HIFI

COMPONENTS
• 1 Studio Board • 20 Audio Mixing Markers
(5 of each player color)
• 1 Turntable Board • 4 Turn Order Markers
• 1 Vinyl Record Piece (1 of each player color)
• 60 Audio Cards
• 1 Scoring Board
(15 of each type: bassist,
a game by André Teruya • 1 Tone Arm Piece drummer, guitarist and vocalist)

I
• 4 Score Markers • 4 Bonus Cards
n 1974, the rock’n roll band The
Meeples were at their peak. (1 of each player color) • 20 Audio Mixing Objective
Cards
After finishing the world tour
of their latest album, Settlers
of Carcassonne, the group isolated
themselves in the studio to create what
would become their masterpiece: the
concept album HiFi. During recording,
creative differences caused the band to 1 Open the box, separate all the components that will be used and
each head their own ways. The album then place the Turntable Board back on top of the box. Next, place
was never finished. It was the end of The the Vinyl Record Piece on the Turntable Board, placing the Tone
Meeples. Arm Piece over the Vinyl Record. At the start of the game, the Tone
Arm Piece should be placed pointing to the space containing the
However, the label, which was Guitarrist Card ( ) and the Swap ( ) icons on the Vinyl Record.
contractually authorized to release any
unreleased material, decided to press 2 Open the Studio Board and place it in the center of the table.
a shortrun of LPs featuring the only
3 If it's the first game of HiFi for at least one of the players, the
recorded and mixed songs from the 4 Bonus Cards are placed next to the Harmony icons on the right
unfinished project. The single sided side of the board, in the following order, from top to bottom:
record quickly became a rare item, and Leroy Johnson, Mei Ling Wong, Heather Jones, and Jack Green.
garnered a cult following by fans and If everyone has already played HiFi at least once, you can randomly
critics alike. determine the order in which the Bonus Cards are placed.

And now, 50 years later, the story 4 Shuffle each colored deck of Audio Cards separately and place them
continues. In 2024, the group put their on the right side of the Studio Board, with the bonus action side
differences aside and got together for facing down. (Note: the bonus actions on the Audio Cards are only used in
Advanced Mode.)
a charity campaign show. HiFi’s first
live performance after a half-century 5 Place the Scoring Board with the Basic Production Phase (2) side face
hiatus alone would be historic. However, up next to the Studio Board. Each player chooses a color and places
the reunion of artists, now distanced their corresponding Scoring Marker next to the Scoring Board.
and with other perspectives of human
and artistic relationships, brought 6 Each player receives all the EQ Knobs and Audio Mixing Markers of
their chosen color.
reconciliation and with it a challenge: to
complete the unfinished work. 7 Shuffle the Audio Mixing Objective Cards (►) and place the deck
near the board, face down, within reach of all players. Do the same
To help them in this mission, the most with the Mastering Objective Cards ( ) and place the deck alongside.
creative and ingenious music producers
were summoned. And you are one of 8 Place each player's color Production Fader on level three on one of
them. Welcome to the studio! the Production Tracks.

9 Randomly choose the player order and place the Turn Order Markers
of each player's color on the Scoring Board track.

2 • Ruling Book
 • 20 Mastering Objective Cards
• 4 Production Faders
(1 of each player color)
• 40 EQ Knobs
(10 of each player color)
• 2 Plastic Rivets
1. Open the box, separate all the

1
5

8
3 4
7

6 11

10
10 Each player receives 1 Audio Mixing Objective Card (►) and 1 Mastering Objective Card ( ).
11 Then, starting with the Starting Player, each player chooses two different Audio Cards from the top of the decks
and adds them to their hand.

Ruling Book • 3
GAME STRUCTURE THE TURNTABLE THE STUDIO BOARD

H
iFi is played in a In the third phase of the turn, pro-
sequence of rounds, ducers and the band are in the stu-
according to the dio, creating, recording, and editing
number of players: new songs for the B-side. For this,
the Studio Board is used. It has five
6 rounds for 4 players; main areas:
7 rounds for 3 players;
A The Studio Tracks, where
8 Rounds for 2 players. players place the Audio Cards.

Players take their turns in the order B The Audio Mixing Area, where
players place the Audio Mixing
indicated by the Turn Order Track.
Markers during the game.
On their turn, each player chooses
This shows which producer is
an action from the Vinyl Record to
credited with the most influence
perform, plays an Audio Card and The A-side of the HiFi record inspires on a given track.
may take one bonus action. Playing the band and producers to create the
Audio Cards, fulfilling Objective B-side, serving as a creative guide for C The Production Tracks, where
Cards, and some bonus actions can continuing the work begun 50 years ago. players track their Production
Points, which are used to pay for
grant Victory Points to the player.
In the Vinyl Phase, players will Bonus Actions.
rotate the record and perform the
Vinyl actions. D The Equalization Tracks, where
players place their EQ Knobs.
The player with the most
The Tone Arm must always be
Victory Points at the
aligned with one of the 5 Action
E The Harmony Bonus Actions
that players can perform if
end of the game is the Spaces on the record. To select an they have met the indicated
winner. action, rotate the record to the conditions. The Bonus Cards are
appropriate space beside the tone placed beside this edge of the
arm. board.

E
A B

A note to musicians: Each of the 4 tracks is considered a song, not four tracks of one song. Therefore, drums, guitar, bass and
vocals will all be placed onto the same track. Think of it as a portion of the song highlighting their talents.

4 • Ruling Book
 1 ... 2x
A player can rotate the record
additional spaces, to reach a more
distant space. Each additional move
costs 1 Production Point.

The Starting Player can make a

single counterclockwise move
with the Vinyl Record instead of
performing the normal move.

However, it's not possible to make

extra moves counterclockwise.

Regardless of how many moves are

made or the direction used, only one
Action Space is performed by the
player.

2. PRODUCTION PHASE
OPTIONAL: in this phase, if desired,
the player can spend 2 Production
Points (move the Production Fader
down 2 spaces) to take one of the

PLAYER'S TURN
following actions:

• Place a EQ Knob;
A player's turn is divided into three 1. VINYL PHASE
• Take two Audio Mixing Objective
steps: In this phase, the active player must Cards, keep one and return the
1. VINYL PHASE rotate the Vinyl Record 1 or 2 Action other to the bottom of the deck;
Spaces clockwise .
2. PRODUCTION PHASE • Take two Mastering Objective
3. STUDIO PHASE Next, the player may take the Cards, keep one and return the
actions indicated by the Tone Arm. other to the bottom of the deck.

VINYL ACTIONS

Draw an Audio Card from Draw an Audio Card from the Draw an Audio Card from
the top of any deck. top of the Guitarist deck. the top of the Vocalist deck.
Draw an Audio Card from the Swap the positions of 2 Audio Move your Production Fader
top of the Drummer deck. Cards in the Studio Board. to space 5.

Draw 2 Audio Mixing Objective Cards, keep one, Draw an Audio Card from
and return the other to the bottom of the deck. the top of the Bassist deck.
Draw 2 Mastering Objective Cards, keep one, and Place an EQ Knob on the lowest available
return the other to the bottom of the deck. space of one of the four Equalization Tracks.

Ruling Book • 5
3. STUDIO PHASE When recording an Audio Card, the 1 VP for each EQ Knob on the card's
player can gain Victory Points (VPs) artist Equalization Track.
In this phase, the player must record by advancing their marker on the Then, in turn order, the other
part of a song by placing an Audio Scoring Board: players who have EQ Knobs on this
Card from their hand into an empty
1 VP for each visible VP icon in Equalization Track gain 1 VP for
space on any one of the Studio
the Audio Mixing Area on the track each Knob they have on the track.
Tracks.
where the Audio Card was placed.
If, when placing a card on the Studio
Tracks, one of the Harmony Bonus
Conditions is met, the player may
also take a bonus action (see Harmony
3 : 00 3 : 00 3 : 00
B
Bonus Action on page 7).
A
Each Audio Card represents 1 minute
of the band playing and indicates
the artist who stands out in that
23 13 53

passage (A). The card also shows the

timecode (B), the sound wave of
the song (C), and an identification
number (D) (not relevant for the Example: the red player plays a
game). NOTE: The timecode only guitarist Audio Card (purple) A on
indicates the location on the Studio Track Three.
Track where this part of the song would They gain 4 VPs: 2 VPs for the visible
fit best. scoring icons (stars) on that Track-
B and 2 VPs for the total number of
2 : 00
B EQ Knobs on the Guitarist D
E : A Equalization Track. C
3 : 00 3 : 00 3 : 00
The yellow player gains 1 VP for the
C yellow knob on the Guitarist
C Equalization Track. D
C
22 D 2 : 00
B
A 23 13 53

2 : 00 5 : 00

One side of the card features a J K

Bonus Action (E). The Bonus Action A
of the Audio Cards is only used in
the Advanced Mode (see Advanced 47 35

Mode on page 9). B

Example: the blue player plays an
E
The sixth space of each Bassist Audio Card (pink) on track
4. A
track in the studio is
They gain 5 VPs, 1 VP for the scoring
used only in games with icon on Track Four B and 4 VPs for
D
3 players or more. The the EQ Knobs on the Bassist
Equalization Track. C
seventh space of each
The yellow player receives 2 VPs D
track is used only in and the green player receives 1 VP for
4-player games. their color EQ Knobs on the Bassist
Equalization Track. E C

6 • Ruling Book
HARMONY BONUS ACTION The timecode on the card matches the timecode
After recording and scoring an of the space where the card was placed.
Audio Card, the active player can
execute a Bonus Action if the placed
card meets one of the Harmony 3 : 00
Conditions:

TIMECODE

SOUNDWAVE
03

SOLO

TWO OR MORE
CONDITIONS The sound wave at the edges of the card matches at
least one previously placed adjacent card.

The earned Bonus Action 3 : 00 1 : 00

(defined below) is shown on
the card to the right of the
Harmony Condition symbol
on the board. If multiple
bonuses have been achieved, 03 41

only ONE of those actions

may be chosen.
The artist featured in the card is the same as at least
one adjacent card previously placed.

Place an EQ Knob 4 : 00 1 : 00

Gain 2 Victory Points

39 41

Gain 1 Production
Point for the total
: number of EQ Knobs The placed card meets two or more
of your color on all Harmony Conditions.
Equalization Tracks.

Swap an Audio Card 3 : 00 5 : 00

in the Studio with
one from your hand.

If you have met ALL the Harmony

Conditions, you gain 1 Production
23 20
Point, in addition to the action you
choose.

Ruling Book • 7
OBJECTIVE CARDS MASTERING
OBJECTIVES
If the sequence matches all
There are two types of Objective 4 cards, the player gain 7 VPs. All Mastering Objectives ( ) of a
Cards: Audio Mixing Objectives player must be scored at the end of
and Mastering Objectives. If it matches 3 cards,
their turn in the last round. In
the player gain 4 VPs. other words, after completing all
AUDIO MIXING (Either the first three cards their actions in the game, the player
OBJECTIVES or the last three) immediately scores these objectives
Audio Mixing Objectives (►) can If it matches any 2 cards before ending their turn by simply
be completed immediately if, when (first two, middle two, last revealing the cards and indicating
editing or recording an Audio Card, the met conditions. (See all
two), the player gain 2 VPs.
the player creates a sequence of cards Mastering Objectives on page 12.)
that fully or partially matches the
sequence on an Objective Card. Strategy Tip: Waiting to sequence all
4 cards is tempting to get those 7 points
– but you may consider scoring fewer
cards, as an opponent can mix your
track and spoil your hard work.

All ties are considered “friendly”

when evaluating objective scores.
1 : 00 3 : 00
To fulfill an Audio Mixing Objective, 4 : 00
If tied for the “most” or “fewest” of
the player must reveal the card and a condition, you score the objective
then place a Audio Mixing Marker you tied for.
of their color on the Studio Board. A
END OF THE ROUND
34 36 23

The marker must be placed on the

leftmost available space in the Audio
Mixing Area of the track where the Redefining Turn Order
last card was edited or recorded. Example (part 1): After recording
When the last player in the turn
Placing the Audio Mixing Marker on an Audio Card, the blue player decides
order finishes their turn, the round
the first three spaces covers a Victory to score a Audio Mixing Objective
ends and a new turn order is
Point icon, reducing the number of Card. The blue player reveals the
defined by the players' positions on
VPs players get when recording an Objective Card, indicating that the
the Score Track.
Audio Card on the track. recorded Audio Card created a
sequence of 3 matching cards, thus On the Turn Order Track, move the
If there are no available spaces,
no Audio Mixing Objective can be gaining 4 VPs. A player marker with the least VPs to
the first empty space on the next
fulfilled on that track for the rest of
line. Then move the second player's
the game. The fourth space is only
marker with the fewest points to the
available in a 4-player game.
second empty space on the next line.
3 : 00
An Audio Mixing Objective can only Keep doing this until all the markers
be fulfilled at the moment you place are on the next line. This will be the
(Record) or move (Edit) an Audio new turn order for the next round.
Card on the Studio Board, and this
If two or more Scoring Markers
card is part of the sequence indicated 23

on the Objective. B occupy the same space, they must be

stacked. The marker at the top of
Editing → Swap Audio Cards in the stack is considered the marker
the Studio Tracks through Bonus Example (part 2): The Audio with the fewest points, as it was
Actions or Vinyl Record Actions. Mixing Marker is placed on the first the last one to reach that space.
Record → Play an Audio Card from available space in the Audio Mixing
your hand and place it in a space on Area of the track . From now on, this
the Studio Tracks through Studio track will only grant 2 VPs when an
Actions. Audio Card is recorded on it. B

8 • Ruling Book
IMPORTANT: FULL C
END OF THE GAME
EQUALIZATION TRACK B
The game ends at the end of the
8th/7th/6th round for 2/3/4 players,
If the Equalization Track already respectively.
has 4 Knobs and the player wants to The player with the most VPs is the
A
place an EQ Knob on it, the following winner. In the event of a tie, the tied
procedure must be followed: player with the most EQ Knobs on
1. Remove the knob from the the Studio Board wins. If the tie
Example: The Yellow Player wants to persists, the tied player with more
lowest space on the track and
return it to its owner. place an EQ Knob on the Guitarist's Production Points wins the match.
Track, but there is no available space.
2. Move all the remaining Knobs In the rare situation where a tie still
He removes the blue knob A , move the
one space down.
other Knobs down B and place their persists, the tied player closest to the
3. Place the new knob at the Starting Player wins the match.
knob at the topmost space on the track
topmost space on the track.
C .

ADVANCED MODE
Game Setup
2 : 00
In advanced mode, ignore steps 3 and 4 of Game Setup. Instead, place each artist’s deck of
Audio Cards next to one of the Harmony icons, replacing the 4 generic Bonus Cards. Place so the :

Bonus Action printed on the cards is facing up. The placement of the decks is random. Flip the
score board to the side with the Advanced Production Phase (2).
5 : 00

Production Phase
In the Production Phase, Bonus Actions now include a new option. For 2 Production Points,
you may discard an Audio Card in your hand to gain the action shown on the card. Then, place
the card on the bottom of the matching deck. 1:00

Studio Phase
In the Studio Phase, when a player earns a Harmony Bonus, the reward is the current bonus
showing on the top card of the respective deck. After performing the action, move the card to 3 : 00

the bottom of the deck.

Example:The red player places a Drum Audio Card (Yellow) on Track Three. A . The
timecode on the card matches the space on the track. After gaining points for placing the card
on the board, the player gains their Harmony Bonus.
3 : 00
B
A
The icon on the top card of the deck next to the
Timing icon indicates that the player should gain gain
C 3 VPs B . Therefore, the player advances their marker
three spaces on the Score Track.
03

Next, the Audio Card used is moved to the bottom of the deck, revealing the next available
1:00
bonus: earning a Bassist Audio Card. C
1:0 0

4 : 00

CREDITS: Designer: André Teruya | Developer: Robert Coelho | Illustrator: Diego Sá | Graphic Designer: Luis
Francisco | Rules Layout: André Teruya | Playtesters: Aron Palo, Edu Pomper, Gabriel Ramirez, Leandro Pinto,
Matheus Wendt, Mauricio Nobrega, Vanessa Piasa and Zinho.
© 2024 Grok Games | All rights reserved. Ruling Book • 9
 THE MEEPLES
AFTER A 50 YEAR HIATUS Ruling Book Who had the initia- cated, but we ended up finding a
THE MEEPLES PREPARE tive to reunite after so many years gap in the schedules.
TO COMPLETE A CLASSIC, apart?
THE LEGENDARY HIFI HJ At first, I thought Jack just
ALBUM. wanted to talk, catch up
Heather Jones We haven’t actu-
ally spent all those years comple- on things. But during

S
tely apart. the night, we began to
omething magical
happened as Leroy realize that he was in-
Johnson played the terested in something
Mei Ling Wong Yes, I think we more.
first few chords of Sixty
never lost touch and always had a
Minutes on stage at the fes-
tival raising funds for the good relationship. Each of us has
JG All I wanted
World Social Fund. The spoken about this publicly seve-
was to play music
crowd present did not ral times, but people still think
with my friends
seem to believe what we got into a big fight and never
whom I hadn't
they saw and heard. spoke again. For the record: that's
seen in a long
The stream’s simulta- not what happened. (Laughter)
neous views number time. It could
went up exponentially, be at home,
HJ The inspiration to resume or in Le-
quickly becoming the
the work, in a way, came from roy's stu-
most watched live per-
formance in the world. Jack. dio.
The second biggest
surprise in recent rock Leroy Johnson Yes, it certainly MLW That
history would come 20 was. If he hadn't eaten that cake, same week,
minutes later, after a none of this would have happe- I received an
live performance of ned. (Laughter)
the four tracks from invitation to
the cult unfinished participate in
album. Mr. Green ste-
RB Cake? the World Social
pped up to the micropho- Fund Festival. I
ne and dropped the bomb: Jack Green Yes, a roll cake. was amazed by the
“I´ll see you on the B-side Delicious, with guava filling. synchronicity and
of HiFi”. As I savored, I had an epiphany. believed that our
Ruling Book spoke with the We were the solid foundation reunion could attract
quartet about returning to of our band, just like the dough significant attention
work and preparations for fi- is the essential base of the cake, to the Fund's cause.
nishing the album. with each layer perfectly fitting
together. Our unique sound as a LJ Once, for a noble cau-
musical group was created by the se. Why not?
spiral filling of our mixed diffe-
rences. That sound, that incredible
taste, would only exist if we were
together. That week, I reached out
to everyone and began the search
for a suitable time in our schedu-
les to get together. It was compli-

10 • Ruling Book
“
During the rehearsals, we revisited the songs in a

”
very emotional process. I think we all feel as if we
haven't lost a single day.

RB So the initial idea was just to much time in such a different

gather for a presentation? world? MLW Our top priority is to
ensure continuity. We want to be
LJ Exactly. MLW Unfortunately, much of honest with ourselves and with
what we were trying to say throu- everyone who appreciates our
RB When did you deci- gh our work at that time is still work.
de to record the B-side relevant today. We still live in an
of HiFi? unequal society, filled with con- JG For this, we rely on an
flicts over differences in ethnicity, outstanding team of pro-
cultures, genders, and opinions. ducers who are dedica-
HJ During the rehe-
arsals, we revisited ted to this mission. Side
the songs in a very LJ New technologies came to A has been our guide,
emotional process. bring us closer, but it seems that and whenever we
I think we all feel people are increasingly drifting face a dilemma,
as if we haven't apart from each other. The idea we turn to it to
lost a single day. that we are all interdependent find the solu-
and need each other to live is tion.
more relevant than ever. Diversi-
JG At a certain
ty is what makes our band unique RB
moment, we reali-
and relevant yesterday and today. Are
zed that the natu-
ral path would be there
to fully resume JG We hope our music can convey plans for
this unfinished this message and inspire people more shows
journey. to be more tolerant and connect or a new album
more with each other. after the completion
Ever ything
of HiFi?
flowed in an
organic way. HJ And of course, we now bring
new perspectives to these reflec- JG Well, for now
HJ We realized tions, as well as new influences. we are focused on
that it wasn't a Perhaps the greatest challenge is meeting the epic
choice of ours. It this, finding harmony between challenge of com-
was already deci- what has already been done and pleting what is the
ded. By something what is yet to come. It has been greatest work of
greater than us. amazing to see how each of us our lives. What
has grown and evolved as musi- comes next? The
JG Mystic. cians over all these years. We are future is always
bringing new perspectives and uncertain and
RB To this day, The influences, but without abando- full of surpri-
Meeples is considered one ning the musicality we built in ses. 
of the greatest conceptual the 70´s.
bands of all time. What is
the challenge of revisiting
a concept after so

Ruling Book • 11
 APPENDIX
MASTERING OBJECTIVES
The Mastering Objective Cards have end-of-game objectives that represent elements each band member considers im-
portant in the recording of the songs. All ties are friendly and gain the listed reward.

Less is More Creative Flow Dissonant

The indicated artist is not The indicated artist must be the The player must be the one with
present on 1, 2, or 3 tracks. 1st, 2nd, or 3rd artist with the most the fewest Audio Mixing Markers
Audio Cards on the Studio Board. on the Studio Board.

Solo Counterpoint Pink Noise

1, 2 or 3 tracks must have Having 2, 3 or 4+ EQ Knobs in the The player must be the one with
two adjacent Audio Cards indicated Equalization Track. the lowest total of Knobs on the
from the indicated artist. (At least 1 on each and in 4 Equalization Tracks.
any combination).
.
AUDIO CARD ACTIONS (ADVANCED MODE)
In Advanced Mode, each Audio Card has a bonus action that can be executed when one or more Harmony Conditions
are met or as a Free Action.

/ :
Card Technique Prestige
Draw the indicated card: Gain 1 VP for each EQ Knob on the Gain 3 VPs.
Audio / Objective (Audio Mixing indicated artist's track.
or Mastering) from the top of the
corresponding deck.

:
Production Verse/Bridge/Chorus Re-record
Gain 1 Production Point for each Swap two Audio Cards Swap an Audio Card on the Studio
EQ Knob of your color on the on the Studio Board. You can’t Board with a card from your hand.
Equalization Tracks. swap a card with an empty space.