Dogs Alone Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• Object of the Game
• Playing the Game
  • 1. Recruit Dogs
  • 2. Go on a Spree
    • A. Obtain Spree cards
      • Recover Dogs to your hand
    • B. Tidy up Sprees
    • C. Do not go on a Spree
  • 3. End of the Turn
• End of the Game
• Scoring

Components

• 64 Dog cards (16 dogs in 4 background colors)
• 28 Spree cards (7 sprees in 4 colors)
• 1 Rulebook
• 5 Help cards
• 4 Mario Hugo cards
• 1 Score pad

Game Setup

1. Separate the cards by type (Sprees, Dogs, Mario Hugo and Help).
2. Prepare the Spree deck. Shuffle the Spree cards and divide them into 2 similar parts. In one of these parts, shuffle the 4 Mario Hugo cards. Then put both parts together, leaving the part with the Mario Hugo cards at the bottom. Place the Spree deck face down in the center of the table.
3. Reveal the first 4 cards of the Spree deck to form the Spree supply.
4. Shuffle the Dog cards to form the Dog deck. Leave the Dog deck face down in the center of the table. Leave a space next to the Dog deck for the discard pile.
5. Reveal the first 5 cards of the Dog deck to form the Dog supply.
6. Deal 3 cards from the Dog deck to each player, who may look at them in secret. These cards are their starting hand.
7. Give one Help card to each player.

Object of the Game

We are Mario Hugo's dogs. While he works, we party in the house.

To win you must score more points than the others by making Sprees. But beware! Sprees will give points at the end of the game only if they have been tidied up before Mario Hugo returns.

You can obtain points in 2 ways at the end of the game:

• For each tidied Spree.
• For achieving the first or second majority of tidied Sprees of each color.

Remember that Sprees must be tidied in order to give points! The ways of scoring are explained in detail at the end of this rulebook.

Playing the Game

The game is played in turns, which proceed clockwise. The player with the most pets starts the game.

Your turn consists of 2 steps, which you must perform in order:

1. Recruit Dogs.
2. Go on a Spree.

1. Recruit Dogs

In this step you recruit Dogs to obtain new cards for your hand. Dogs can be obtained from the Dog deck or from the Dog supply.

You may draw 2 cards from the Dog deck (face down) or 1 card of your choice from the Dog supply (face up).

You may also discard cards from your hand to obtain more cards. You draw from the deck 2 cards plus the number discarded, or choose from the supply 1 card plus the number discarded.

In summary, when recruiting Dogs you can:

• Draw 1 card from the supply or 2 from the Dog deck.
• Discard 1 Dog card to draw 2 from the supply or 3 from the Dog deck.
• Discard 2 Dog cards to draw 3 cards from the supply or 4 from the Dog deck.
• And so on...

Keep in mind that the supply is not replenished until the end of your turn.

Example: Juan Carlos needs to obtain 2 yellow Dog cards, so he discards 1 of the Dog cards from his hand, which then allows him to draw the cards he needs from the supply.

2. Go on a Spree

In this step you may choose only one of the following three options:

• A. Obtain Spree cards.
• B. Tidy up Sprees.
• C. Do not go on a Spree.

A. Obtain Spree cards

To obtain Spree cards you must discard from your hand the combination of Dog cards that meets the requirements of one of the Spree cards available in the supply. Then you take the Spree card and place it in front of you (horizontally, so that you can read its name). Whenever you obtain new Spree cards you must place them this way.

Important: Remember that only Spree cards that have been tidied will give points at the end of the game.

Structure of the Spree cards:

• Spree name
• Score (if the spree was tidied)
• Number and color of the Dog cards required (requirements to obtain Spree cards)

Sprees with 3 or 4 symbols: to obtain them you must discard as many Dogs of the Spree's color as the card indicates.

Sprees with 2 symbols: to obtain them you must discard 2 Dog cards of the Spree's color, and they must also be exactly the same Dog (with the same name).

Example: Tulio discards 2 Palmeritas to obtain the Spree card "Enjuagaron a Maletin".

Example: Juan Carlos discards 3 red Dog cards to obtain the spree "La alfombra usaron de baño".

You can obtain more than one Spree card per turn, but keep in mind that the Spree supply is replenished at the end of your turn, not before.

Recover Dogs to your hand

If when going on a Spree you use 2 identical Dog cards (with the same name), you may return one of those cards to your hand.

If when going on a Spree you use 2 pairs of Dog cards, then you may return 2 Dogs to your hand, one from each pair.

B. Tidy up Sprees

To do so, you must discard from your hand one Dog of the color of the spree you wish to tidy. You may tidy as many Spree cards as you wish, but you must discard one Dog of the corresponding color for each Spree you want to tidy. Turn the Spree cards you tidied 90 degrees so that you can read the score.

Example: Corchetis has 2 blue Sprees and decides to tidy them on his turn. To do so he discards 2 blue Dogs and turns both cards 90 degrees, then ends his turn.

You may tidy Sprees of different colors, for which you must discard the corresponding Dogs.

If the game ends and you have untidied Spree cards, they must be discarded and give no points.

C. Do not go on a Spree

It is possible that on your turn you decide not to go on a Spree, either because you do not have the necessary cards or because you do not want to use them at this time.

3. End of the Turn

After you have performed both steps (Recruit Dogs and, optionally, Go on a Spree), your turn ends.

You must reveal cards to replenish both supplies: the Dog supply and the Spree supply.

If when replenishing the Spree supply one or more Mario Hugo cards appear, it means our master is getting close to the house and soon it will be the end of Doggy Style.

Mario Hugo cards are set aside and are immediately replaced with the first card of the Spree deck.

In addition, when you reveal one or more Mario Hugo cards, you automatically tidy the last Spree you obtained.

You tidy only one spree even if more than one Mario Hugo appears on your turn.

When the third Mario Hugo card appears, after you have straightened the last Spree you obtained, the game ends immediately. If the game continues, pass the turn to the person on your left.

Example: Tulio obtains a Spree card. When replenishing the Spree supply, the third Mario Hugo card appears. Before proceeding to count points, Tulio tidies the last Spree card he obtained this turn.

End of the Game

When the third Mario Hugo card appears, after you have straightened the last Spree you obtained, the game ends immediately.

Before counting points, each player must discard the Spree cards that have not been tidied.

Scoring

Use the Score Pad to make counting the points easier. Points are obtained for:

Tidied Spree cards: Each Spree card that has been tidied gives as many points as the number printed on it. Add up all the points of the cards and write it down.

Majority of Sprees of a color: The number of tidied Spree cards of each color is compared. You must have at least one card of the color to obtain any majority.

In each color, the player with the first majority obtains 5 points. The player with the second majority obtains 2 points.

In case of ties for the first majority of Sprees, 7 points are shared among the tied players, rounding down, and there are no points for the second majority. In case of ties for the second majority of Sprees, 2 points are shared among the tied players, rounding down.

Then the different scores are added up. The player with the most points wins.

In case of a tie, the victory is shared.