Fry Thief
Fry Thief Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
General
Objective
Fry Thief is a game about eating the most fries. During the game, you will be playing cards from your hand that will allow you to eat them!
You win the game by eating 8 fries, or if none of the players have eaten 8 fries, by scoring the most points.
Setup
One player will be the Fries player, and the other will be the Salad player. First, determine who is who. You can agree that the person who most recently ate fries will be the Fries player.
The Fries player takes the Fry plate and places the 12 Fry Tokens on it.
The Salad player takes the empty Salad plate.
The deck of cards is shuffled and placed in between the players.
(The source shows a picture of the completed setup here.)
The Salad player takes the first turn.
Gameplay
Start of the Turn
On your turn, first draw a card from the face-down deck. If there are no cards available in the deck, shuffle the discard pile to create a new deck.
You may then play one card from your hand.
Playing Cards
To play a card from your hand, state its title out loud and play it in front of you.
Follow all of the text on the card, and then place the card on the discard pile.
Important: you may only play cards that match your role. The Fry player must play the yellow side, and the Salad player must play the green side. Anyone can play red cards.
Some cards have special icons on them.
Cards with a (icon) symbol can be played at specific times. Refer to the text on the card to see when and how they can be played.
Cards with a (icon) symbol remain in play after your turn. Refer to the text on the card to see when they have to be placed on the discard pile.
(The icons are pictograms in the source and are not transcribed here; the card text states the timing.)
Eating Fries
When you play a card that allows you to eat a fry, remove one fry from your plate and place it off to the side. These will be used for later scoring.
End of the Turn
If you chose not to play a card during your turn, you may draw one additional card at the end of your turn.
You must discard down to 4 cards at the end of your turn. If you have 0 or 1 cards left at the end of your turn, fill up your hand to 2 cards.
End of the Game
The game can end in 2 ways:
If you manage to eat 8 fries, you win immediately.
If the last fry is eaten, and none of the players have 8 fries, count up your victory points to see who is the winner. Regular fries are worth 1 point, and ketchup covered fries are worth 2 points.
Optional Rules
Variable Player Powers
Once you are familiar with the game, you can use the advanced side of your plate card, which shows a character with a special power.
Some of these powers give you a special ability, while others give you bonus points.
If your character has a power that gives you bonus points, the game can't be won by eating 8 fries. You must keep playing until all of the fries have been eaten.
Master Thief Mode
In this mode, you are allowed to physically steal fries one at a time off an opponent's plate and onto yours. However, if they catch you stealing, you have to put the fry back.
3-4 Player Rules
If you own 2 copies of the game, you can play Fry Thief with up to 4 players.
In a 3-player game, there are 2 fry players and 1 salad player. In a 4-player game, there are 2 fry players and 2 salad players.
Each fry player takes 12 fry tokens.
When a card says "your opponent", you may choose which opponent to target.
When you use a card to steal, you may only steal from a single opponent.
In a game with 3 or 4 players, the game can't be won by eating 8 fries. You must keep playing until all of the fries have been eaten.
FAQ
Q: If a card says I can steal & eat fries and only one of those is possible what do I do?
A: Do what you can. Sometimes cards say "Steal 2. Eat 1" or something similar. If you can't perform some of the actions on the card you can still play the card and perform the other actions. So you could for example play a "Steal 2. Eat 1" card and eat a fry on your plate if your opponent has no fries.
Q: Can I Swat a Swat?
A: Yes Yes. And it's a ton of fun.
Q: How do you win the game?
A: There are 2 ways! You win immediately if you manage to eat 8 fries. If none of the players manage to eat 8 fries, players count their points to see who wins. Normal fries are worth 1 point, and ketchup covered fries are worth 2 points.
Q: Can I eat fries off of my opponent's plate?
A: No. You can only eat fries off of your own plate.
Q: How do I get new cards?
A: If you didn't play any cards during your turn, you may draw one additional card. If you have 0 or 1 cards at the end of your turn, you may fill your hand to 2 cards.
Q: What's the hand limit?
A: 4. At the end of your turn, you must discard down to 4 cards.
Q: How do you win the game?
A: There are 2 ways! You win immediately if you manage to eat 8 fries. If none of the players manage to eat 8 fries, players count their points to see who wins. Normal fries are worth 1 point, and ketchup covered fries are worth 2 points.
(Transcriber notes: the source prints the "How do you win the game?" question twice; both copies are kept. Light punctuation and typo fixes were made in the FAQ answers: the source reads "Do what you can Sometimes", "if you opponent has no fries" and "A: 4 At the end of your turn".)