Donkey Valley Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Aim of the game
• Gameplay
• Game end
• Donkey overview
• Favor overview

Components

• Donkey cards: 20
• Load cards: 70
• Overview cards: 7
• Contract cards: 7
• First player card: 1

Setup

• Every player picks one color and takes the corresponding contract card and load cards to their hand. They also receive an overview card.
• Shuffle all donkey cards and blindly draw eight random cards to make a face down deck. These are the donkeys you'll use in the game, the other twelve go back in the box.
• Pick a starting player, this person receives the first player card.

Aim of the game

Every round there is a different donkey that needs to be loaded with luggage. Each donkey can have a specific effect that influences how much they can carry. Players play face down load cards and make a call if they believe the donkey is overloaded or not. If they made the right call, they earn points and after eight rounds the player with the most points wins.

Gameplay

At the start of each round, a new donkey card is opened from the donkey deck. One of the players checks the donkey and loudly announces the maximum capacity of this donkey and any special effects. Ensure all players are aware of the capacity and effects. If there are no effects influencing capacity, donkeys have a standard capacity of five times the number of players.

Next, the players take the following steps:

1. Every player plays a face down load card.
2. Starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, players announce if they want to use the favor of an employee. If any of the players wants to do this, they have to play the load card with the favor face up from their hand. This card does not count towards the capacity of the donkey. Throughout the game, you're only allowed to use up to two favors. You can find an overview of the favors at the end of the rulebook and on the overview card.
3. Starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, each player needs to make the call if the donkey is overloaded. A donkey is overloaded when the total on the load cards exceeds the capacity of the donkey. If a player believes the donkey is overloaded, they deny the contract by putting the card with the red cross face up. If a player believes the total of the loads is equal to or lower than the capacity, they approve the contract by putting the card with the green check mark face up.
4. Now all players simultaneously turn their own load card face up. The values on the load cards are now added together to check if the donkey is overloaded. One of two situations is now true:
   • A. The donkey is not overloaded; the total is equal to or lower than the capacity of the donkey. All players that approved the contract receive their own load card and put it on their score pile. All other load cards are discarded to a common discard pile.
   • B. The donkey is overloaded; the total exceeds the capacity of the donkey. All load cards are shuffled to form a deck. All players that denied the contract receive a random load card from this deck and put it on their score pile. All other load cards are discarded to a common discard pile.
5. The first player card moves clockwise to the next player.

Players are free to discuss their cards during the game, including what they play. However, bluffing is allowed and even encouraged.

Game end

After finishing the round with the final donkey, the game ends. Every player adds together the values on the load cards they won during the rounds; these are their points. The player with the highest total wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most load cards wins. If there is still a tie, the players share the victory.

Donkey overview

Every donkey can be recognized by the symbols at the top of the card. Each distinct donkey and their effect is explained below.

• Normal donkey: no effect, the capacity is five times the player total.
• Giant donkey: the capacity of this donkey is six times the player total.
• Extra small donkey: the capacity of this donkey is four times the player total.
• Precision donkey: there is no maximum capacity this round, but if the difference between the highest and the lowest load card is more than five the donkey is overloaded.
• Hastily donkey: favors of employees cannot be used in this round.
• Holes donkey: there is a hole in the saddlebags, each player gets to check one of the played load cards before deciding to approve or deny their contract.
• Attacked donkey: after turning all load cards face up, the highest load card (or cards if the values are the same) is removed. The player(s) that played this card can therefore not score.
• Lost donkey: all played load cards are placed under this donkey and set aside. Only after finishing all other donkeys will the play return to the Lost donkey and it is dealt with from step two.
• Double donkey: this donkey counts as two, meaning the capacity is ten times the player total and every player plays two load cards. When a Double donkey appears, the eighth donkey in the donkey deck has to be removed from the game. If the Double donkey is the last donkey of the game, its effects are ignored and it acts as a Normal donkey.
• Stubborn donkey: if more than half of the players denied their contract, the fourth step (checking the loads) is skipped, and all played load cards are removed from the game.

Favor overview

Throughout the game, each player can use two favors by 'sacrificing' a load card from their hand to call in the favor of an employee. These favors are linked to specific load cards:

• 2: You can make your decision on denying or approving your contract after all other players made their decision.
• 4: You can change your load card (maximum of one) after all players made their decision on their contracts.
• 6: You can increase or decrease the maximum capacity of the current donkey by two, after all players made their decision on their contracts. In combination with the Precision donkey, the player increases or decreases the maximum difference between load cards, but this cannot exceed nine or be less than one.
• 8: If you correctly approved your contract, you can exchange your load card with that of another player. If you correctly denied your contract, you can pick the load card you want to receive before other players receive their random load card.
• 10: You can check half of the played load cards (rounded down) before you decide on approving or denying your contract.

Note: if two or more players play a favor in the same round, they take effect in clockwise order.