Bento Wars (Small Box Edition)

You're a well-known bento chef and you've been invited to take part in a competition against other bento chefs all vying for the title of 5-Star Bento Chef.

In Bento Wars, you will play as a bento chef collecting ingredients for and preparing bentos of all varieties. You must choose your recipes carefully and make your bentos quickly.

• 10 Kawaii Bento Cards
• 12 Traditional Bento Cards
• 4 Player Cards
• 2 Kitchen Cards
• 140 Ingredient/Event Chits
• 1 Chit Bag
• 3 Dice
• 12 Meeples

1. Based on player number, place the Kitchen Card(s) in the center of the play area.

   • 1-2 player game: The 1-2 player Kitchen Card with wood tiling.
   • 3-4 player game: The two 3-4 player Kitchen Cards with white tiling.

2. Distribute the Player Cards and Station Chef Meeples of each player color.

3. Each player will place their Chef Meeple on a corner tile of the Kitchen Card(s).
4. Distribute a random Bento Card to each player, placing it recipe-side up on their Player Card. Kawaii Bento Cards should be placed on one of the blue bento cover spaces, while Traditional Bento Cards should be placed on the red bento cover spaces.
5. Place the Bento Card Deck next to the Kitchen Card(s), and reveal 3. This will be now be considered the Recipe List.
6. Place the Chit Bag and 3 Dice next to the Recipe List.
7. Randomly select Ingredient and/or Event Chits from the Chit Bag and place them on the empty spaces on the tables of the Kitchen Card(s).

Bento Wars is played throughout several Rounds with each consisting of 3 Phases. Players will first, Manage Their Pantries, Roll and Take Actions, and Manage Recipe List.

Phase 1: Manage Pantry

If a player has Ingredient or Event Chits in their pantry on their Player Card, they may use this Phase to place those Ingredient Chits onto their Bento Cards and/or resolve any of either side of their Event Chits.

Phase 2: Roll & Take Actions

The number of Dice a player rolls should be equivalent to the number of Meeples they have on the Kitchen Card(s). For example, if a player has 1 Meeple on the Kitchen Card(s), then they would roll 1 Die. Once the Dice are rolled, the player will allocate each Die to a Meeple. A Meeple may only move once per turn, and must move the number of spaces equivalent to the value of the Die assigned to it. Meeples may only move orthogonally, they may not move backwards, and while they may pass other Meeples on the Kitchen Card(s), they may not end their movement on the same space as another Meeple. Landing on a corner tile with a player’s Chef Meeple will automatically and immediately replenish all empty spaces on the tables of the Kitchen Card(s). After rolling their Dice, players may choose to take the following actions: Collect Ingredient or Event Chits and Complete a Bento.

Collect Ingredient or Event Chits

Once a player’s Meeple has been moved, the player may choose to collect 1, 2, or none of any of the available Ingredient or Event Chits on any 1 of the tables that are adjacent to the Meeple. To do so, if the Chit is an Ingredient Chit, the player will take the desired Ingredient Chit that matches these conditions and will either place it onto an empty ingredient space of that ingredient type on any of their Bento Cards or place it into their pantry for future use. If the Chit is an Event Chit, the player will place it into their pantry for use in subsequent turns in the Manage Pantry Phase.

Complete a Bento

There are two different types of bentos in Bento Wars – Kawaii Bentos and Traditional Bentos.

Kawaii Bentos are prepared in a blue bento box and are worth 1 Star each. Players are only required to complete 1 Kawaii Bento Card in order to complete a Kawaii Bento. Traditional Bentos are prepared in a red bento box and are worth 3 Stars each as they require both 1 Top and 1 Bottom Traditional Bento Card to be completed.

To complete a Bento Card, a player would simply need to collect 1 Ingredient Chit per required ingredient on the recipe-side of a Bento Card. Once all ingredients have been collected, the player would immediately return the Ingredient Chits to the Chit Bag, flip the completed Bento Card onto its bento-side and place it beneath its cover, indicating that it has been completed.

Note that Traditional Bentos are not fully complete until both a Top and Bottom Traditional Bento Card have been completed.

Phase 3: Manage Recipe List

After a player has Rolled and Taken Actions, they may choose to manage the Recipe List by either: Adding a Bento or Refreshing the Recipe List.

Adding a Bento Card: A player may add Bento Cards to their Player Card by placing it recipe-side up on the equivalent bento cover spaces of their Player Card. A player may only work on three Bento Cards at a time, the type, as indicated by the spaces on each player’s Player Card. And, once a player has completed a bento, that space is no longer open as a workspace for new Bento Cards.

Refreshing the Recipe List: If a player doesn’t add a Bento Card to their Player Card, they may choose to refresh the Recipe List by shuffling the available Bento Cards of the Recipe List back into the deck and replacing them with cards to form a new Recipe List – with newly available recipes.

Thank you for visiting Bento Wars' page on The Game Crafter.

Bento Wars was created by Maikai Games, an international family from the US and Japan.

With 3 very young children, we strive to create games that are simple to learn and engaging for all members of the family. We also love to mix fun with education and in Bento Wars, players follow recipes with the very basic ingredients one would need to complete these bentos in real life.

If you find yourself interested in Bento Wars, we hope that you'll consider adding it to your collection.

Thank you again for taking the time to look at Bento Wars. We hope that you enjoy it and that it makes your game night a memorable one, whether it be with friends or family.

Disclaimer: While Bento Wars may be mechanically playable by children younger than the advertised age, the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) requires that all products manufactured for children under the age of 12 be tested by an independent third party. Please note that Bento Wars has not been tested, nor has it received any certification for it to be manufactured for children under the age of 12.