Don't Talk to Strangers
Don't Talk to Strangers Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Each turn, you'll play a MOVE CARD from your hand to help your Kid travel from the starting SCHOOL space to any SCORING SPACE. Walk, Run, or even take the SCHOOL BUS or CITY BUS to score a great spot... and the fewer turns it takes you the better!
Some SCORING SPACES are worth a lot of points, while others may provide points AND a permanent bonus. Once the Kid you're moving SCORES, you get to place a new Kid who will seek out another scoring space.
Draw a new MOVE CARD as you pass your turn to the next player–but WATCH OUT! The moment anyone draws a STRANGER SIGHTING or SAUCER card, they'll have to play it immediately. If a STRANGER enters your space, you'll be abducted, and when all the STRANGERS have been placed the game is over! The player with the most points from SCORED Kids at the end of the game wins!
Contents
- 100 Move Cards ("Move Deck")
- 10 STRANGER Tokens
- 1 Double-Sided Game Board
- 1 Saucer Coin
- 40 Kids Tokens in four colors to support up to 4 players
Set-Up
- Shuffle the Move Deck. You may split it into 2 piles to be easier for everyone to reach.
- Each player selects a color, and takes each Kid of that color, putting them off to the side.
- Decide whether you want to play Board A or Board B. For your first few games, we recommend Board A. Put it in the center of the players.
- Set aside the 10 STRANGER tokens, near the board. If you're using Board A, return 2 to the box, as they won't be needed.
- Each player draws a hand of 3 cards (you can look at your hand of cards at any time, but don't show anyone else!). Any STRANGER SIGHTING or SAUCER cards drawn at this time are discarded immediately with no effect and replaced with a new drawn card (the discard pile is always face-up and anyone can look at it at any time).
- The player who was most recently inside a school goes 1st, and turns continue clockwise from there.
Winning & End of Game
When the last STRANGER is placed on the board (8th for Board A, 10th for Board B), the game ends immediately (the game also ends if one player scores all of their Kids, but this is unlikely).
One at a time, each player should pull their scored Kids off of their scoring spaces, adding up and then noting their total number of points.
The player with the most points wins! In case of a tie, the victory is shared.
NOTE: It is also possible to achieve an alternative victory by establishing formal contact with the STRANGERS using the SCIENCE CLUB SAVIORS card.
Playing a Turn
You may perform one action per turn, selecting from the following two options:
- LET OUT A KID: Put a Kid from your supply onto the board in the SCHOOL SPACE. You can't take this action if you already have a Kid on the board! Once that Kid scores, it no longer counts towards this limit, and you'll be able to LET OUT a new Kid.
- PLAY A MOVE CARD: Select any card in your hand and play it face-up so everyone can see what it is. Do what the card says, then move it to the discard pile (which is always face-up and players may look at at any time). Even if none of your cards can move a Kid, you can still play it for no effect.
At the end of your turn, refill your hand of cards back to its maximum size.
What Do the Cards Do?
The cards are self-explanatory. However, it may orient you a little bit to read each of these sections summarizing how the various types of cards work:
Move Effects
MOVE: Many of the cards tell you to "MOVE" a certain number of spaces. This means that you choose 1 of your unscored Kids in play and move them orthogonally (never diagonally) that number of spaces. You must always move the EXACT number of spaces and can't "backtrack" (enter a space you've already started in or moved through this turn). The exception to this is when you SCORE a Kid at a SCORING SPACE. You do NOT need exact movement to enter a scoring space, and as soon as you do enter one, the Kid immediately scores and that movement stops.
Red lines are "Walls" and CANNOT be crossed with movement effects (except HOP THE FENCE). A thick yellow bar between spaces indicates the entry way into a scoring space.
MOVE "ANY NUMBER" OF YOUR KIDS: You can still play these if you just have the standard single Kid in play, but if you've managed to score at a Park, you may have multiple Kids in play. In that case, these cards let you move ANY NUMBER of those Kids the number of spaces indicated (making it possible to move/score multiple Kids in a single turn).
Stranger Sightings
The STRANGER SIGHTING cards and SAUCER cards that are in the deck are special and DON'T work like the rest of the cards! They'll never stick in your hand, meaning you'll never "play them" as your main turn action. Instead, they play themselves "automatically" if you draw them at the end of the turn. After they get played, you'll draw another card to replace them, which means it's possible to draw and resolve multiple STRANGER SIGHTING and/or SAUCER cards in a row!
"PLACE A STRANGER": When 1 of the aforementioned STRANGER SIGHTING cards tells you to place a STRANGER, you put a token from the supply onto the board in any of the indicated "STRANGER SPACES" that doesn't yet have a STRANGER in it. This has three important ramifications:
- EVERY Kid currently in that space is abducted and taken off the board (they may be returned to that player's supply).
- That space is now IMPASSABLE and cannot be entered or moved through.
- When all STRANGER Tokens have been placed on the board, the game ends immediately.
Saucer Cards
When 1 of these is drawn, you'll select any Kid INCLUDING KIDS THAT HAVE ALREADY SCORED! Flip the Saucer Coin: If it lands on the SAUCER icon, that Kid is abducted and removed from the board! Note that this MAY result in a player losing a LIBRARY/PARK bonus–in that case, while the player may temporarily be "over their limit" for Kids in play/cards in hand, they don't take any immediate action to become within the limit.
For example: Jill has 2 Kids moving around the board, as well as a Kid she previously scored at North Park. Adam draws a SAUCER card and successfully abducts the Kid she scored at North Park, reducing the max number of unscored Kids she can have in play from 2 back down to 1. While she is allowed to be temporarily in excess of this maximum, as soon as she is back down to just 1 Kid in play (from scoring, a STRANGER abduction, etc.), then the new max total holds.
What Do the Scoring Spaces Do?
HOMES / MANSIONS: Only a single Kid can score in each of these spaces (at which point no other Kid may move into/score them). They are worth various point totals. Please note that a card that calls out "HOME" but not "MANSION" does NOT work with a MANSION space!
POOL: Like most scoring spaces, there is room for multiple Kids (from any combination of players) to score at each Pool, but pay attention! As the Pool gets more and more crowded, the remaining options for scoring will be worth fewer and fewer points!
LIBRARY: In addition to the indicated points value, for each Kid you have scored in a Library, your max hand size is increased by 1 beyond the standard 3. For example, if you have 2 Kids scored at a Library, your max hand size would be 5. Note that since you "draw to max" at the end of every turn, you'll usually draw at least 2 cards at the end of any turn in which you score a Library space.
PARK: In addition to the indicated points value, for each Kid you have scored in a Park, your max allowance for unscored Kids in play is increased by 1 beyond the standard 1. You still must make a separate "LET OUT A KID" action for each Kid you wish to add to the board!
CLUBHOUSE / PEP RALLY / THE PROM: Like most scoring spaces, multiple Kids (from any combination of players) may score at each of these spaces. Please note that each of your Kids at these spaces is only scoring points "for you." How effectively that happens is determined by the TOTAL number of Kids at that scoring space!
Movement Spaces
The board is also populated with plenty of blank spaces, spaces with a Stranger icon, or spaces with a SCHOOL BUS STOP or CITY BUS STOP icon. These are NOT scoring spaces–they're what you travel across to get to the scoring spaces! If there is no STRANGER Token, those spaces are treated exactly like a blank space. Except for the possibility of playing a BUS card, BUS STOP spaces function as blank spaces.
Example Turn
Aiden has 2 unscored Kids on the board–which is possible because he previously scored in a Park–and he plays the card RUN. He must now choose just 1 of his 2 Kids and move it 2 spaces. Aiden chooses to move Kid A 2 spaces into the Library, scoring his Kid there! That Kid will remain there until the end of the game, where it will be removed for points (until then, Aiden draws up to a hand size that is increased by 1, which is the additional bonus provided for each Kid a player has in the Library).
Additional Rules
NO STACK LIMIT ON MOVEMENT SPACES: There are no limits to the number of Kids that can be in a movement space (the individual spot for a Kid in each scoring space, however, is clearly designated on the board and can never be shared).
DECK RUNS OUT? It is typically quite difficult for the deck to run out–with 18 STRANGER SIGHTING cards in the deck, you're bound to hit 8 or 10 sooner than you think. However, note that the more STRANGER SIGHTINGS that are discarded at the start of the game (when players are drawing their initial hands), the more turns the game will take on average!
OPTIONAL RULE: If players wish to avoid shuffling the deck when it runs out or wish to avoid particularly long games, they should always shuffle any initially discarded STRANGERS beyond the 5th back into the deck.
RUN AWAY RULE: There is actually a 3rd thing you can do each turn but it is very inefficient and should only be used as a last resort–you may "Run Away" with 1 of your Kids, taking it off the board the same way as if a STRANGER got it. This takes up your turn action and should result in you not drawing any cards at the end of the turn (like when you LET OUT a Kid). In rare circumstances, you might have a Kid "trapped" between STRANGERS and this may be your best bet!
TIP: For each Kid you score at a Park, you're allowed to have an additional Kid running around the board (unscored) at a time!
TIP: Remember that the SCHOOL space that all new Kids start at is ALSO a SCHOOL BUS STOP.
TIP: Don't worry about running out of Kids. It's very unlikely that you'll score all of your Kids before the game ends.
Variants
For players who are particularly enjoying the game and want to try something new, consider altering the experience with one or more of the following game variations, some of which are more distortive than others:
- TEAMS: It is possible to play 2 vs. 2 teams! Sit next to your teammate such that you can easily see each other's hands and indicate card strategy with some discretion, OR sit diagonally opposite from your teammate and have a "no communication of any type" rule. You still play as "individual entities" but you combine scores at the end!
- WELL-READ: Players may increase the default hand limit from 3 to 4. REMEMBER: This may result in more STRANGER SIGHTINGS being discarded at the start of the game!
- BRAINIAC: For players seeking a more complex (and slower) experience. As an additional "free action" in this variation, players may discard 1 card each turn (meaning they'll draw an additional new card when refilling to max at the end of the turn).
- TOTAL INVASION: Every time you draw either a STRANGER SIGHTING OR a SAUCER card, resolve the effects of BOTH types of card (in either order). Essentially, all of your STRANGER SIGHTINGS and SAUCERS become "STRANGER SIGHTING AND SAUCER" cards, meaning a lot more use of the Saucer Coin and making it a lot harder to keep scored Kids around. Total Chaos!
- 1 vs. 1 COMPETITIVE GAUNTLET: Play a "best of 3" match. Randomly determine who goes 1st, with the winner going 1st in the subsequent game. Play the first game on Board A, the 2nd game on Board B, and if there is need for the tie-breaker, whoever had the highest score from the first 2 games may pick the board.
- SOLO CHALLENGE: How many points can you rack up on your own before the STRANGERS take over? Try to beat your high score! In this mode, consider the SCIENCE CLUB SAVIORS card to not "win you the game" but to score you 10 points instead! (You may discard SODA SHOP DATE and draw a new card if you draw it.)
- SOLO "ARCHITECT" CHALLENGE: More like a puzzle. You get to set your opening hand, and the order of the deck, but you must include a STRANGER SIGHTING card every other card in the deck, starting with the 2nd card in the deck (then 4th, 6th, and so on)! We recommend laying out your card order face-up, so you can re-arrange and experiment more easily. How many points can you rack up when you're architecting the entire order of the deck? (Saucers need not be included, and SCIENCE CLUB SAVIORS should not be used either).
General FAQ
Can I willingly move a Kid into a STRANGER to have that Kid taken off the board? No. If you're so stuck and you want a "reset" on a Kid, you can always invoke the "RUN AWAY RULE" as your turn action.
Can I place a STRANGER into a space that already has one? Nope. You have to pick a new spot.
Is there a limit to how many Kids can occupy a space? Any number of Kids (from any combination of players) can occupy any movement space (NON-scoring space) on the board. However, remember that each scoring space has a specific finite number of Kid(s) that can score there before it's at max capacity.
Do I have to move the full amount of spaces on my Move card? When you enter a scoring space, movement always stops (and you don't have to land "exactly" to score). However, otherwise you must move the full amount and can't "backtrack" to spaces you've already been this turn.
Can I move a scored Kid? Except when otherwise stated (NEW STEP DAD, SAUCER), once a Kid is scored, it no longer can be moved.
Can I enter the foresty-looking spaces on BOARD B? The ones with STRANGER icons? Yes. Even though the "road" doesn't enter these spaces, your Kids may move through them (assuming no STRANGERS are placed there, of course).
Individual Card Clarifications
- RAD BIKE! (Kid on bike: Move 3 spaces. A Kid may move through STRANGERS with this card!) – You still cannot land (finish your movement) on a STRANGER space.
- PROM DATE (You may move ANY Kid to THE PROM or PEP RALLY. One is on either side of the board.) – You can move 1 of your Kids or someone else's (but still cannot move SCORED Kids since it does not state that you can).
- SCIENCE CLUB SAVIORS (For each Kid you have in the Library, flip the Saucer Coin. If you hit at least 2 Saucers, you win immediately!) – Note that if you only have a single Kid in the Library, this card is guaranteed to fail (you can still play it, however).
- POOL PARTY (If you have at least 2 Kids at the same Pool, you may move ANY 1 or 2 other Kids into that Pool, if there is room.) – When you choose your 1 to 2 total Kids, you may choose your own Kids or other players' Kids, in any combination (but you never move more than 2 Kids total).
- SODA SHOP DATE (Another player reveals their hand. This card has the effect of a card in their hand.) – The card still remains in their hand, even after you gain the effect from it.
- MOM'S CAR (Move 1 of your Kids into any HOME. It must be previously unoccupied.) – Note that this card cannot move a Kid into a "Mansion" (spaces that score more points than regular HOME spaces).
- CITY BUS: Move between any 2 CITY BUS STOPS.
Full Card List (100 Total)
- 18x STRANGER SIGHTING
- 5x SAUCER
- 10x WALK
- 10x RUN
- 10x SKATEBOARD
- 10x SCHOOL BUS
- 10x CITY BUS
- 10x WALKIE TALKIES
- 3x HOP THE FENCE
- 3x RAD BIKE!
- 3x PROM DATE
- 1x SCIENCE CLUB SAVIORS
- 1x POOL PARTY
- 1x NEW STEP-DAD
- 1x MAN IN BLACK
- 1x SODA SHOP DATE
- 1x SYNCHRONIZED WATCHES
- 1x MOM'S CAR
- 1x HITCHHIKING