TRICKY TREK

PREPARATION
- Each player takes a lion. (this is your pawn)
- Each player takes 1 butterfly, 1 mouse, 1 rabbit and 1 pig. These are your stomach contents (energy).
During the game you hold your stomach contents secret.
- Place 1 deer in the middle of the table.
- Shuffle all remaining preys and randomly place them behind the deer, each after each other. Make this row S-shaped. (see example pictures)
- Shuffle the participating predators (lions) and add them to the row too, in random order.

GO FAST, BUT EAT ENOUGH PREY
Each game round all players secretly choose how much energy they spend now.
Therefore you take 1 or 2 stomach-contents-animals in your hand (hidden).
All players simultaneously reveal their choice.
Now all players move a number of steps in accordance to their chosen energy.
- When you spend a butterfly, that makes you move 1 step.
- When you spend a mouse, that makes you move 2 steps.
- When you spend a rabbit, that makes you move 3 steps.
- When you spend a pig, that makes you move 4 steps.
- When you spend a deer, that makes you move 5 steps.
Example: When you spend a combination of 1 mouse and 1 rabbit you move 2+3=5 steps forward.
The furthest progressed lion in the row moves first, the second lion second, then the third lion and so on.
When it is your turn to move, you first(!) add your chosen animal(s) to the row (in front of the deer).
If you have 2 animals to place in front of the row, then you place the lowest animal first.
When you move, you only count each prey spot as 1 step. Spots with a lion do not count for your number of steps.
(So passing other lions doesn't cost energy points.)
On the last spot with a prey your lion ends. There you eat the prey which you add to your remaining stomach contents.
Example: You are the first lion to move and the energy you chose to spend is 1 mouse. The mouse you place in front of the deer in the middle of the table. Now you must move 2 steps. Suppose the first prey spot has a butterfly and the second a rabbit. Your move ends in the space with the rabbit. You eat the rabbit, so you add the rabbit to your stomach contents.

EMPTY STOMACH
If you have only 1 animal in your energy 'stock', then you can only choose this animal this round.
But then you can choose if you go your step(s) forward or backward. If you go backward, then you don't loose your animal. You hold it, so at the end of your turn you will have 2 animals stomach contents.

END OF THE GAME
You win the game at the moment you reach the last prey in the current row (or when you go faster and pass the last prey).

EXAMPLE

At the start of this round the Yellow lion has the lead. Purple is second, White third and Green is in last position.
(The rabbit behind the last (Green) lion is passed by all lions in former turns. This prey survived. You can remove it from table.)
Now all players simultaneously choose their energy to determine how fast their lions go.

Yellow leads, so moves first. Yellow chose 1 pig. So Yellow first adds the pig to the front of the row of preys.
A pig is equal to an energy of 4 steps. By moving 4 steps Yellow eats the deer (see the deer in the 1st picture).
The deer goes to Yellow's stomach contents.

Then Purple moves. Purple chose a rabbit. So Purple moves 3 prey spots forward, to eat the deer there (see the deer in the 2nd picture).
Purple is happy that Yellow didn't eat this deer, because then the last prey spot for Purple would have been the mouse.

White chose a rabbit too. To move 3 steps and eat the pig (see the pig in the 3rd picture).
So White gains 1 energy point (used a rabbit: -3, eats a pig: +4).

-----------------
Green chose 2 energy animals: a rabbit and a deer. Green adds these used animals at the row end too, first the lowest (the rabbit).
So the green lion moves 3 (rabbit) + 5 (deer) = 8 steps. Only spots with a prey count as steps. Green passes all 3 other lions and takes the lead.
Green eats a pig (see the pig in the 4th picture). But Green spend 2 animals, so now has 1 animal less.
Now this round ended and the simultaneous choice for the next round starts.
Green can only win during next round if Green uses 2 deers (=10 steps). Those deers first go to the end of the row, which makes the number of preys to the end of the row 10 for Green.

the *Tricky Trek* bag

Publisher:

mail to Cwali