Hens
Hens Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 72 Hens Cards. Hens are divided into 8 breeds on cards of different colors: 12 brown, 12 blue, 10 red, 10 purple, 8 grey, 8 yellow, 6 black, 6 green.
- 4 Rooster Tokens
- 6 Goal Cards
Each Hen card shows a card number (top corners), the color and breed of the hen, any medals it carries, and the number of eggs it hatches (bottom of the card).
Breakdown of Eggs and Medals on the Cards
Breed pairs that share the same card count (12, 10, 8, or 6 cards) also share the same layout of eggs and medals across card numbers 1-6. A square outlined in red means that card number has 2 copies in the deck; an unmarked square means it has 1 copy.
| Breeds (12-card pair) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Medals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Padovana / Wyandotte | 2 eggs (2 copies) | 1 egg | 1 egg (2 copies) | 1 egg | 1 egg (2 copies) | 2 eggs (2 copies) | - |
| Breeds (10-card pair) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Medals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sebright Breed / Barnevelder | 2 eggs | 2 eggs (2 copies) | 1 egg (2 copies) | 1 egg (2 copies) | 2 eggs (2 copies) | 2 eggs | - |
| Breeds (8-card pair) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Medals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sultan / Faverolles | 3 eggs | 2 eggs | 1 egg (2 copies) | 1 egg (2 copies) | 2 eggs | 3 eggs | 1 medal |
| Breeds (6-card pair) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Medals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cemani / Modern Game | 3 eggs | 2 eggs | 2 eggs | 2 eggs | 2 eggs | 3 eggs | 2 medals |
Overview & Objective
In Hens you are a hens breeder!
Each round you will play a hen from your hand, trying to create a harmonious barnyard with different hen breeds. The rules to place cards are a few and simple, but the difficulty will be on making large groups of hens of the same breed.
At the end of the game you will gain points from your largest group of hens of the same breed in your barnyard, from your Rooster Token and from the goal card.
Don't forget some rare hens give you medals worth points at the end of the game.
The hens breeder with the best barnyard wins!
Note: a group of hens is made by Hen cards of the same breed positioned beside each other (right/left, top/bottom), not diagonally.
Setup
To play with 4 players, use the whole deck.
To play with 3 players, remove one breed of 10 Hens from the deck.
To play with 2 players, remove two breeds from the deck: one with 12 and one with 10 Hens.
A. Shuffle the Hen cards and deal 4 of them to each player. Then place the cards in the middle of the table where all players can reach them to form the drawing deck.
B. Deal 1 Rooster Token to each player.
C. Randomly draw a goal card or choose one with the other players and place it where everyone can see it. The Goal card shows how players can make extra points during the game. Put the remaining Goal cards back in the box.
The player who went in a barnyard last is the first player, then proceed clockwise. If no one's went in a barnyard, choose it randomly.
Player Turn
During your turn, you have 3 actions you must perform in the following order:
- Draw two cards.
- Place a Hen card in your barnyard.
- Discard a Hen card in your discard pile.
1. Draw Two Cards
This is the first action you must do in your turn. Draw one card at a time. You can decide to draw from the drawing deck (both or just 1 card) or from any opponent's discard pile (both or just 1 card). You must draw the top card from an opponent discard pile or draw deck.
First round: Players cannot draw cards from any discard pile.
Note: You can never draw from your discard pile.
2. Place a Hen Card in Your Barnyard
Each player will build their barnyard with 12 Hens cards by placing them to form an area of 3x4 or 4x3 cards (rows x columns). You cannot place them in any other way.
You must place a new Hen card adjacent to a previously placed card.
Each Hen card must follow two simple rules to be placed:
- If the Hen card you are placing is of the same breed (color) as the adjacent one, you can place it next to it regardless of its number.
- If the Hen card you are placing is of a different breed (color) of the adjacent one, it must be with a number of 1 lower or higher than the adjacent hen.
Note: each side of the placed card must always respect these two rules.
Example: the Hen card cannot be placed because, even if it matches the color of the card beside it, its number should be 1 lower than the one underneath it.
Example: the Hen card can be placed because it matches the color of the card beside it and its number is 1 lower than the one underneath it.
If you cannot or do not want to place a Hen in your barnyard, you can place the Hen card face down (always next to a previously placed card) as a chicken coop. Each Chicken Coop in your barnyard counts -1 point at the end of the game. Any breed of hen of any number can be placed next to a chicken coop.
Attention: if the placed card has a side adjacent to another Hen card, it must still follow the two positioning rules.
Note: it is possible to place multiple Chicken Coops next to each other.
3. Discard a Hen Card in Your Discard Pile
After placing a Hen card in your barnyard, you must discard one card from your hand. Put it on top of your discard pile. You must always have 4 cards in your hand at the end of your turn.
Rooster Token
Once all the players have placed their 6th Hen card (at the end of the 6th round), they must place simultaneously the Rooster Token in their barnyard, on top of a Hen card.
ATTENTION! Try not to place it on the group of hens that you think might be the largest at the end of the game. In addition to scoring points for the largest group of hens, at the end of the game, points will also be awarded for the group of hens with the Rooster Token on it. In case of a tie between the largest group and the group with the Rooster Token, points will be scored only for the one with the Rooster Token.
Example: you have a group of 5 hens without a rooster that hatch 8 eggs (8 Points) and a group of 5 hens with the Rooster Token that hatch 6 eggs (6 Points), you will only gain the points for the group that contains the Rooster.
End of the Game
The game ends when all players have placed 12 cards (12th round) in their barnyard and completed the 3x4 or 4x3 grid. The player with the most Points wins. In a tie between two or more players, the player with the largest contiguous group of Hen cards wins. If it is still a tie, the player with the second largest contiguous set of Hen cards wins. If it is still a tie, whoever has the most medals in their barnyard wins. If this does not resolve the tie, the victory is shared.
Scoring Points
The scoring points follow six steps:
1. Largest Hens Group
The eggs are counted to determine the points. If there is an equal number of cards between two contiguous groups, you will always count the group that produces the most eggs. 1 Egg = 1 VP. Points are not scored for hens of the same breed not adjacent to the group.
2. Rooster Token
Score points for the contiguous group of hens in which it is placed, as long as it is not placed on the largest group of hens, in this case points will be scored only for this group, even if it contains fewer eggs than a group with the same number of Hen cards. The eggs are counted to determine the points. 1 Egg = 1 VP.
3. Medals
All the medals in the barnyard are counted. It is not important if they are from different breeds. For every 3 medals you will get 2 points. 3 Medals = 2 VP.
4. Chicken Coop
Each chicken coop in the barnyard is worth -1 Point. 1 Chicken Coop = -1 VP.
5. Scoring First Goal
If completed, you gain points as shown on the first goal of the card (top of the card), but they can also remove points for certain cards positioning within the barnyard.
6. Scoring Second Goal
If completed, you gain points as shown on the second goal of the card (bottom of the card), but they can also remove points for certain cards positioning within the barnyard.
Goal Cards
These cards can provide extra points at the end of the game. They can be changed at each game and are applied to all players. They may give points by requiring one or more groups of hens of a specific size, positioning rules by row or column, but they can also remove points for certain cards positioning within the barnyard.
Note: each goal can be scored only once unless specified differently on the card.
There are 6 Goal Cards, each with a Top Goal and a Bottom Goal:
- Top Goal: 4 VPs if you have at least 3 different groups containing 2 or more hens. Bottom Goal: -2 VPs for each hen not in a group, in your barnyard.
- Top Goal: 5 VPs if you have at least 5 different hen breeds. Bottom Goal: 1 VPs for each hen not in a group, in your barnyard.
- Top Goal: 6 VPs if you have at least 4 different groups containing 2 or more hens. Bottom Goal: -2 VPs for each hen not in a group, in your barnyard.
- Top Goal: 5 VPs if you have a row with Hen cards that hatch exactly 1 egg each. Bottom Goal: -1 VPs for each hen not in a group, in your barnyard.
- Top Goal: 6 VPs if you have a column with Hen cards that hatch exactly 2 eggs each. Bottom Goal: 2 VPs for each group containing 3 or more hens, in your barnyard.
- Top Goal: -1 VP for each Hen card adjacent to a Chicken Coop. A Hen card can be counted multiple times for different Chicken Coops. Bottom Goal: 5 VPs for each group containing 6 or more hens, in your barnyard.
Credits
Little Rocket Games team:
- Giampaolo Razzino: game design, project manager, production
- Alessandra Canini: project manager, marketing, revision
- Marco Salogni: illustration, graphic design
- Zemilio: project manager, art direction
- Alfonso Romano: head of playtesting
Produced and distributed by Little Rocket Games, Via Agostino Fausti 38/40 00062 Bracciano (RM) Italy. © 2022 Little Rocket Games. All rights reserved. Printed in China.