A Fistful of Penguins by Jonathan Franklin
For 1 to 6 players, ages 8 and up
15 – 30 minutes
Materials:
Nine animal dice; thirty purple penguins; six gold penguin
pieces worth 5 penguins each; poker chips for money: 30 yellow ($1), 24 orange ($5), and 24 red ($20); six brown chips,
six black chips, one sheet of 24 stickers for the brown and
black chips, three player reference cards, and instructions.
$1
$5
yellow
$20
orange
red
Goal:
To gain the most money over three rounds.
Setup:
Before the first game, stick the kangaroo stickers on the brown
chips (1 kangaroo on one side, 2 kangaroos on the other), and
stick the penguin stickers on the black chips (1 penguin on one
side and 2 penguins on the other).
Each player takes six penguins (purple), and $10 (one orange
$5 and five yellow $1s). Choose a start player. Who has most
recently been to a zoo? The start player takes four dice and
begins his or her turn.
The game is played over three rounds, with each player taking
one turn in each round. In the first round, the players start with
four dice. In the second round, five, and in the third round, six.
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Game Turn:
Take the starting dice and roll them on the table to start your turn.
You may then do one of three things:
1. Stop rolling, take the value of your roll in money and tokens, and
pass the dice to the next player. See the Scoring Summary to find the
value of your roll.
2. Spend one penguin to:
a. Roll a spare die from the bank and add it to your dice, or
b. Reroll as many dice as you want to.
3. Cash in your dice that show penguins and take more penguins.
See the Scoring Summary to find how many penguins you get. Set
the used penguin dice aside. These dice are out of play for the rest
of your turn. They do not count towards any later die totals, and you
may not spend penguins to buy them back or reroll them.
You may continue doing options 2 and 3 as many times as you wish,
until you run out of dice or penguins, or you may stop at any time
and collect your money. Penguins may be saved and used on a future
turn.
When your turn is over, pass the dice to the player on your left. When
everyone has had a turn rolling dice, spending penguins if they want
to, and finally scoring his or her zoo, the second round begins. The
same player starts each round. In the second round, the players start
with five dice, and in the third round they start with six dice.
After everyone has had three turns, the player with the most money
wins. Penguins are worth $1 at the end of the game.
If there is a tie, have a showdown round. Each tied player starts with
two penguins and seven dice. You can’t use any penguins you have
saved up. Whoever makes the most money in the showdown round
wins.
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Scoring Summary
Penguins on the dice are worth purple penguin tokens, not
money. Each gold penguin is worth five purple, and you may make
change whenever you wish. You may set aside penguin dice to collect tokens during your turn. You will also collect tokens for any
penguins on the remaining dice at the end of your turn.
One penguin showing on a die is worth 1 purple penguin token.
Two penguins showing are worth 3 tokens.
Three penguins showing are worth 6 tokens.
Four = 10 tokens, five = 15, six = 21, seven = 28, eight = 36, and nine
= 45 tokens.
One squirrel earns you $1 from the player to your left. If
you roll two squirrels, you take $1 from the player to your left and
$2 from the next player after him. Each additional squirrel adds $1
to the amount you take from the next player around the table. If the
number of squirrels is greater than the number of opponents, then it
continues around the table, skipping over you. Squirrels are the only
animals that take money from the other players, rather than from the
bank.
Cliff -$2
Bob -$1
Debby -$0
Alice +$3
Example: Two squirrels. Alice gets: $1 from Bob, $2 from Cliff.
Cliff -$2
Bob -$5
Debby -$3
Alice +$10
Example: Four squirrels. Alice gets: $1 + $4 = $5 from Bob, $2 from
Cliff, $3 from Debby.
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Each moose is worth $9 if it is paired with a squirrel. Moose
are worth nothing if not paired with a squirrel. You need one squirrel
paired with each moose to be worth $9.
= $9 + $1
Example: One squirrel and two moose scores $9 from the bank and
$1 from the player to your left.
Each kangaroo is worth as many dollars as there are
kangaroos. One kangaroo showing on a die = $1, two = $4 (2 x $2),
three = $9 (3 x $3), four = $16, five = $25, six = $36, seven = $49,
eight = $64, nine = $81.
During the first round, if you have at least one kangaroo
showing on one of your dice and you score it, take a kangaroo
chip and turn it to the side showing one kangaroo. In your later turns,
you may spend the kangaroo chip to change one die to the kangaroo
side. If you score kangaroos during the second round, take a kangaroo chip and turn it over to show two. If you still have a kangaroo
chip from the first round, you just turn it over. You may not have two
kangaroo chips. You may now turn one or two dice to the kangaroo
side during the third round.
You do not receive a kangaroo chip if you do not score kangaroos.
This means you do not receive a chip if you have kangaroos showing
but you choose to score lions instead.
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Lions are worth $7 each, but if you choose to score lions, only
lions and penguins score.
= $14 +
Example: Lion + Lion + Penguin = $14 for the two lions (2 x $7),
and one purple penguin token.
= $7 / $4 +
Example: Lion + Kangaroo + Kangaroo = either $4 for the kangaroos
or $7 for the lion. Not $11. You may choose either way, but you do
not receive a kangaroo chip if you choose to take $7 for scoring the
lion.
If you score squirrels, moose, and/or kangaroos, you score zero for
the lions. If you do score lions, you do not score any squirrels, moose,
kangaroos, and/or camels.
Camels are worth $5 each if there are no lions showing, but
$0 if there are any lions on any of your dice. (Whether you score the
lions or not!)
= $24 + $1
Example: 3 camels + 1 Moose + 1 squirrel (no lions) = $25 (3 camels
x $5 each + 1 moose x $9 = $24 plus $1 from your left neighbor).
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= $14 / $9 + $1 + $2
Example: 2 camels + 1 Moose + 2 squirrels + 2 lions = $14 if you
score the lions (2 lions x $7), or $12 if you don’t score the lions (1
moose x $9 = $9 plus $1 from your left neighbor plus $2 from the
player next to him). The camels don’t score in either case, because
there is a lion showing.
Solo Rules
Follow all the steps above, but you take three turns in a row,
following all the rules of the game. Your goal is to beat your
high score or see how you compare to others.
60-79 Quite Good
80-99 Very Good
100-119 Excellent
120+ Zowie
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Advanced Game
Everything is the same as in the basic game with two exceptions:
1. When the active player rolls the starting dice, each other player
takes a die, secretly rolls it (roll it behind your hand), and prices
it, using the money they have and/or the penguin token flipped
to the 1 penguin side or the 2 side. (Choose the price of your die,
in chips and/or penguins, and place that amount next to the die.)
This is the asking price for that die.
When everyone has priced their die, they all reveal their rolled
and priced dice. The active player may now purchase dice from
the unrolled pool for a penguin as usual, or purchase one or more
pre-rolled dice from other players, by paying the player his or her
asking price. No haggling.
A die that is purchased from another player comes in with that
face showing. You may re-roll it later, if you spend a penguin.
Each time the active player re-rolls any dice, the other players may secretly re-roll and/or re-price their die. If their die is
purchased, they do not take another one and are out for the rest of
that turn.
2. Modification for advanced variant for 5 & 6 players.
With five players in the advanced game, the players start with 3,
4, and 5 dice for rounds one, two, and three, respectively.
With six players in the advanced game, the players start with 2, 3,
and 4 dice for rounds one, two, and three, respectively.
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Game Design:
Graphics:
Editing:
Jonathan Franklin
Mike Raabe
Kris Gould
Wattsalpoag Games
1595 NW Gilman Blvd, Suite 7
Issaquah, WA 98027
www.wattsalpoag.com
Wattsalpoag
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Made in China.
© 2011 Wattsalpoag Games
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