Chicken War Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Includes
• Object
• Setup
• Chicken Traits
• Matching
• How to Play
• Special Tiles
• Incomplete Army
• End of Game
• Tips

Includes

• 81 Chicken Tiles
• 12 Eggs
• 8 Infiltrate Tiles
• 4 Steal Tiles
• 4 Leader Tokens
• 4 Screens

Object

You can win Chicken War™ in one of two ways:

1. Be the first player to have 9 Chickens with two and only two traits in common with your Chicken Leader.
2. Be the last Chicken standing.

Setup

1. Remove the 12 Special Tiles (Steal and Infiltrate) from the deck. Shuffle the remaining deck of Chicken Tiles and deal 10 Chickens to each player. Stack the rest of the Chickens face-down in the center of the play area. Flip one Chicken Tile face-up next to the Draw Pile to start the Discard Pile.
2. Give each player the following game pieces:
   • 10 Chicken Tiles
   • 2 Infiltrate Tiles
   • 1 Steal Tile
   • 1 Screen
   • 1 Leader Token
   • 3 Eggs

Chicken Traits

In Chicken War™, every Chicken has four different traits, and there are three different options for each trait.

• Weapon: Frying Pan, Whisk, Spatula
• Eyewear: Sunglasses, Mask, None
• Shirt Color: Red, Green, Blue
• Footwear: Boots, Sneakers, None

NOTE: Only the traits listed above count as traits for matching. Body type (Rooster/Hen/Chick), pose, and tail shape and color don't matter.

Matching

If two Chickens match, this means that they have two and only two traits in common with one another.

For instance, in the example shown in the manual, two Tiles have three traits in common: Weapon, Eyewear, and Shirt Color. They have too many traits in common, so they are not a match.

Another example shows two Tiles that have only two traits in common: Weapon and Footwear. They only have two traits in common, so they are a match!

How to Play

To begin, each player secretly chooses one Chicken in their Yard as their Leader. Place the Leader Token underneath this Chicken Tile to secretly indicate the identity of your Leader. The Chicken Tiles are numbered 1–81 to help you remember your Leader's identity. You can arrange the Chickens in your Yard however you would like behind your Screen. To signal to the other players that you are done organizing your Yard and are ready to begin, remove your Screen from the table.

NOTE: Once you have selected your Leader, you may not change their identity UNLESS someone Steals or Infiltrates them (see pages 7–8).

The player who most recently ate an egg goes first.

On your turn, you must do one of the following actions:

1. Add a Chicken to your Yard by either:

   • Drawing the top Chicken Tile from the Draw Pile. You may choose to trade it into your Yard and Discard one of your existing Chickens, or you may choose to immediately Discard the Chicken that you just drew. You can never have more than 10 Chickens in your Yard.
   • Drawing the top Chicken Tile from the Discard Pile. You may trade it into your Yard and Discard one of your existing Chickens.

2. Lob an Egg. If you think you know the identity of another player's Leader, you may use your turn to place one of your Eggs onto the Chicken that you think is their Leader. If you are correct, that player is eliminated from the game. If you are incorrect, you must choose two Chickens from your Yard to Discard, leaving you with a total of 8 Chickens. (You may not choose to Discard your own Leader.) Either way, you lose your Egg.

   NOTE: It takes 10 Chickens to operate the Egg launcher, so you cannot lob an Egg if you have fewer than 10 Chickens in your Yard.

Special Tiles

Once you have taken one of the actions above you may also choose to play one of your Special Tiles.

Steal: Steal one Chicken from any player's Yard, leaving them with one less Chicken. Put the stolen Chicken into your Yard and Discard one of your unwanted Chickens.

Infiltrate: Trade one of your Chickens with a Chicken of your choosing from another player's Yard. They then must tell everyone playing the following about the Chicken you gave them: one (and only one) trait that this Chicken has in common with their Leader. If the new Chicken has more than one trait in common with their Leader, they are only obligated to tell you one, even if it is a trait they have already revealed that their Leader has. If the new Chicken has no traits in common with their Leader, they must say so.

NOTE: If someone Steals or Infiltrates your Leader, you must immediately select a new Leader from your remaining Chickens and resume play. This is the only time when you may put your Screen back up to rearrange your Chickens. If they Infiltrate your Leader, choose a new Leader and then play out the action of the Infiltrate Tile, revealing one trait the Chicken they originally gave you has in common with your newly selected Leader.

Each Special Tile may only be used once, so when you play one, put it back in the box to show that it has been used. You may only play one Special Tile per turn.

Incomplete Army

When you have fewer than 10 Chickens in your Yard, you have an Incomplete Army. There are several things you cannot do with an Incomplete Army:

• You cannot win the game, even if all the Chickens in your Yard match your Leader.
• You cannot lob an Egg.

All other gameplay remains the same:

• You may still choose whether to keep or Discard the Chickens that you draw, depending on whether you want them in your Army.
• You may still use your Special Tiles at the end of your turn.
• When using a Steal Tile, you do not have to Discard a Chicken.
• However, when using an Infiltrate Tile, you must switch the other player's Chicken for one of yours, in the same way you would if you had a full Army of 10 Chickens.

Once you have drawn back up to a full Army of 10 Chickens, normal gameplay resumes.

End of Game

The game can end in two ways:

1. Elimination. If every other player's Leader has been correctly guessed using an Egg, the remaining player wins.
2. A Complete Army. As soon as all your Chickens match your Leader, immediately announce this to the other players. Then you must announce your Leader's identity and show how each Chicken in your Yard matches.
   • If not all the Chickens in your Yard match your Leader, you must choose a new Leader and play continues.
   • If all the Chickens correctly match the announced Leader–YOU WIN!

Tips

• Be strategic when choosing your Leader at the beginning of the game. Choosing a Leader who already has several matches in the Yard can make it easier to complete your Army.
• The Infiltrate Tile is a powerful tool. You can learn just as much about another player's Leader when there are no matching traits as when there are!
• Remember all the information that you are told carefully—if you forget, it is up to other players whether they choose to remind you!
• Remember, every Chicken in your Yard must match your Leader, but they do not have to match each other! Some Chickens in your Yard might have three traits in common with each other, and some might have none. As long as every Chicken has two and only two traits in common with your Leader—YOU WIN!