hand in the Meeting Room face-down, then flip all Cards played face-up
56
Fill Meeting spaces
If there are fewer than 4 players, fill the rest of the spaces with Cards from the Deck
57
Draw new cards
Each player draws 2 new Performance Goal Cards
58
Reset Meeting Marker
Return the Meeting Marker to the Test Track
59
Advance Production Cycle
Advance the Production Cycle Marker 1 space, unless it is in position 3

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Trigger condition
When either the Production Cycle or the Week Marker has reached the 3rd space, and the other has reached at least the 2nd space, END GAME is triggered
2
Complete final round
Finish the Round so every player has the same number of turns
3
Score Final Goal achievements
Spend 1 Speech Token (including Generic Tokens) per achievement you wish to score on the Final Goal Tile; each player may score each Achievement on the Tile once
4
Score Banked Shifts
Earn 1 VP per Banked Shift
5
Score remaining resources
Earn 1 VP per Speech Token (including Generic), Book, and Parts Voucher you have
6
Score Cars by type
Gain VP for each Car in your Garages: City Car 2 VP, SUV 3 VP, Truck 4 VP, Sports 5 VP, Concept 6 VP
7
Score Training Track positions
Score for relative positions on each Department's Training Track: 1st place 5 VP, 2nd place 3 VP, 3rd place 1 VP
8
Score Tested Designs
For each Tested Design above your Player Board, gain VP equal to the value of the Car Part depicted on it (indicated on the Upgrade Value Track)
9
Score Charger Tokens
(Speedcharger expansion) Gain 1 VP per Car in your Garages for each Charger Token on your Charging Board
10
Highest VP wins
The player with the most VP is the winner
11
Break ties
Ties are broken by most Cars, then most Tested Designs, then most Banked Shifts

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

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