Animale Tattica Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Setup (for 2 players)
• How to play (2 players)
  • How the lead player may start a round
  • Aligned play
  • Playing Spirit cards
  • Retreating, ending the round
  • End of the game, determining winner
  • Best of three
• 3-4 players
  • 4 player tournament
• The spirit cards

Contents

• 64 animal cards (16 each of 4 types): 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, King. Each animal has a different card distribution. A card shows how many cards of this one there are, and a mark shows the King mark.
• 4 Formation cards (face down and face up)
• 12 spirit cards (3 each of 4 types; face down and face up)
• 4 Marching cards (GO! and BACK...), face up and face down
• 4 Summary cards (face down and face up)

Setup (for 2 players)

This setup explains the 2 player setup. Please refer later for the 3-4 player setup.

• Each player picks one animal, and takes those 16 cards and its formation card. If you can't decide, pick a random formation card. Unused animal and formation cards are returned to the box.
• Place the formation cards face up for all to see.
• Determine first start player in any fashion.
• Each player shuffles their animal deck, and draws the top 10 to his hand. The remaining 6 are kept as his deck, and the player may not look at these cards.
• Shuffle the 12 spirit cards and deal 3 to each player. Each player chooses one to keep in his hand, and gives back the other 2. Then re-shuffle all the unchosen spirit cards to form a spirit deck.

How to play (2 players)

One game consists of several rounds. Each round, in turns, starting with the lead player, the players play cards from their hands, repeating this until one player retreats his turn.

How the lead player may start a round

At the start of each round, there are no cards on the playfield. So the start player can do one of the following. All subsequent plays must be aligned, see below. (All cards are played face up.)

Single play. The player plays 1 card, either an animal or a spirit. The "King" is the most powerful of all single cards. The opponent will be forced to retreat.

Army play. The player plays 2 or more of several cards of the same number. The "King" may be played together with any number. A spirit card may also be played here, provided it bears the same number.

Exception for armies. You may not play two Cat Kings, nor two Bear '12' together.

Aligned play

When there are already played cards in the field, you must play a set that is ALIGNED to the previous player's card play. There are 2 types of aligned plays:

• [A] As many cards as in the previous card play, but with a higher number (single, or army).
• [B] Play cards that total the same number as the previous play, but with a higher card count (this is called "surrounding"). Please note that all cards you play must still be of the same number!

Example of [A]. A single King is always regarded as highest.

Example of [B]: Surrounding.

• ALLOWED: Two '6's total 12, surrounded by three '4's total 12.
• ALLOWED: One '8' totals 8, surrounded by four '2's total 8.
• NOT ALLOWED: One '8' totals 8. This equals 8, but it's not an army play.
• NOT ALLOWED: Four '3's equals 12. This equals 12 and is an army play, but with fewer cards!

Playing Spirit cards

Some spirit cards count as 2 cards, some let you regard it as any of several numbers, and some give a special effect when played. They are all treated as the same. Please refer to the spirit cards section below for their effects.

Retreating, ending the round

If you cannot play an aligned play, or you don't want to, you announce that you retreat. You cannot retreat when there are no cards in the play field.

A player who has retreated must take 2 cards from his animal deck.

• If he has none, he takes 1 Spirit card from spirit deck.
• If they also have run out, he does not take any card.

All cards in the play field are discarded, the round ends, the player who did not retreat is the new lead player, and the new round begins.

End of the game, determining winner

When one player has no cards left in hand, either animal or spirit cards, that player immediately wins the game. It's not necessary to empty your deck, just your hand.

Best of three

You can play just one game, but it's best to play "best of three".

• The player who won takes all his animal cards and formation card, and places it beside him as a trophy. These cards are not used for the next game.
• The player who lost the game chooses animal first, for the next game.
• The game is then setup in the exact same way again, and the player who lost will be the first lead player.
• The player who first wins 2 games is the final victor.

3-4 players

Changes from the 2 player game.

• Players will take turns in clockwise order.
• Each round goes on until all but one player has retreated. A player who has retreated will not participate in the remainder of the round.
• To show whether you have retreated or not, use the "marching" cards. While you are still in the game, let it show "GO!". Once you have retreated, flip it to show "BACK...".
• The last player to remain is the lead player for the next round.
• The first player to run out of hand cards wins the game.

4 player tournament

When playing on 4 players, you can also play a tournament, by playing two 2-player matches simultaneously.

• These are done in the same way as 2-player games. When dealing Spirit cards, the unselected spirit cards are kept as two face down decks, one for each team. When drawing a spirit card, you must draw from your own team's.
• When one game is done, the winners play a match to determine winner, and the two losers will fight for third place.

The spirit cards

Twins 2+2. These count as two '2's. You cannot use them as just one '2'. You may play it together with an animal 2, or the king. You may play just one of the twins. Very useful for surrounding.

Shape-changing 3, 4, 6. These count as either one 3, one 4 or one 6. You may play it together with an animal 3, 4 or 6, or the king. You may also play it single, but when you do, you must announce what number it is. Very versatile.

Revival 8. Counts as one '8'. You may play it together with an animal 8 or the king, or play it as one "Revival". When playing this card, you may re-take any of your own discarded animal cards up to your hand. If you do, you must also discard one of your animal cards in hand. You may not revive a spirit card, nor discard a spirit card in place of the card you revived. Very useful to re-use a powerful animal card.

Spirit king 12. This counts as one '12'. You can play it with an animal '12' or the king, or single. The exception to the army rule is that you can't play two bear '12's. However, you may still play one bear '12' and one spirit king. It has no special effect, but is very effective in army play.