Instinkt: Duell der Tiere
Instinkt: Duell der Tiere Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 24 cards (12 in each of the 2 colors)
- 18 point tokens
- 1 tiebreaker token
- 2 game aids
- 1 rulebook
Aim of the Game
Battle it out in a gloomy forest full of mystical creatures!
Take turns placing cards in a 4×4 display. Make your choices carefully to score points. Sometimes it's all about the right timing!
The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Setup
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Sit facing each other. Allow enough room between you for a 4x4 display of cards.
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Choose a color each (black or white) and take all the cards in this color.
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Each shuffle your cards and place them in a deck face down.
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Each draw 3 cards from your deck. Keep your cards hidden from the other player. Over the course of the game you always have 3 cards in hand.
Variant: Once you're more familiar with the game and you don't want to start the game with random cards, instead each draw 5 cards and choose 3 to keep in your hand. Return the other 2 cards to the bottom of your deck.
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Flip the tiebreaker token in the air, catch it, and place it on the table. The player whose color is facing up takes it.
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Lay out the points tokens.
Good to Know Before You Get Started
Both of you have the same cards, only the colors are different. Each card shows an animal and a number (1 to 11). Only the Snake has an X instead of a number.
Most of the cards (1 to 9) score points at the end of the game. To determine if they score, you check where in the display they are or which cards are adjacent to them. On the bottom left of each card you can see its scoring condition that needs to be met at the end of the game to gain points, on the bottom right you can see the points.
Example: The Spiders (4/5) want to be in a corner and the Wolf (8) scores for each adjacent opponent's card.
The other 3 cards (10, 11, X) are special: They do not score points. Instead they have an effect that you use immediately during the game, either when placing or revealing them.
Gameplay
You will play several rounds until the end of the game is triggered. In each round you both choose 1 card from your hand and reveal them at the same time. Then you take turns placing them in the display.
In each round, take each of the following 4 steps:
- Choose cards
- Reveal cards
- Place cards
- Draw cards
1. Choose 1 Card at the Same Time
Choose 1 card from your hand and place it face down in front of you.
2. Reveal Your Cards Together
Reveal your chosen card.
The Snake (X) has an effect when revealing it: If at least one of the two cards revealed is a Snake (X), both cards are removed from the game. Meaning you do not place cards in the display this round. Proceed with step 4.
3. Take Turns Placing Your Cards
If the number on your card is higher than the number on your opponent's card, place your card in the display first. Follow the placement rules below.
The Deer (10) and the Raccoon (11) have an effect when placing them. You must resolve it immediately (if possible). More on that later.
Then your opponent places their card in the display.
Important: If the numbers on your cards are the same, the player with the tiebreaker token places their card first. Then pass it to your opponent.
4. Each Draw 1 Card
Draw 1 card from your deck.
Repeat these 4 steps until the end of the game is triggered.
Placement Rules
When placing your cards, follow these placement rules:
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You must place your card in an empty space.
Tip: Turn it so that the image and text are facing you.
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You must place your card vertically, horizontally, or diagonally adjacent to another card in the display. The color of the card doesn't matter.
Note: The first card in the display is simply placed on the table. This is not necessarily the middle of the display though. You will build the display bit by bit in all directions.
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At the end of the game, the display must make a 4x4 square. So each row and column may have 4 cards at most. You may not place cards outside the 4x4 square.
For example, a space is forbidden if placing a card there would make the display wider than 4x4 cards, or if the space is not adjacent to another card. A space is allowed if it keeps the display within the 4x4 square and is vertically, horizontally, or diagonally adjacent to another card (including diagonal adjacency).
Cards Overview
Crow (1): 1 point if your own or your opponent's Moth is horizontally, vertically or diagonally adjacent to it OR 3 points, if both Moths are adjacent to it.
Bat (2): 3 points if your own Crow is vertically or horizontally adjacent to it.
Moth (3): 2 points if it is one of the 4 cards in the center OR 3 points if it is also the only Moth out of these 4 cards.
Spider (4/5): 2 points if it is in any corner of the display OR 3 points if both of your own Spiders are in any 2 corners of the display. In that case, each of these Spiders scores 3 points.
Cat (6): 3 points if it is on the edge of the display but not in a corner.
Owl (7): 1 point for each of your own cards in its row and column. The Owl itself doesn't count.
Wolf (8): 1 point for each of your opponent's cards that is vertically, horizontally and diagonally adjacent to it.
Jackalope (9): Copy the points from exactly 1 of your own cards that is vertically or horizontally adjacent to it.
Deer (10): No points. Effect when placing it: Move all cards in one row or column (see below).
Raccoon (11): No points. Effect when placing it: Move 1 of your own other cards to another space (see below).
Snake (X): No points. Effect when revealing it: Remove the Snake AND your opponent's card from the game.
Raccoon
You place this card in the display as normal. After you placed it, you must move 1 of your other cards from the display to any other empty space (if possible). Follow the usual placement rules. Afterwards, all cards must still be adjacent to each other (vertically, horizontally and/or diagonally).
Important: If you move the Deer, do not resolve its effect.
Example: You place the Raccoon and wish to move your Cat to another empty space. You may place it on any of the green (allowed) spaces. However, you cannot place it on any of the red (forbidden) spaces because then not all of the cards would be adjacent to each other.
Tip: It would be a good move to move your Spider to the space to the left of the opponent's Spider.
Deer
You place this card in the display differently than the other cards: Slide the Deer from outside the display into any row or column with 1–3 cards.
Slide all cards in that row/column as far as you can ahead of the Deer, but only so far so that:
- all cards in the display remain adjacent to each other (vertically, horizontally and/or diagonally) and
- the 4x4 square is maintained.
If there are spaces between the cards in this row/column, close them as you slide the cards and continue sliding them as far as you can.
Examples for the Deer
You slide the Deer from above into column 2 and slide all cards in this column as far as you can ahead of the Deer. You cannot move them further than shown because the 4x4 square must be maintained.
You slide the Deer from above into column 2 and slide all cards in this column as far as you can ahead of the Deer. You cannot move them further than shown because all cards in the display must remain adjacent to each other.
You slide the Deer from the left into row 2 and slide all cards in this row as far as you can ahead of the Deer. By doing so, the space between the cards is closed.
You slide the Deer from below into column 3 and slide all cards in this row as far as you can ahead of the Deer. You must slide the cards as far as you can, so afterwards, they will be positioned as shown.
End of the Game and Scoring
The game ends at the end of a round once the 4×4 display is full, so that there are 16 cards in the display. Proceed to scoring.
Go through each of the cards from left to right, top to bottom. If the conditions of the cards are fulfilled, they score points. To count the points quickly and easily, place the equivalent point tokens on each of the cards.
After going through each of the cards, count up your points tokens. The player with the most points wins!
Resolving Ties
In case of a tie, the player who scored points with more cards wins. If there is still a tie, add up the numbers on the cards in your hand – the player with the highest total wins.
Note: The Snake with the X counts as 0.
Example: At the end of the game, your display looks like this. You both scored 19 points. You both scored with 7 cards so there is still a tie. You each add up the numbers on the cards in your hand and the result is 14 to 12 – white wins!
Symbols
A few icons recur throughout the cards and this rulebook:
- A filled/solid card or pawn icon means "your own card"; an outlined card or pawn icon means "opponent's card".
- A moon icon means "points".
- A small 4-space diagram with two opposite sides marked means "vertically and horizontally".
- A small 4-space diagram with all four corners marked means "vertically, horizontally and diagonally".
Service & Support
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