Jasper and Zot
Jasper and Zot Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Game board; 24 zombies; 8 flaming zombies; 4 bombs; 3 multipliers; 14 flower bed markers; 6 pumpkins; 1 Jasper token; scoring table; and two dice of different colors.
The Game Board
The board shows the following areas, with callouts:
- Zot's Assault Tables: Normal assault (1) and Aggravated assault (2).
- Zot's Yard: A terrible plot of unkempt land.
- Fence Line: Jasper's magic can't go beyond this point.
- Jasper's Yard: A beautifully trimmed green lawn.
- Pumpkin Patch: The source of Zot's ire.
- Garden Path: Surrounded by a magical barrier that protects Jasper and his house.
- Jasper's Reminders: A few helpful rules reminders.
Columns on the board are numbered 1 through 6.
The Tokens
- Zombies: These make up the majority of Zot's undead army.
- Flaming Zombies: The one thing worse than regular zombies.
- Bombs: When they explode, so does everything nearby.
- Multipliers: The only good thing to come out of Zot's yard. Blast them for huge points!
- Flower Beds: They look so much nicer than walking corpses.
- Pumpkins: Your six largest and most beautiful pumpkins will surely be Zot's targets.
- Jasper: That's you!
Setup
To begin the game, find all of the flower bed markers and place them in a pile beside the board. Put all six pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. Place Jasper anywhere you like on the garden path. Put all of the remaining tokens (zombies, flaming zombies, bombs, and multipliers) into a bag, cup, bowl, or other opaque container.
Game Overview
You control Jasper as he attempts to repel Zot's undead army and protect his prize-winning pumpkins. Zot's minions will continuously flood into your garden. Slow them down by transforming the zombies into harmless flowers. Then engulf the flower beds and anything nearby with magical fire!
You will earn points for every zombie you destroy plus bonus points for destroying large groups with a single shot.
If any of your pumpkins survive after two waves of Zot's undead assault, tally up your score and see how well you did.
How to Play
The game takes place over a series of turns. Each turn has four steps that you must follow in order.
- Step 1: Descend - All of Zot's minions move closer towards Jasper's pumpkins.
- Step 2: Place - Roll to see what new minions Zot summons.
- Step 3: Move & Shoot - Move Jasper along the garden path and fire a magic spell.
- Step 4: Smash - All zombies smash any pumpkins they are standing next to.
Step 1: Descend (Skip this step on the first turn of the game)
All tokens on the board (except flower bed markers and pumpkins) simultaneously move two spaces towards you. If a token's move would be interrupted by a flower bed or any other token, it stops moving. Tokens can move through spaces containing flower beds but they only move one space at a time while doing so. If a token would move from a flower bed to an open space, it still only moves one space and then stops.
Bomb note (printed in a box): If a bomb stops its movement adjacent to a pumpkin it immediately explodes, destroying the pumpkin and any other tokens adjacent to the bomb.
Example: Three zombies approach some flower bed markers. Pay attention to how the flowers affect their movement. The left zombie moves one space and then stops in front of the flower bed. The middle zombie only moves one space, entering the flower bed. The right zombie moves the full two spaces.
Next turn, the left zombie moves one space into the flower bed. The middle zombie moves one space out of the flower bed. The right zombie continues moving its full two spaces.
(The printed example shows three board diagrams labeled 1, 2 and 3 illustrating these positions.)
No token can ever move past the magical barrier surrounding the garden path. Zombies that reach the magical barrier stop moving forward and begin moving left or right towards the nearest pumpkin. Bombs that reach the barrier explode. Multipliers that reach the barrier simply disappear.
Flaming zombie note (printed in a box): Flaming zombies are not affected by flower beds. Not only do they pass through flowers unhindered, when a flaming zombie walks onto a flower bed it burns up that flower bed marker and all other flower bed markers connected to it.
Step 2: Place
Gather both dice. One will determine how many minions Zot summons this turn and the other will determine where they appear. Decide which is which and then roll the dice.
Compare the result of the first die to the normal assault table at the top of the board. Draw that number of tokens from the bag and arrange them in the same pattern shown on the table. If you drew any special tokens, like flaming zombies or bombs, you can put them wherever you want in the pattern. Center the pattern on the column indicated by the second die. If you cannot center the pattern on the required column, you can place it however you like so long as the column goes through at least one part of the pattern.
If there are not enough tokens to complete a pattern, and if you are still on the first wave, gather up all of the tokens you've previously discarded and put them back into the bag and then draw enough tokens to complete the pattern. This marks the beginning of the second wave of Zot's assault. From this point on use the aggravated assault table instead of the normal assault table.
Zot's Assault Tables
(Printed in a box:) When the game begins, use the normal assault table to determine how the zombies appear. When one of your pumpkins gets smashed or when the first wave ends, whichever comes first, use the aggravated assault table for the remainder of the game.
Step 3: Move & Shoot
You may move Jasper up to three spaces in one direction along the garden path before you fire a magic spell. You cannot move after shooting, even if you moved less than three spaces. When you have finished moving you may cast one of two spells: Flower Power or Magical Fire. Both spells travel in a straight line until they hit a token or reach the end of Jasper's yard. Everything beyond the fence line is out of range.
Flower Power transforms any living creature into a patch of dainty white flowers. When this spell hits a zombie, it travels in a chain to every adjacent token, changing them all into a delicate bed of flowers. Move the transformed tokens to the discard pile and replace them with flower bed markers. This spell flies over flower bed markers.
Magical Fire burns away unwanted plants from your garden. You can only cast this spell on flower beds. When this spell hits a flower bed, it travels in a chain to every adjacent token, flowers and zombies included, burning them all into glittering ash. Move the destroyed tokens to the discard pile. You then earn points based on the number and type of tokens destroyed. Refer to the scoring chart for token values.
How Spells Work (printed in a box): Jasper's magic is very powerful. Starting with the first thing a spell hits, it travels in a chain to every adjacent token until it runs out of adjacent tokens. A token is considered adjacent when it is in a space directly above, below, left, or right of another token. Tokens with corners touching diagonally are not considered adjacent to each other.
Bombs react differently to spells than other tokens. When a bomb is hit by a spell, either directly or as part of a chain, it explodes. Discard the bomb token and any tokens that are immediately adjacent to it. If one of those tokens is also a bomb, that bomb explodes too. You earn no points for tokens destroyed by bombs.
Step 4: Smash
Finally, any zombies who are adjacent to a pumpkin smash it into little pieces. If a zombie is adjacent to more than one pumpkin, it smashes one of your choice that no other zombie can smash. The first time you lose a pumpkin, Zot gets excited and changes his strategy. From that point on, use the aggravated assault table during the Place step.
You lose the game if all of your pumpkins get smashed.
Ending the Game
The game ends when there are no more zombie tokens left on the board at the end of the second wave. Any flower bed markers left on the field become a permanent decoration for Jasper's yard. Total up your score to see how well you did!
Scoring
You earn points every time you destroy tokens with a Magical Fire spell. In general, you earn one point for each incinerated flower bed marker and two points for each zombie token. If there is a multiplier token in the chain, it scores one point and then doubles the point value of the entire chain. Bombs, and every token they destroy, are worth zero points.
If you destroy a chain containing five or more zombie tokens, the whole chain is worth an extra 5 points. A large chain containing 10 or more zombies is worth an additional ten points. These bonuses are calculated before any multipliers.
When the game ends, total up your points and then subtract a ten point penalty for each smashed pumpkin. It is possible to end up with a negative score, so be sure to protect those pumpkins!
Score Chart
The scoring chart printed on the set's score sheet lists these values:
- Bombs: 0 points
- Flower beds and multipliers: 1 point (multipliers: double points)
- Zombies: 2 points
- Small chain: +5 points
- Large chain: +10 points
- Smashed pumpkins: -10 points