Bark Avenue
Bark Avenue Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
In Bark Avenue, you are a competitive dog walker in New York City walking dogs to make the most money by the end of the day. As you walk around the city picking up and returning dogs, you will need to manage your route so that you can maximize your profit on the job. You earn tips when your dogs poop, get their pictures taken, and do their favorite activities – and having multiple dogs with the same favorite activity helps you earn them faster!
When you have great walks and master certain skills, you'll earn reviews and unlock new abilities. You'll also work toward your own personal goals to help you build up your resume.
Make sure all your dogs make it home by sundown, as on the last round, the player who has earned the most money wins the day!
Components
- 5 Walker Boards (1 per player)
- 5 Dog Walker Meeples (1 per player)
- 25 Review Star Tokens (5 per player)
- 81 Dog Cards
- 17 Event Cards
- 17 Personal Goal Cards
- 10 Coffee Tokens
- 15 Treat Tokens
- 15 Walk Tracker Tokens (3 per player)
- 1 Sun Tracker
- 1 City Die
- 1 Park Die
- 15 Happy Tokens (3 per player)
- 15 Photo Tokens (3 per player)
- 15 Poop Tokens (3 per player)
- 24 $2 Tip Tokens
- 14 $6 Tip Tokens
- 1 City Board
Key Components
Dog Cards
Dog Cards tell you everything you need to know about a dog's walk, including important attributes about the dog, the length of the walk, and how much you'll be paid at the end. They're also PAWsitively adorable!
- Speed (boot icon): The maximum number of spaces you can move while walking this dog.
- Name: Name of the dog. Fun fact: all dogs in Bark Avenue are real dogs!
- Favorite Activity (fire hydrant / water splash / tennis ball): A dog's favorite activity is Sniff, Splash, or Fetch. Having multiple dogs with the same favorite activity makes it easier to have great walks!
- Minimum Walk Length (paw prints): The number of spaces your paw token must slide before the dog can be dropped off.
- Size (dog icons): Each dog is either Small, Medium, or Large.
- Compatibility: Some dogs have compatibility requirements that prevent them from walking with other Small or Large dogs.
- Group/Solo Dogs: Most dogs can be walked in groups, but some dogs must be walked solo (without other dogs on your Walker Board).
- Payment ($ / review star): The amount of money you get paid to walk the dog. Foster Dogs instead reward an additional Review Star (see Reviews).
- Neighborhood: The neighborhood the dog must be picked up and dropped off in.
- West Side / East Side (arrow): The position of a dog's neighborhood sign and arrow signals the side of the board their neighborhood is in.
City Board
- Dog Deck: Dogs that become available to walk.
- Available Dogs: These dogs are available to walk and can be picked up from their matching neighborhood.
- Dog Discard Pile: Dog cards discarded during Competition rounds.
- Daylight Track: Each round the sun moves down this track, introducing new challenges. The game ends after the sun sets on the bottom space.
- Reviews: Whenever you complete a dog walk, you may earn a Review for mastering new skills, tracked here.
- Neighborhood: Each neighborhood consists of 4 spaces of the same color surrounding a street sign. Dogs who live in the matching neighborhood can be picked up and dropped off at any of these spaces. Beneath each street sign are the neighborhood actions that can be taken from these spaces.
- Neighborhood Separator: Neighborhoods are separated by gray lines.
- Current Event: Every second round, an Event Card is drawn into this space, and is either instantaneous or has a continuous effect until replaced.
- Train Spaces: Without dogs, you can move directly between any two Train Spaces.
- Park Spaces: You roll an improved die when you start your turn in a Park space. Groups of Park spaces also contain neighborhood actions.
- Shop Actions: Costs and bonus for performing shop actions.
Walker Boards
Your Walker Board is where you track the dogs you are walking and your rating from dog owners.
Tip Bonuses: Track bonus tips for when your dogs poop (see Roll), have their picture taken, or do their favorite activity (see Neighborhood Actions) for the first time.
Available Dog Slots: When the game begins, you can walk up to 2 compatible dogs simultaneously. When you achieve your third Review Star, you learn to walk 3 dogs at once!
Tracking Walk Lengths: Each dog has a specified minimum walk length. Track progress towards this here at the end of each turn (see Track).
Rating Unlocks: Throughout the game you will overcome challenges and gain Reviews for great walks, which will increase your skill and reputation as a dog walker. Starting from the bottom, you'll unlock new abilities as you uncover these spaces!
- Dog Park: You may now use the Dog Park action (see Dog Park).
- Free Coffee or Treat: You may choose to receive one free Coffee or Treat Token, a gift from the owners!
- Third Dog Leash: You may now walk three dogs simultaneously.
- Extra Action: You may perform an extra action each turn during the Actions phase.
- $10 Bonus: You score an additional $10 at the end of the game.
Setup
Board Setup
- Unfold the City Board on the table in reach of all players.
- Place the Sun Tracker in the top space of the Daylight Track.
- Make piles of the Tip, Coffee, and Treat Tokens next to the City Board.
- Shuffle the Dog Cards into a deck and place it facedown in the top left space of the City Board.
When playing with 1 or 2 players, choose to play on the East Side or West Side of the board, then find and make a deck out of only the matching East or West Side Dog Cards, determined by the position of and arrow on the street sign (see East Side / West Side).
- Shuffle the Event Cards into a deck and place it facedown near the bottom right of the City Board.
- Shuffle the Personal Goal Cards into a deck and place it facedown anywhere on the table.
After all players have selected their starting dog, reveal dogs from the Dog Deck and place them into the spaces to the right of the deck until you have 4 dogs at 1-2 players, 5 dogs at 3 players, or 6 dogs at 4-5 players.
Player Setup
- Take a Walker Board, Dog Walker Meeple, and 5 Review Star Tokens of a single color. Also take 3 Poop Tokens, 3 Happy Dog Tokens, 3 Photo Tokens, and 3 Walk Tracker Tokens. If playing with fewer than 5 players, return any of these remaining tokens to the box.
- Cover the 5 stars on the right side of your Walker Board with your 5 Review Star Tokens.
- Draw 2 Dog Cards and 2 Personal Goal Cards and choose one of each type to keep, returning the others to the bottom of their decks. Place the dog you kept on the first available dog slot of the Walker Board and one of your Walk Tracker Tokens Paw-side up on the first space of the first Walk Track.
When playing with 1 or 2 players and Personal Goals showing the multi-player icon are drawn, discard them and draw new cards.
- Place your Dog Walker Meeple on any of the 4 empty spaces on the City Board in your chosen dog's neighborhood (see Neighborhood).
The first player is the player who most recently walked a dog.
Each Round
Sun Moves
At the start of each round (except the first round of the game), the Sun Tracker moves down one space on the Daylight Track on the right side of the City Board. Each space may trigger an Event or Competition (described below) or may trigger Special Rounds (see Special Rounds).
Event
The streets of New York are nothing if not eventful! Draw an Event Card and place it on the Event space on the City Board. The rules on this card now affect all players.
- Instant Event: Happens immediately and affects all players once. After being resolved once, this card no longer has any effect.
- Continuous Event: Has a continuous effect on the Roll, Move, or Actions phase of a player's turn until the card is replaced by the next Event Card (in 2 rounds).
When playing with 1 or 2 players, some cards that reference both sides of the board or encourage significant player interaction are ignored. If the card has the multi-player icon, draw the next Event Card and resolve the new card instead.
Competition
Discard the two rightmost available Dog Cards from the top of the City Board. Replace those cards by sliding the remaining cards to the right and drawing and placing two new cards from the Dog Deck into the first two open spaces on the left.
Special Rounds
Some of the later rounds have special rules (see Special Rounds, below).
Player Turns
Starting with the first player, each player takes their turn: Roll, Move, Action(s), Track.
On Your Turn
Roll
When walking dogs, you roll a die to see what they are up to this turn. Depending on whether you are starting your turn in a City or Park space, you will roll the City Die or Park Die. These dice are also the only way to get dogs to poop (which earns you tips when you drop them off) – this is the only game where a crappy roll is a good thing!
- Run: You must move one extra space during your Move this turn.
- Pee: No effect.
- Poop: Choose a dog that hasn't pooped yet and place a Poop Token on the poop bag space below it.
- Golden Nugget: Place Poop Tokens below all your dogs that haven't pooped yet!
- Pigeon / Squirrel: Your first movement must be in the direction the arrow is facing on the die.
TIP: Dogs are more likely to poop in the park!
Pigeons and Squirrels: When you roll a pigeon or squirrel, your first movement of your Move phase must be in the direction the arrow on the die is facing. If this faces a wall or edge of the board, use the second-most cardinal direction. If you roll a pigeon or squirrel and do not wish to move in that direction, you can discard a Treat (see Treats) to cancel the effect.
Example: Akha rolls the City Die. It lands on the pigeon with the arrow pointing mostly to the left (if the group isn't sure, put it to a vote). She has a speed of 4 and must make her first move to the left. She can now continue moving 3 more spaces and, like normal movement, her second move can't backtrack into the space she started this turn.
Move
Move exactly the number of spaces on the City Board equal to the speed of your slowest dog. When moving, you may never move back to the space you were just in one space prior. However, you can return to the same space by looping around the block. You may pass through other walkers, but must end your movement on an empty space.
Moving Without Dogs: When you start your turn without any dogs, you skip the die roll and may move freely up to 4 spaces. In addition to moving to adjacent spaces, you can also take the train by moving from a train space to any other train space.
Actions
After you finish moving, you may perform one action. This can either be Pick Up Dog, Neighborhood Action, or Drop Off Dog.
TIP: There are two ways to perform more than one action on your turn: Coffee (see below), and unlocking the 4th Review Star!
Pick Up Dog
Choose one of the available dogs on the City Board that lives in your current neighborhood and is compatible with all other dogs you are currently walking. Place the dog in a free spot on your Walker Board.
TIP: The third dog slot becomes available when you unlock your 3rd Review Star!
Compatibility:
- Group Dog: Can be walked with other dogs.
- No Small Dogs: Cannot be walked with Small dogs.
- No Large Dogs: Cannot be walked with Large dogs.
- Solo Dog: Cannot be walked with any other dogs.
Some dogs have compatibility requirements where they cannot be walked with certain types of dogs. If the dog is a Group dog and has the Small or Large dog restriction, they cannot walk with dogs of those sizes. If the dog is a Solo dog, they cannot walk with any other dogs.
TIP: Treats can be used to ignore a dog's restrictive attributes (compatibility and speed requirements – see Treats)!
Finding a Neighborhood: Each dog lives in a specific neighborhood on the board, denoted by a street sign at the bottom left or right of their card. If the street sign is on the left with an arrow pointing to the left, the neighborhood is on the West Side of the board. If it is on the right with an arrow pointing to the right, it is on the East Side of the board. The name and color correspond to a single neighborhood on the board.
After picking up a dog, slide any available dogs on the City Board to the right to fill the spot emptied by this dog, and refill the left-most space with the top card from the Dog Deck, flipped face up.
Example: Sophie is walking Darrow, whom she picked up last turn. She spots Aku, who is also in the Lincoln Square neighborhood where she ended her last turn. She circles the block and returns there this turn. As her action, she wants to Pick Up Aku. However, Aku doesn't get along with small dogs, so normally Sophie wouldn't be able to walk these two dogs at the same time. Thankfully she has a treat (see Treats), so as she picks up Aku, Sophie gives the treat to Aku (who now ignores his compatibility restrictions).
TIP: In addition to ignoring the compatibility requirement, Aku's speed restriction is also ignored. This means Sophie's speed is still 5!
Neighborhood Action
Each neighborhood has a number of icons representing actions that can be performed from any of the spaces in that neighborhood. After you finish moving, you may take any one of the available actions at this neighborhood as your Walker Action this round.
- Favorite Activity (Sniff, Splash, Fetch): Choose one matching activity at your location and place a Happy Token on the space under each dog that doesn't yet have one.
- Dog Park (requires 1 Star): Move all your dogs' Walk Tracker Tokens one space on their Walk Tracks (copy the Track phase).
- Coffee Shop – Buy a Coffee: Buy one Coffee Token from the supply for $2 (by discarding one Tip Token).
- Pet Shop – Buy Treats: Buy any number of Treat Tokens from the supply for $2 each (by discarding an equal number of Tip Tokens).
- Take a Photo: Choose a dog without a Photo Token and place one on its space under that dog.
Neighborhood Actions example: Killian can be picked up from the 72 & West End neighborhood. The Sniff and Coffee Shop actions are available from these spaces.
Treats
When taking the Pet Shop action, you can buy any number of treats for an equal number of tips ($2 each). Treats can be applied to dogs to ignore all restrictive attributes, and can be applied immediately on pickup or at any time during the walk. To give a dog a treat, place a Treat Token on that Dog Card.
Giving a dog a treat means that their dog compatibility (No Small Dogs, No Large Dogs, Solo Dog) and their speed (if it is less than your other dogs (or less than 4, your default speed without dogs)) are ignored. Their other attributes, such as their own size, still apply and, if you are walking other dogs with restrictions, those must be met or ignored by treats as well. Furthermore, treats can only be given to dogs with restrictive attributes (which can earn you the Treat Training star, see Reviews)!
TIP: You can use this to walk Solo dogs with Group dogs!
Coffee
When taking the Coffee Shop action, you can buy one coffee for one tip ($2). Once per round, coffee allows you to take one additional action during the Actions phase of your turn.
Each Coffee Token can be used twice – flip the coffee over the first time you use it, and discard it after the second use.
- Full: 2 actions remaining (1 per turn).
- Half: 1 action remaining (discard after use).
Treats example: Killian has a treat applied, which means his compatibility (Solo) is ignored and he can be walked with other dogs. This also means his speed requirement is ignored and your speed this round is 5.
Drop Off Dog
On any turn after a dog has walked their minimum walk length (their Walk Tracker Token has flipped to the Home Side – see Track) and you end your movement in their neighborhood, as an action, you can drop the dog off. Only then can you get paid, gain Reviews, and free up the spot on your Walker Board. To drop a dog off, perform the following steps, in order:
- Remove the dog from your Walker Board and place them off to the side, discarding any treats applied to the dog. You've now earned the payment shown on the Dog Card, which is scored at the end of the game.
If you're not late:
- Earn one tip for each token placed on Poop, Picture, and Favorite Activity (for a total maximum of 3 tips, $6).
- If this dog was picked up during Surge Pricing (see Special Rounds), take the Tip Token placed on the Dog Card.
- If eligible, gain one Review you have not yet earned (this dog must contribute toward that Review). You do this by removing the bottommost Review Star Token from your Walker Board and placing it on that Review on the City Board (see Reviews).
- Remove any remaining tokens from that slot on your Walker Board and set them aside for future use.
Late Penalty: Owners become unhappy when their dogs return very late. If you are returning a dog late (the Walk Tracker Token has moved up to the Dog Card – see Running Late, under Track), you gain the Dog Card (earning the payment on the card), but must discard/ignore any tips and cannot gain a Review by returning it. However, this dog can contribute toward future Reviews that require multiple dogs (Expert, Well Rounded, Local).
TIP: Try to optimize your walks so you achieve a Review on almost every drop-off. This might get hard around your third dog, but don't forget that you have an Any Walk Review that can be achieved on any drop-off.
TIP: Your ultimate goal (besides winning) should be to never return a dog late!
Example: Ross drops off Nico with 1 round to spare, earning $16 at the end of the game. Additionally, Ross earned all 3 tip bonuses for Poop, Picture, and Favorite Activity, earning an additional $6 in tips. Nico was also picked up during a Surge Pricing round, so Ross collects the additional $2 tip on the Dog Card. His total earned income was $24 ($16 + $6 + $2 = $24).
Ross also checks to see if he can earn a Review for this walk. Since he hadn't achieved the Perfect Walk Review, Ross places his 2nd star on Perfect Walk, unlocking a bonus free treat or coffee! He chooses the treat, and takes a Treat Token.
Ross clears Nico's slot on his Walker Board by removing all tokens so he can pick up another dog.
Track
After completing your Action(s), slide all Walk Tracker Tokens to track your progress on each dog walked this turn. For each new dog picked up this turn, place a token Paw-side up on the first space.
TIP: Once you get a hang of the game, this phase can be done during the next player's turn.
Paw Side Tokens: If a dog's Walk Tracker Token is on the Paw side, slide the token to the right to indicate its progress towards its Minimum Walk Length.
If you have now reached the dog's Minimum Walk Length, immediately flip the token over to the Home side. This means that the dog is ready to Drop Off on any future round.
Home Side Tokens: If a dog's Walk Tracker Token started this turn on the Home side, slide the token to the left, counting down on the Walk Track.
Running Late: If you were already on the 1st space of the track and have nowhere to slide, remove the token from the Walk Track and place it on the Dog Card. This dog is late. You do not continue to slide this token on future turns, but still must Drop Off the dog to complete the walk and free up the space (see Late Penalty).
New Dogs: If you picked up a dog this turn, there would be no paw token on that dog's walk track. Instead of sliding a token, place a Walk Tracker Token Paw-side up on the 1st space.
The Countdown: Once a dog's Walk Tracker Token has flipped to the Home side, each turn it will instead slide to the left. You have 3 to 5 rounds (based on its minimum walk length) to drop off the dog before it is late. You may have a reason to keep this dog longer than 1 round (tip bonuses or a goal you are chasing), but in most cases you should be thinking about dropping off the dog soon and walking another one.
Reviews
When you have really great walks, you master new skills and owners give you good reviews – increasing your skill and reputation as a dog walker! Whenever you drop off a dog, if eligible, you may earn one Review you have not achieved before, so long as the dog you are dropping off contributes toward that review.
Do this by taking the bottommost Review Star Token from your Walker Board and placing it on top of the Review on the City Board that you just earned. You may only achieve each Review once, though players may achieve reviews that have already been achieved by other players.
Review Requirements
- Any Walk: Free Review. Achieve after any walk.
- Perfect Walk: All 3 bonus objectives completed.
- Well Rounded: Dropped off at least 1 dog of every size, including this one.
- Expert: Dropped off at least 3 dogs of the same size, including this one.
- Solo Walk (x2): The dog is a Solo Dog and was walked alone (no treats applied).
- Treat Training: Applied a treat to ignore a restrictive attribute.
- Local: Walked at least 2 (2 players) or 3 (3+ players) dogs from the same neighborhood.
- 3 Dogs: This dog is dropped off while you are currently walking three dogs.
When you drop off a Foster Dog for the first time, you earn the Foster Dog Review in addition to any other eligible Review Star you earned on this walk.
Sometimes, you may not be able to achieve a second Review, in which case you only achieve the Foster Dog Review. Foster Dogs are all about timing and can accelerate your reputation in the right situations!
TIP: Foster Dogs are the only way you can achieve two Reviews with one drop off!
Special Rounds
The Daylight Track marks several special round types as the sun moves down it: Event, Competition, Surge Pricing, Wind Down (Discard Available Dogs), Wind Down (Discard Current Event), and Sunset (final scoring).
Surge Pricing
During the four Surge Pricing turns, place Tip Tokens so that all available Dog Cards at the top of the City Board have tips on them. When you pick up a dog, also bring the tip on the card to your Walker Board. Place a new Tip Token on the Dog Card drawn to replace the dog you just picked up so that all available dogs have tips on them. When you drop off a dog with a tip on it, you earn that tip in addition to other earned tips.
Wind Down (Discard Available Dogs)
Discard all available Dog Cards from the top of the City Board. No new dogs may be picked up for the rest of the game.
Wind Down (Discard Current Event)
Discard the current Event Card from the City Board so that no event is in play. No event card will be in effect for the rest of the game.
Advertisements
If you have returned all of your dogs before the end of the final 3 turns, you may now use the Coffee Shop Advertisement neighborhood action to pin up your great reviews in coffee shops around the city. As an action, you may take one of your earned Review stars from the City Board and place it on an empty coffee shop at your location, covering the Coffee Shop action. Each coffee shop may only have one Review star. Advertisements are worth $4 each at the end of the game.
Final Scoring
After the final round, total your dollars earned for dogs, tips, reviews, personal goals, and advertisements. The walker who earns the most money wins the game!
- Dogs: Earn dollars from each dog you have dropped off.
- Tips: Earn $2 for each Tip Token.
- Personal Goals: Earn dollars according to the hidden goals on Personal Goal Cards.
- 5th Star: Earn a $10 bonus if you have achieved your 5th star.
- Advertisements: Earn $4 per Review Star placed on Coffee Shops on the City Board.
Tie Breaker: If there is a tie, the player with the most reviews earned wins. If there is still a tie, the players share the victory.
Personal Goal Cards
These hidden goals build up your resume and score extra money at the end of the game.
- Curb Your Dog: $4 per solo dog walked.
- West Side Glory / East Side Mile: $4 per west/east side dog walked.
- Small But Mighty / Strong Grip: $4 per small/large dog walked.
- Slow & Steady: $5 per slow dog walked.
- Marketing Wiz: $8 extra per Advertisement.
- Crosstown: $8 per pair of west and east side walked.
- Dog's Best Friend: $10 per set of activities walked (even distribution).
- On Your Toes: $10 per set of speeds walked.
- One Size Fits All: $10 per set of dog sizes walked.
- No Handouts: $15 for choosing not to earn the Any Walk review.
- Just in Time: $15 for dropping a dog off on the final turn.
- Versatile: $15 for completing the Solo Walk and 3 Dog reviews.
- Pack Leader: $15 for completing Expert, Well Rounded, and 3 Dogs.
- Private Walks: $20 for completing both Solo reviews.
- Tip Jar: Your tips are worth $3 each.
Event Cards
Instant Event: The effect of the card applies to all walkers. Then discard the event.
Continuous Event: The effect applies to the entire round and affects all walkers. Leave the card out until it is replaced by the next Event Card (in 2 rounds). If the first Event Card (2nd round) instructs to discard and draw another, draw a new Event Card and put that one into effect instead.
- Great Review (instant): Gain one Review of your choice, unlocking your next Review Star.
- Competition (instant): Replace all available dogs with new dogs.
- Pet Carrier (continuous): You may move from one Train space to any other even if you are walking dogs.
- Rainy Day (continuous): Move one fewer space than you would normally during these rounds.
- Dog-Tired (continuous): Slide all Walk Tracker Tokens when you end your movement in a Park space, like you would at the end of your turn during the Track phase.
- Modified Service (continuous, 3+ players only — ignored at 1-2 players): You may only move between train spaces on the same side of Central Park while taking the train.
- Doorman Building (continuous): Do not slide any Tracker Tokens for dogs you walked this round.
- Curb Your Dog (continuous): If you start your turn on a City space, do not roll the dice.
- Time Flies! (instant): Slide each of your dogs' Tracker Tokens immediately (perform the Track phase).
- Job Opportunity (instant): Draw 2 additional Personal Goal Cards. Choose one to keep, and discard the other. You now have 2 personal goals.
- Lawn Closed (continuous): The Park Die is downgraded to the City Die. Roll the City Die in all cases at the start of your turn.
- Service Alleys (continuous): You may move diagonally from one City space to another, but not diagonally through to or from Central Park.
- Marathon (continuous): You must use 2 of your movement points to enter or leave Central Park. (This means if you had 3 movement and your first was to enter the park, you'd have one left.)
- Rats! (continuous): Treat pigeons and squirrels as rats! Chase rats 2 spaces in the indicated direction, if possible. In some cases, this may be in two directions (i.e. NW could be left to the edge and then up).
- Hidden Paths (continuous): You may move diagonally to or from Park spaces, whether between two Park spaces, from a City space to a Park space, or a Park space to a City space.
- Flooded (continuous): You may not use the Dog Park action. If this is the first event card, discard this card and draw another.
- Dead Battery (continuous): You must discard a Tip Token ($2) to use the Take a Photo action. If this is the first event, discard this card and draw another.
Solo Mode
By guest designer Jacqueline Atkins and Jonathan Jungck
You just moved by yourself to the Big Apple and don't know another soul in the city yet, but that is not going to stop you from making the most of this experience! In order to fill your free time and get to know your new neighborhood, you decide to start a dog walking business. Dogs, fresh air, and a chance to explore while earning some cash, what more could you want?
However, you quickly learn you are not the only dog walker in town. In Bark Avenue solo mode, you will compete against two Rival Dog Walkers who already live in your neighborhood. Will they bring a halt to your budding business or will you become the highest rated dog walker in the neighborhood?
Solo Components
- 12 Rival Dog Walker Cards: 4 Easy, 4 Normal, 4 Expert. Each Rival Dog Walker Card lists dollar values it earns per Poop, Speed/Favorite-Activity match, and Tips (Fire Hydrant, Water, Tennis Ball) icon shown on the card.
Setup
Board Setup: Follow the standard setup instructions for a 1-2 player game (choosing one side of the board).
Player Setup: Follow the standard player setup.
Rival Dog Walker Setup:
- Choose two colors to represent the rival dog walkers, and take out the Dog Walker Meeple and 2 Review Star Tokens for each walker. Draw one random Rival Dog Walker Card for each rival from the cards that match the difficulty of your choice.
- Place a different colored Review Star above each Rival Dog Walker Card, representing the two player colors of the rival dog walkers. Place the second star for each walker above the two rightmost available dog slots (the 3rd and 4th slot), such that each rival is paired with an available dog.
- Place the Dog Walker Meeple for each rival in the center of the neighborhood matching the available dog beneath the rival's star, covering the actions in that neighborhood.
You can still pick up and drop off dogs in this neighborhood, including the dog beneath the rival walker's star.
Overview
Bark Avenue's solo mode is played nearly the same as a multiplayer game, with the following changes:
2 Rival Dog Walkers: Two Rival Dog Walkers are assigned locations based on the two rightmost available dogs. They are placed in the middle of those neighborhoods and block you from taking the local neighborhood actions.
Competition Rules: During Competition rounds, the Rival Dog Walkers collect the two rightmost available dogs, instead of discarding them. These are scored for the Rival Walkers at the end of the game.
Gameplay
You play your turn and then move the Sun Tracker consecutively until the game ends.
In addition to your own walks, you must be aware of the dogs that will be picked up by the rival dog walkers on Competition rounds, as certain dogs will score higher on their Rival Dog Walker Cards than others.
Picking Up Dogs: You may choose to pick up a dog beneath a rival dog walker's star, which could prevent the rival dog walker from scoring big. If you pick up one of the two rightmost dogs, the Dog Cards shift as normal and the affected rival dog walkers are moved to the neighborhoods that match the new dogs under their stars.
After you have completed your turn, the sun moves.
- On Event rounds, you draw event cards as normal. Rival dog walkers are not affected by event cards and do not gain bonuses or take penalties.
- On Competition rounds, the rival dog walkers collect the dogs in the rightmost two spaces, assigning each dog to the Rival Dog Walker Card whose color matches the star above the available dog.
- On Surge Pricing rounds, the rival dog walkers do not collect tip tokens.
- On the Wind Down round, the rival dog walkers collect their final dog and are removed from the board.
At the end of the game, each rival dog walker should have 7 dogs.
Scoring
Solo Dog Walker Scoring: You score your game as normal.
Rival Dog Walker Scoring: The rival dog walkers score according to their score cards for the dogs they collected during the game.
Example: The rival dog walkers score points per dog collected. For Nova they score the following: 8 x 1 = 8 points; 5 x 3 = 15 points; 6 x 0 = 0 points; 4 x 1 = 4 points; 2 x 0 = 0 points. In total they receive 27 points for walking Nova home.
Winning the Game: The solo dog walker wins if they beat each of their rivals! Turns out it was worth it to keep trying to make fetch happen.