Donner Dinner Party Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Set Up
• How to Play
  • Camp Dinner
  • Group Vote
  • Supply Cards
  • Ending the Round
• Ending the Game
  • Pioneers Win
  • Cannibals Win
  • If Playing with Optional Rules
• Optional Rules
  • Ol' Tasty
  • Ghosts
• Tips
  • Pioneers Have Three Sets of Information They Can Use to Determine Who Is a Cannibal

Contents

• 1 Frying Pan
• 1 Campfire Board
• 1 Camp Leader Tile
• 10 Character Tokens
• 40 Hunting Cards
• 10 Role Cards
• 12 Supply Cards

Set Up

1. Create a deck of Role Cards using the number of Cannibal Role Cards listed below, and then adding Pioneer Role Cards until you have as many cards as there are players. Set aside any remaining Role Cards — they will not be used.

   • 4-player game: Use 1 Cannibal Role Card
   • 5- to 7-player game: Use 2 Cannibal Role Cards
   • 8- to 10-player game: Use 3 Cannibal Role Cards

2. For each Role Card used, take the corresponding Character Token and place it on the Campfire Board with the character side up. Set aside any remaining Character Tokens — they will not be used.

3. Shuffle the deck of Role Cards and deal one card face down to each player. Each player privately looks at their Role Card, then places it face down in front of them. DO NOT LET ANYONE ELSE SEE YOUR CARD. Role Cards are revealed only when a player is voted to be eaten.

   Note: While you are a living player, other than claiming to be a Pioneer or Cannibal, you may not describe or refer to your Role Card or the corresponding Character Token in any way.

4. Place the Frying Pan on the 1 on the Campfire Board. The Frying Pan is used to track the rounds of the game. In a game with 4 to 6 players, you'll be rescued after the 6th round. In a game with 7 to 10 players, you'll be rescued after the 7th round, as it takes additional time to get your large party out of the mountains.

5. The last person who went on a trip and survived will be the Camp Leader for the first round. This person takes the Camp Leader Tile. (If there is any debate, select the first Camp Leader by whatever means you deem fair.) Each round, the Camp Leader gets to inspect one player's Hunting Card, and has the power to break ties during a Group Vote. The Camp Leader Tile will rotate throughout the game.

6. The Camp Leader takes the Hunting Deck and shuffles it.

7. Unless you are playing a 4-player game (which has only one Cannibal), Cannibals must identify each other before the game begins. All players, including the Camp Leader, close their eyes, put their heads down, and drum on the table.

   The Camp Leader announces: "Cannibals, raise your heads, open your eyes, and silently acknowledge one another."

   After about 5 seconds, the Camp Leader announces: "Cannibals, put your heads down and close your eyes. Now, everyone, open your eyes."

8. Set aside the Ol' Tasty Supply Card, unless playing by the optional rules. Shuffle the Supply Cards and deal one card face down to each player. Set aside the remaining Supply Cards — they will not be used. Each player privately looks at their Supply Card, then places it face down in front of them. DO NOT LET ANYONE ELSE SEE YOUR CARD. Supply Cards are revealed only when they are played.

How to Play

Each round represents one week trapped in the mountain pass. Each week, players must hunt for food and contribute to the Camp Dinner. If there is not enough food in the Camp Dinner to feed every living player, you must conduct a Group Vote to determine one player to eat. That player is eliminated from the game and their Role Card is revealed.

1. The Camp Leader draws one card from the Hunting Deck and places it face down in front of them. This card will be their contribution to the Camp Dinner, but they may not look at it.

2. The Camp Leader deals three cards from the Hunting Deck to each other living player. (All players who have not been eaten are living.)

3. Players look at their Hunting Cards, choose one to contribute to the Camp Dinner, and place it face down in front of them. Remaining cards are discarded face down next to the Hunting Discard area of the Campfire Board.

4. Each player puts their finger on top of the face down Hunting Card they are contributing and waits for the Camp Leader's inspection.

5. The Camp Leader may now inspect another player's Hunting Card by looking at it before it is contributed to the Camp Dinner. The Camp Leader may not show the inspected Hunting Card to anyone else, but may discuss it.

Camp Dinner

The Camp Leader collects all of the contributions (including their own and the card they inspected), shuffles them, and turns them all face up to reveal the Camp Dinner:

• Fish: Feeds one player
• Squirrels: Feeds two players
• Poison: Renders all Fish and Squirrels inedible
• Medicine: Counteracts any and all Poison
• Empty Hands: Does nothing

1. If any Poison was contributed to the Camp Dinner, it renders all food inedible. Conduct a Group Vote unless Medicine was also contributed.

2. If any Medicine was contributed to the Camp Dinner, it counteracts any and all Poison.

3. If the total amount of food (Fish and Squirrels) contributed to the Camp Dinner equals or exceeds the number of living players, everyone survives the week. No Group Vote is conducted and the round ends (see Ending the Round).

4. If there is not enough food to feed all living players, you must conduct a Group Vote to determine which player will be eaten to sustain the rest of the party.

Group Vote

Leave the Camp Dinner face up for everyone to see.

1. Players have up to two minutes to make accusations and arguments about which player should be eaten.

2. The Camp Leader then calls for a vote. Everyone counts to three and then simultaneously points at the player they are voting to eat. Players cannot vote for themselves. Ties are broken by the Camp Leader.

3. The player voted to be eaten is eliminated from the game. They must reveal their Role Card. If they have not played their Supply Card, they place it face up next to the Campfire Board.

4. The eaten player removes the Character Token that matches their Role Card from the Campfire Board. The number of Pioneers and Cannibals remaining is represented by the Character Tokens remaining on the Campfire Board.

Supply Cards

The red text on each Supply Card states when you may play it.

1. To play your Supply Card, announce that you are playing it and read it out loud.

2. Then place it face up next to the Supply Discard area of the Campfire Board. All Supply Cards that have been played or that belonged to eaten players are visible throughout the game.

   Note: You never have to play a Supply Card if you don't want to, except for Ol' Tasty (see Optional Rules). All Supply Cards may be used only once per player.

Ending the Round

1. At the end of the round, advance the Frying Pan one space on the Campfire Board and pass the Camp Leader Tile to the first living player to the left.

2. The new Camp Leader collects all the Hunting Cards back into one deck, shuffles it, and begins a new round.

Ending the Game

The game ends when one of these conditions is met.

Pioneers Win

At the end of a round, if all the Cannibals have been eaten, the game is over and the Pioneers win.

If at the end of the 6th round in a 4- to 6-player game, or the end of the 7th round in a 7- to 10-player game, there are more Pioneers than Cannibals, then the party is rescued and the Pioneers win.

Cannibals Win

At the end of a round, if the number of living Cannibals equals or exceeds the number of living Pioneers, the game is over and the Cannibals win. (This is represented by the number of Character Tokens on the Campfire Board.)

If Playing with Optional Rules

If the player with the Ol' Tasty Supply Card is eaten, the game is over and the Cannibals win.

Optional Rules

Ol' Tasty

If there are 6 or more players, you may include the Ol' Tasty Supply Card. If someone is dealt this card at the beginning of the game, regardless of whether they are a Pioneer or a Cannibal, they are now Ol' Tasty too. This player is now so delicious that if they are eaten, the party converts to cannibalism, and the Cannibals win. Given that there are always more Supply Cards than players, the Ol' Tasty Supply Card may or may not be dealt out during a game.

Ghosts

In any game, you may add Ghosts. With Ghosts, players who are eaten become ghosts and continue playing as a Pioneer or Cannibal but with limited capacity.

When a player is voted to be eaten and removes their Character Token from the Campfire Board, they flip the Token over to the Ghost side and place it in front of them to show they are now a Ghost. Ghosts can no longer say words, though they can make sounds. They do not participate in the hunt, and cannot be directly addressed or asked questions by other players during the round.

During a Group Vote, when all players are pointing at each other, a Ghost may move their Ghost Token in front of any voting player and shout, "Boo!" That player is scared off into the woods, eliminating their vote for that round. If the Camp Leader is scared off, and the resulting vote is a tie, the next living player to the Camp Leader's left becomes Camp Leader and can break the tie. Then remove that Ghost Token from the game — it can only be used once.

A Ghost Token can affect only living, voting players, not other Ghosts.

Tips

Cards may be shown only when the rules state they can be revealed. However, unless you are a Ghost, players are free to talk any time during the game and may tell the truth or not. For example: You may claim that you contributed a certain Hunting Card to the Camp Dinner, that as Camp Leader you inspected a certain Hunting Card, or that you have a specific Supply Card (such as Ol' Tasty).

Pioneers will want to contribute Fish or Squirrels Hunting Cards to make sure the party is fed and survives another week without a Group Vote.

Cannibals will want to contribute Empty Hands or Poison Hunting Cards to keep the party from being fed and force a Group Vote.

Both Pioneers and Cannibals may want to contribute Medicine, either to counteract Poison or to avoid contributing food. However, the cards each player is dealt from the Hunting Deck might limit their options, regardless of their role.

Pioneers Have Three Sets of Information They Can Use to Determine Who Is a Cannibal

Camp Leader's Inspection: The Camp Leader looks at one player's contribution each round, and may choose to share that information.

Hunting Card Claims: Players may choose to claim which Hunting Card they contributed to the Camp Dinner — truthfully or not.

How one player consistently votes for or ignores other specific players may hint at their alliances.