Happy DayZ: American Dream

Happy DayZ: American Dream Rulebook

Table of Contents

Object of the Game
Contents
Setup
Round Overview
End of Round
- - Example of a count
- Optional Rules
End of the Game
Details on Powers
American Dream Campaign

Object of the Game

Happy DayZ is a trick-taking game in which you play Communities trying to survive in a world overrun by Zombies. Win tricks with Survivors to trigger their powers and grow your Community. Leave strategic tricks to your opponents to avoid suffering damage from the Zombies!

The originality of Happy DayZ is its board: if the trick is played on the + side, the highest card value wins. If it is played on the - side, the lowest wins. It is up to you to play your cards in the right place to gain the advantage!

The Community with the most Survivors wins the game.

Play a single round for express games, or campaign mode (the game ends after 4 rounds or as soon as a Community loses its last Survivor).

6 Factions of 13 cards (78 Survivor cards)
20 Zombie cards
5 Survivor counters (to be assembled before your first game)
3 Mini-van cards
1 board
15 Power cards
3 Patient Zero Promo cards for the second box, Woodstock Fever

Anatomy of Survivor and Zombie cards

Card value; Faction icon; Gain or loss of Survivors.

Anatomy of Power cards

Faction; description of the Faction's Power; advanced Powers.

Anatomy of the board

On the left of the board ( - ), the card with the lowest value wins the trick (except for specific Faction Powers). On the right of the board ( + ), the card with the highest value wins the trick (except for specific Faction Powers). The Reserve stays face down. It is made up of the remaining undealt cards.

Setup

Place the board within reach of all Communities, in the centre of the play area.
Always place the Mini-van and Zombies Power cards next to the board, then choose 3 different Faction Power cards and place them in any order, one below the other.
- Note: For a first game, we advise playing with the Survivalist, Cheerleader and Biker Factions. But you can also play the scenarios of the "American Dream" campaign (p. 14), or shuffle all the Power cards and draw 3 different ones at random.
Each Community takes a Population counter. Turn the wheels to show 66: this is the number of Survivors in your Community at the start of the game.
Take the 13 Survivor cards corresponding to each Power card you chose and shuffle them with the 20 Zombie cards and the 3 Mini-van cards. Deal cards to each Community according to their number:
- 2 Communities: 16
- 3 Communities: 14
- 4 Communities: 12
- 5 Communities: 10
The remaining cards are placed in a face-down pile in the Reserve in the middle of the board.
Transfer: Each Community looks at its cards and chooses 2 to place simultaneously face down in front of the neighbouring Communities (1 to its right and 1 to its left). You can transfer any card. All Communities simultaneously reveal the 2 cards placed in front of them. With 2 Communities, transfer 2 cards to your opponent.
- Note: The cards in your Transfer zone are part of your hand! They remain visible and you can play them to start a trick or when their Faction is led.

The Community that has in front of it the card of the highest value according to the order in which the Powers are arranged (Mini-van > Zombies > Faction 1 > Faction 2 > Faction 3) starts the game. It will be the active Community for the first turn.

Reminder: In campaign mode, Happy DayZ is played in 4 rounds (or fewer, if one of the Communities has no Survivors left). At the end of the game, the Community with the most Survivors wins.

Round Overview

A round represents an expedition that takes place over several turns until all the cards have been played.

Turn Overview

At the start of each turn, begin by revealing the first card of the Reserve. This Encounter card will be collected by the Community that wins the trick (it is not part of the trick).

The active Community plays first (it "leads the trick"). For subsequent turns, the Community that wins the trick becomes the active Community.

Playing a Trick

The active Community chooses a card from its hand or its Transfer zone and plays it face up on the side of the board of its choice.

- side: the card of the lowest value of the Faction led wins the trick.
- side: the card of the highest value of the Faction led wins the trick.

The other Communities must then, in turn and clockwise, play a card from their hand or their Transfer zone of the Faction led (or a Mini-van) on the same side of the board.

Note: If you have no card of the Faction led in your hand or in your Transfer zone, you may play any card, including Zombies.

When all Communities have played their card, the person who played the card of the Faction led with the highest value (+ side of the board) or lowest value (- side of the board) wins the trick. They collect all the cards of the trick as well as the Encounter card from the Reserve and place them face down in their Expedition zone.

Example of a trick

Ophélie chose to play the Cheerleader 4 on the - side of the board. Simon, who has no Cheerleader, gets rid of a Zombie card. Finally, Jessica plays a Cheerleader 3, which is the lowest card of the Faction led. So Jessica wins the trick. She collects the three cards of the trick as well as the Encounter card (1 Police Officer) from the top of the Reserve. She turns these cards face down and adds them to her Expedition zone.

You may not look at the cards in the Expedition zones until the end of the round, even your own (unless a Faction Power asks you to choose a card there).

Note: The active Community may consult the cards of the trick it has just won as long as it has not started a new turn.

Playing a Mini-van

You may play a Mini-van in place of any card, even if you have cards of the Faction led. It has no value and therefore never wins a trick. If you win a trick that contains one or more Mini-vans, keep them face up in your Expedition zone.

In campaign mode, Mini-vans are kept for the next round by the Communities that win them. If you have any, take them in hand and receive one card fewer per Mini-van you own when cards are dealt.

You may start a trick with a Mini-van. You always choose the side of the board, but it is the Community to your left that determines the Faction led by playing its card.

Triggering the Faction Power

At the end of a trick, the Community that won the trick triggers the Power of the Faction led, that is, of the first card played in the trick.

Only the Community that won the trick benefits from its effect (unless the Power specifies otherwise).

If the Power says End of round, it has no immediate effect and will be taken into account during the Survivor count at the end of the round.

All details on Faction Powers are given on pages 12-13 (see "Details on Powers" below).

Reminder: The cards in your Transfer zone are part of your hand! You can choose them when a Power asks you to give, discard or play a card from your hand. In that case, they are added to the hand and not to the Transfer zone.

Resolving Zombie Tricks

Zombies are also considered a Faction. When a Community starts the trick with a Zombie card, everyone must play Zombie cards, if possible.

Warning! When you lead a Zombie trick, you provoke a horde that can attack several Communities: the Zombie cards of the trick will be redistributed among the Communities!

The Community that won the trick begins by collecting the cards that are not Zombies (if any) as well as the Encounter card from the top of the Reserve, which it places in its Expedition zone.

Then, starting with it and going clockwise, each Community takes the remaining Zombie card that causes the most losses (at the bottom right of the cards), until all the Zombie cards of the trick have been distributed.

Note: Some Communities may receive none if there are fewer Zombie cards than Communities...

Example of a Zombie trick

In turn order, Ophélie chose to play the Zombies 1 on the + side of the board. Simon plays the Zombies 15 and Jessica, who has no more Zombies, plays the Biker 1. Simon wins the trick. He places the Biker and the Zombies 20 (the Encounter card from the top of the Reserve) in his Expedition zone, then takes the Zombies 15, which is the card causing the most losses. Jessica takes the Zombies 1 and Ophélie takes nothing since there are no more Zombies to distribute.

End of Round

The round ends when all cards have been played. Each Community looks at the cards in its Expedition zone, adds up all its Survivors and subtracts all its losses from Zombie cards (and from any End of round Powers). Update your Population counter:

Each Survivor card adds 1 to its Community (except specific Factions, see Powers, p. 12-13) and each Zombie card makes you lose as many Survivors as indicated on its card: -3, -6 or -9.

Example of a count

(Counts shown: 6, 2, 3, -18.) It is the end of the round. In her Expedition zone, Ophélie has 3 Bikers, 2 Cheerleaders, 3 Survivalists and 5 Zombies. The Bikers have an End of round Power (see p. 12-13). Since she has fewer than 7 Bikers, each Biker card counts as 2 Survivors. She therefore gains 6 Survivors thanks to her Bikers and 5 Survivors thanks to the Cheerleaders and the Survivalists. Her Zombies make her lose 18 Survivors. In total, she therefore lost 7 Survivors during this round. She updates her Population counter.

If the end of the game is not triggered, the Community with the fewest Survivors becomes the active Community and starts the next round. In case of a tie, the Community that lost the most Survivors this round starts.

Change of Faction: Before the new round, the Community that lost the most Survivors during this round may replace one of the Factions with another of its choice. If a new Faction is chosen, replace the cards of the removed Faction and its Faction Power card.

Optional Rules

At the start of each round, you may draw 1 Power card at random, to replace a Power in play of the choice of the player who lost the most Survivors during this round. If it is the Power of a Faction already in play, it replaces the Power card of that Faction. If it is the Horde Power, it is added to the Zombies Power.

Reminder: Communities that collected Mini-vans during the round keep them for the next round. They will be added to their hand at the start of the game. When preparing the new round, deal one card fewer per Mini-van to the Communities that own them.

End of the Game

If you play a campaign, the game ends:

after 4 rounds, OR
as soon as a Community has no Survivors left (its Population counter has fallen to 0).

The Community with the most Survivors wins the game! In case of a tie, the tied Communities unite and share the victory. In rare situations, all the Communities may be eliminated at the same time. In that case, the Zombies win!

Details on Powers

We advise you to discover Happy DayZ with the basic Powers of the Factions. But know that each Power exists in positive (thumbs-up) and negative (thumbs-down) versions that you can decide to use to adjust the difficulty of your games.

Cheerleader

Give cards from your hand or your Transfer zone. If you give a card from your Transfer zone, the person who receives it adds it to their hand.

Advanced Power SECRET MISSION (thumbs-up): if you have no card of the Faction led, give a card of another Faction.

Advanced Power CONFUSION (thumbs-down): if you have no cards left in hand, take one of the cards from the Transfer zone.

Governor

The designated Community remains free to choose the Faction led.

Advanced Power PERSUASION (thumbs-up): if the Community that starts has no card of the Faction led and plays any other card, the Faction led remains the one chosen at the start.

Nurse

Discard a Zombie card of your choice from your Expedition zone. It may come from the trick won with the Nurse. If you have no Zombies, this Power has no effect.

Survivalist

Always collect the Encounter card before doing its Power. The cards discarded under the Reserve may be those you drew or cards from your Transfer zone.

Police Officer

The Police Officer "cuts" the trick, that is, it wins the trick (even if it is a Zombie trick). The Communities that play after you must continue to play cards of the Faction led if they have any.

If several Communities play a Police Officer, the one with the card of the highest or lowest value, depending on the side of the board where you play, wins the trick.

Police Officers block the Power of the Faction led by the active Community. That Power is not triggered, unless you play with the advanced Power ARMORY (thumbs-up).

Biker (End of round)

Each Community that has fewer than 7 Biker cards in its Expedition zone gains 2 Survivors for each of them (e.g., 3 Bikers = 6 Survivors).

If a Community has 7 or more Biker cards, it loses 1 Survivor per Biker card in its Expedition zone instead of gaining their Survivors.

Advanced Power MARTIAL LAW (thumbs-up): only the Community with the most Bikers loses Survivors. In case of a tie, all the tied Communities gain Survivors.

Mini-van

See "Playing a Mini-van" above.

Zombies

See "Resolving Zombie Tricks" above.

The Horde

When you draw the Horde, add it to the Zombies Power and draw another Faction Power.

You will find in this box 3 Promo cards (P) corresponding to the Factions of the other Happy DayZ box, Woodstock Fever. They represent patient zero and can make you gain or lose more Survivors. When you play with patient zero, replace the 7 of that Faction with its Promo card.

American Dream Campaign

Wonder13 was supposed to be humanity's salvation. Instead, this vaccine condemned a majority of the population. Everyone underwent... changes. The government is trying to find a solution, while we try to survive. Play with the Faction cards indicated in each scenario.

"Schkrr... Att - schkrr... Attention all the population. A state of emergency has been declared. A virus has contaminated - schkrr... If you have not yet stocked up, it is time to get organised... schkrr... Barricade yourselves in groups! Schkrr..."

(Translator's note: the source does not number the scenarios; the numbers and "Scenario" labels below are added for reference, and the source's page break separates the first six from the last three, which it calls mixed scenarios. In the scenario headings, a thumbs-up or thumbs-down next to a Faction means that Faction is played with its positive or negative advanced Power, as shown in the printed icon.)

Scenario 1: Survivalists, Bikers, Cheerleaders

June 18: We learned that a group of survivors has taken refuge nearby. We need resources and they need help. Other communities are on the case, we have to go see what is happening.

Scenario 2: Bikers (thumbs-down), Cheerleaders (thumbs-up), Police Officers

July 3: We managed to save a few people who decided to join us. But welcoming new survivors weighs on the ego of some... Tempers are flaring inside the community, and outside, our comrades are disappearing one by one. We can't stand idly by. We will go to the police station to find help and try to recover some ammunition.

Scenario 3: Cheerleaders, Police Officers (thumbs-up), Nurses

July 12: We found some weapons, but at what price? We are all exhausted, and some of us are wounded. We have reinforced our security, but our carers lack essential supplies: bandages, antiseptic..., anything that could give victims a chance to stay alive. There must still be something to help us at the hospital.

Scenario 4: Police Officers, Nurses (thumbs-down), Governors

September 5: The days follow one another and look alike. We had some news from the government. "You must hold on! Help is coming." That is what they told us... We received a few directives to organise the surrounding communities, but ours is in worse and worse shape and our carers are exhausted.

Scenario 5: Nurses, Governors (thumbs-down), Survivalists (thumbs-up)

October 4: Lately, there has been a lot of agitation within the community. Our neighbours are organising more and more efficiently, wanting to appoint leaders for various groups, while some seek to impose their way of life on the greatest number. Everyone is trying to find their place in this new environment, and many of our friends have decided to leave the community.

Scenario 6: Governors, Survivalists, Bikers + the Horde

October 10: The day was dreadful. After weeks of dithering, we decided to merge with a neighbouring community and welcome its survivors into our home. All went well... at first. Because the transfer was much larger than expected. We were not careful enough and had a security problem. We drew too much attention, and a horde broke through our barricades. We managed to repel them, but it is hard to assess the losses and damage. It is chaos.

Mix the Factions

Scientists, Children, Soldiers, Dogs, Hippies and Preachers: discover the 6 other Factions and their Powers in the box Happy DayZ: Woodstock Fever. You can mix the Factions of the 2 boxes or use the mixed scenarios (see below). Each box is an independent game.

Mixed Scenarios

Scenario 7: Bikers (thumbs-up), Soldiers, Children

December 23: For a few months, tensions within the community have eased. While fiddling with the radio to find the location of the next military ration delivery, we picked up a signal from a holiday camp on the edge of town. It seems a group of children is in a critical situation...

Scenario 8: Survivalists (thumbs-down), Preachers, Hippies

December 31: The arrival of the children at the camp has upset our daily life. Everyone is getting involved so that life can resume, especially for the youngest. We set up a small school to keep them occupied and give them a semblance of normality.

Scenario 9: Governors (thumbs-up), Dogs, Scientists

February 3: This morning, the government announced that the clinical trials of the vaccine were conclusive. Many of us remain sceptical about following their directives to the letter. But maybe we simply need to believe?