HAM-FARM
HAM-FARM Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 58 Seed Tokens
- 5 Company Cards (1 x player)
- 8 Ability Cards
- 4 Discount Tiles
- 40 Starting Cards (8 x player)
- 142 Market Cards
- 1 Event die
- 2 End Game Cards
- 9 Trick Cards
- 5 Hamsters (1 x player)
Setup
A. Shuffle the Market Cards. Take 18 of them and create the Market with 3 rows of 6 cards. Add a discount tile in each corner.
B. Divide the remaining cards into 4 piles of roughly the same size. Put 2 of these piles back into the box.
C. Shuffle 2 End Game Cards into 1 of the remaining 2 piles. Then place the last pile (WITHOUT End Game Cards in it) on top, forming the Market Deck.
D. Each player takes a Company Card, a Hamster, and 8 Starting Cards of the same color.
E. The player with the cutest hamster face (or the biggest bank account) is the first player. Starting from the last player and going counter-clockwise, players place their Hamster in the Market, on a card of their choice.
F. Shuffle your deck of Starting Cards and draw 3.
G. Shuffle the deck of Trick Cards.
Gameplay
The game is played in turns, starting with the first player and going clockwise until the end of the game is triggered.
When it's your turn, you must complete 2 actions: Play a Card OR Plan.
You may choose the same action twice.
Play a Card
Choose a card from your hand and play it. Activate its effects in order from left to right, then put the card into your discard pile, next to your deck.
Card Effects
Seed: Take a Seed.
Draw: Draw a card from your deck. If your deck is empty, shuffle your discard pile to create a new deck before drawing.
Buy: Buy a card from the Market. You can buy the card beneath your Hamster at cost, or a card orthogonally adjacent to your Hamster for 1 extra seed. If the card you buy is orthogonally adjacent to a Discount Tile, it costs you 1 seed less. Put the card you buy directly into your hand.
Roll: Roll the die and take that number of Seeds.
Stockpile: Choose a card from your hand and place it in front of you. It will be scored at the end of the game, but it's not part of your deck anymore.
Move: Move your Hamster to an orthogonally adjacent card.
Trick: On some cards and certain sides of the die, there is a Trick icon. When this icon is played or rolled, a trick-loving hamster appears to stir up chaos. Draw the first card of the Trick Deck and apply its effect, then discard it next to the deck. If you need to draw a Trick Card and the deck is empty, shuffle the Trick Card discard pile to create a new deck before drawing. You may choose not to apply the Trick Card's effect, but most of the time you should have no reason not to.
The components page shows one Trick Card, Lydeen, whose printed effect reads: "All players draw a random card from the top of the deck of the player on their left." The effects of the other Trick Cards are printed on those cards.
Card Combos
If you have two cards of the same color in your hand that combine in a left/right combination, playing them both counts as a single action. You still apply all effects on both cards.
Special Cards
When you play a Special Card, choose whether to apply the first or second row of effects. These cards cannot be included in Card Combos, as they have no color.
Please note: two of the starting Special Cards have a red "no stockpile" symbol on the top left corner. You cannot stockpile them.
Location Cards
To buy Location Cards, you must pay the cost in seeds AND discard 2 cards from your hand. Place any Location Cards you buy in front of you, not into your hand. These cards give you a permanent bonus.
Plan
Draw 2 cards from your deck. If your deck is empty, remember to shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck.
Once you complete your 2 actions, your turn is over. If you bought any cards, refill any empty spaces WITHOUT Hamsters in the Market with new cards from the Market Deck. Then it's the player on your left's turn.
End of the Game
The game ends if:
- One of the 2 End Game Cards is purchased.
OR
- Both End Game Cards are in the Market.
The game ends immediately.
Players add up the victory points from their Locations Cards, Stockpiled Cards, and cards in their deck and discard pile. The player with the highest total is the wealthiest Hamster, and wins the game!
In case of a tie, the player with the most remaining Seeds wins the game.
If the tie persists, the players share the victory.
Location Card Scoring
Your Location Cards' points depend on the cards you have at the end of the game. Unless specified, include your deck, discard pile, Stockpiled Cards, and Location Cards.
- 1 point for every 2 blue, red, or green cards.
- 1 point for every Special Card.
- 1 point for every Seed token.
- 2 points for every Location Card, including this card.
The printed page also shows five unlabelled scoring rows, each with a card badge. The card names on the badges are not legible in the printed rulebook, so the rows are transcribed in printed order:
- 1 point for every Hamster with the sleeping-hamster shape shown on the row. This top-left icon doesn't count.
- 1 point for every Roll icon on your cards. This top-left icon doesn't count.
- 1 point for every Trick icon on your cards. This top-left icon doesn't count.
- 2 points for every Stockpile icon on your cards. This top-left icon doesn't count.
- 1 point for every card in your hand.
Variant
Abilities
There are Ability Cards for each company CEH (Chief Executive Hamster).
At the beginning of the game, you can choose or randomly give one Ability Card to each player.
The Investor Ability Card shown on the variant page carries this printed note: "Can be used only twice during the game. (Put a seed from the supply on this card after use as a reminder. This seed doesn't score.)" Its effect icons are shown on the card face; the rulebook does not describe them in words.