Gizmos: Rules, Scoring & Strategy

What is Gizmos?

Gizmos is a competitive engine builder for 2–4 players. It uses a physical dispenser of 52 energy spheres in four colors and a market of machine cards. Cards you build become permanent abilities that can improve filing, picking, building or researching. The base and Second Edition share the central engine-building idea, but use the instructions supplied with your copy for component specifics.

Setup: display and dispenser

Give each player a dashboard, starting Gizmo and Energy Storage Ring. Shuffle the Level I, II and III decks separately. Prepare the public display with four Level I, three Level II and two Level III faceup Gizmos, and refill these spaces as needed. The Level III deck uses a limited selection according to setup. Put the colored spheres into the dispenser and let the first six occupy its visible Energy Row.

Action one: File

Take one faceup Gizmo from the public display and put it into your Archive if you have room. Refill its market space from the correct Level deck. Filing reserves a potentially valuable machine, but does not activate it; you still need a later Build to place it into your working engine. Filing can be especially useful when you want to protect a card from an opponent or cannot yet afford its colored energy.

Action two: Pick

Take one energy sphere from the visible Energy Row and place it in your Storage Ring, respecting your current storage capacity. Replenish the row from the dispenser. Red Heat, Yellow Electric, Blue Atomic and Black Battery correspond to costs printed on machines. Pick-triggered Gizmos can add other spheres or cause additional effects—often more valuable than the single marble from the base action.

Action three: Build

Select an affordable card from the faceup display or your own Archive. Pay its colored energy cost, using any eligible Converter effects; return spent spheres to the dispenser. Put the purchased Gizmo in its matching action area beneath your dashboard. Its permanent triggered ability can be used on later eligible actions. You may use a newly built Gizmo during the same turn, but not when its own construction action would have triggered it.

Action four: Research

Choose one Level deck and look at a number of cards equal to your current Research value, normally three at the beginning of the game. You may Build one of them immediately if affordable, File one if your Archive has space, or choose neither. Return the unused cards facedown to the bottom of that same Level deck. Research does not let you inspect multiple Level decks in one ordinary action.

How triggers and chains work

Whenever an action happens, check for Gizmos whose printed trigger matches that action and resolve permitted effects. A bonus effect can cause another type of action, triggering still more machines. Every Gizmo may be used at most once during a turn, so there is no unlimited loop simply because a chain points back to the original type. You choose the allowed resolution order when several effects are pending.

A practical engine example

Suppose a built Pick Gizmo rewards a second energy sphere when you pick red. You choose red from the dispenser, and that extra energy fills your Storage Ring. A different effect activated from picking may allow an additional action, which can then trigger other machines. Track each card as used once per turn to prevent accidental double activations, and keep its energy-cost color distinct from its activation trigger.

Storage, Archive and Converter choices

Storage and Archive capacities begin limited, but Upgrade Gizmos can increase them. Converters turn held energy into required types or otherwise adjust build costs as printed. Avoid collecting marbles indiscriminately: if your ring is full of colors unsuitable for available cards, your next action may have less value than Researching or Filing to change what you can build.

End-of-game triggers and scoring

The game end is triggered when a player builds a fourth Level III Gizmo or reaches sixteen total built Gizmos, including the Starting Gizmo. Finish the current round so every player has had the same number of turns. Add printed victory points on all your Gizmos and earned VP tokens. Highest total wins; ties break by number of active built Gizmos, then remaining stored energy, then seat position farthest clockwise from the first player.

Strategy: early engine versus late points

Early cheap Level I machines are valuable if they repeatedly trigger over many turns; later, Level II and III cards often improve both points and effect strength. Research can uncover a targeted piece rather than blindly collecting low-value marbles. Watch opponents approaching four Level III cards or sixteen total Gizmos: your engine’s promised future output is worthless if someone ends the game first.

Who should play it?

Gizmos is suited to players who enjoy satisfying card-combo interactions and resource optimization. It is relatively accessible compared with heavyweight engine builders, but the chained abilities require attention. Players seeking a lighter spatial game could consider Akropolis; those preferring word-driven combos might enjoy Paperback.

FAQ

Q: Can a Gizmo trigger more than once in one turn? No. Q: Does Research draw from all three decks? No, choose only one Level. Q: Is a Filed card already built? No, it sits in your Archive. Q: Is the winner the player who ends the game? Not necessarily; the highest VP total wins after equal turns.

Gizmos: complete turn example and engine priorities

What a successful engine turn looks like

Imagine you Pick a red energy sphere and already own two Pick-triggered Gizmos: one grants a bonus sphere and another grants a related bonus action. Perform the Pick action, identify both eligible triggers and resolve them in a permitted order. A secondary action may activate another machine, but mark each used Gizmo mentally or physically: the same card cannot trigger twice during that turn even if you Pick again.

Research or File?

File is best when a particularly valuable card is already visible but you do not have its energy. Research is a search action: it reveals several candidates from one level and may allow an immediate Build or File. Research is particularly useful if the display lacks a type of effect you want. Neither action automatically turns a researched or reserved card into a built machine unless you actually pay its cost through the Build procedure.

Engine tempo versus final victory points

A machine that grants extra energy every time you Pick may pay for itself over several turns. A high-level machine with a larger printed point total might be stronger when the game is almost finished. Compare expected future activations, not just the points printed on a card. Watch both end triggers: someone can finish by reaching four Level III Gizmos even without building sixteen total cards.

Rules checklist at the table

Confirm Storage capacity before picking, Archive capacity before filing, and Converter effects before paying a Build cost. After performing any action, check which categories of Gizmos were activated, including actions created by earlier triggers. Count the Starting Gizmo when testing the sixteen-card finish, and use the actual player-turn order to complete the final round.

Similar games and alternatives

• Akropolis — A spatial strategy alternative where district combinations produce points.
• Paperback — A word-building deck builder with combo-driven purchases.
• Fantasy Realms — A shorter card game focused on card synergies and scoring interactions.

Sources and editorial scope

Rules from the game publisher or an original rulesheet. Editorial review October 12, 2026. Explanations and examples are original; no publisher endorsement or firsthand playtesting is claimed. See our editorial policy and corrections process.