Deer in the Headlights Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Set Up
• Playing the Game
• Dice Rolls and Corresponding 'Card Plays'
• Scoring

Objective

To be the first player to discard all of his or her cards in each round.

When does the game end? When the first player reaches 150 points.

Who is the winner? The player with the lowest score when the game ends.

Set Up

1. Shuffle the cards and deal all of the cards to the players face down.
2. Place the dice in the center of the group with easy access to all players.
3. Fill out the score pad with each player's name.

Playing the Game

After dealing the cards, the dealer starts by rolling all three dice and discarding the appropriate cards from his or her hand as indicated on the chart in the section "Dice Rolls and Corresponding 'Card Plays'" below. Note that some cards are to be discarded into a center pile while others may be passed to opposing players (and as indicated by the far right column on the chart).

Please note these special "rolls" when playing the game:

• Deer in the Headlights (the deer's head icon)
• Running Deer (the running deer icon)
• Car (the car icon)

The "winner" of each round is the first player to have no cards left in his or her hand.

Dice Rolls and Corresponding 'Card Plays'

The chart below is printed on the back of the instructions. Icons are shown in words; the example icons in the Dice Roll column are noted in brackets.

Dice Roll	Discard - By Rolling Player	Where Discard
(3) Numbers [example icons: 2, 6, Q]	All cards that correspond to the numbers rolled. Example: If 2-6-Q are rolled, "rolling" player may discard all of such cards from their hand. If "rolling" player cannot play any cards, then other "non-rolling" players may transfer to "rolling" player all such cards from their hand(s).	Center Pile
(2) Numbers + (1) Deer in Headlights	All cards from only one of the two numbers rolled.	Center Pile
(2) Numbers + (1) Car	All cards that correspond to the numbers rolled.	Pass to any other player(s)
(2) Numbers + (1) Running Deer	All cards from the numbers "rolled" PLUS all of any other card from hand.	Center Pile
(1) Number + (1) Deer in Headlights + (1) Car [example icons: 8, Deer in Headlights, Car]	All cards matching the "number" rolled PLUS any cards which add up to the number rolled. Example: If the number appearing on this roll is 8, then "rolling" player may transfer all 8's from his or her hand and any cards adding up to 8 (6+2, 7+1). "Rolling" player may transfer these cards to any one or multiple players.	Pass to any other player(s)

Scoring

The winner of the round does not score any points. All other players add up their scores for the round and enter on the score pad. Jacks, Queens and Kings count as 10 points for scoring. Aces always count as 1 point.

At the end of each round, players add up the numbers on the remaining cards in their hand and enter that number in the upper box of the scorecard. Then, a cumulative score is kept in the lower box (similar to keeping score in bowling).

Once all players have entered their score, the cards are re-shuffled and the player to the left becomes the new dealer.

The game ends when the first player reaches 150 pts. The winner is the player with the lowest score when the game ends.