Koe zoekt Boer
Koe zoekt Boer Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Make sure that at the end of the game you have as many happy cows and as few sad cows on your farm as possible.
Game Overview
The players start with 3 cow cards and can increase this number by taking cow cards. By playing farm cards, players can change the mood of the cows on their own farm and sometimes on the farms of other players. The game ends when the draw pile is empty. Players score points for happy cows and lose points for sad cows. The player with the cheeriest atmosphere on their farm, that is the most points, wins Koe zoekt Boer.
Contents of the Box
- 25 cow cards
- 30 farm cards
- 1 rulebook
Setup
- Make 2 separate piles of cards: one with cow cards and one with farm cards.
- Shuffle the cow cards and deal each player 3 cards (with 2 players: 5 cards). The players place the cow cards they receive in front of them so that the side with the sad cows is visible.
- Each player receives 1 card showing a cow barn picture from the farm cards.
- Combine the remaining farm cards with the remaining cow cards to form 1 pile of cards in the middle of the table. Shuffle these cards while keeping the farm cards face down. Then place the top 3 cards face up next to the pile so that everyone can reach them.
- Each player may now turn one of their cow cards from sad to happy, choosing for themselves which card to turn.
Playing the Game
The player who most recently saw a cow in real life begins the game. As their first move, they choose one of the following actions, using the face-down pile of cards and the 3 face-up cards.
Action 1: Play a Face-Up Card
Play a face-up card
If you choose a cow card, place it in front of you. In this way you have brought cow(s) to your farm. The mood of the cow (happy or sad) does not change.
If you choose a farm card, carry out the action shown in symbols on the card. The exact effect is explained in the description of the farm cards. After carrying out the action, place the card on the discard pile, which is formed next to the face-down pile of cards.
Action 2: Discard a Face-Up Card
Discard a face-up card
If you choose to discard a card, it is not played and it does not return to the game. You place this card directly on the discard pile and your turn is over.
Action 3: Draw and Play a Card from the Pile
Draw a card from the pile and play it
If you do not want to do anything with the face-up cards, you may instead draw the top card of the pile. You must then play this card:
- If it is a cow card, you must place it in front of your farm. The mood of the cow(s) does not change.
- If you draw a farm card, you must carry out the corresponding action. Afterwards, place the played card on the discard pile.
After the player has carried out their action, the top card of the pile is turned over and placed face up. If this is a cow card, the mood of the cow changes! The mood can change from happy to sad, but also from sad to happy! There are now 3 face-up cards again.
The next player, to the left, is now due to take a turn. The players take turns, in clockwise order, each choosing one of the three actions and carrying it out.
Farm cards may not be held in hand to be played later! Of course, the cow barn and the cow cards remain in front of the players.
The Cow Cards
There are 25 cow cards in total, in 5 colours. Each colour has cards with 1 to 5 cows. On each cow card, a number of icons is shown at the top, indicating the number of cows on the card.
Each cow card has 2 sides: a happy side and a sad side. Each happy cow scores 1 point and each sad cow costs 1 penalty point. For example, if a player has the following 2 cow cards on their farm, they have 4 points for the happy (blue) cows and 3 penalty points for the sad (purple) cows. In total, that player therefore has one point.
- Card showing 4 happy (blue) cows.
- Card showing 3 sad (purple) cows.
The colours have no effect on the number of points. The colour of a cow card is only important when the farm cards "Farmer" (Boer), "Super Farmer" (Superboer) and "Rain" (Regen) are played. See the explanation of these cards.
The Farm Cards
Below are the farm cards in the game, how many of each there are, and which actions can be taken with these cards:
Farmer (Boer) [5x] > happy cows! The Farmer has a positive effect on the mood of the cows. When someone plays a Farmer, all cows with the same colour as this Farmer become happy. All cards with sad cows in the same colour as the Farmer are turned over, so that the happy cows come to lie face up.
In this example, all blue cows on all farms become happy. Only cows that stand in a cow barn keep the same mood (happy or sad).
Cow Barn (Koeienstal) [7x] > take shelter! In a cow barn, the cows of up to 3 cow cards can take shelter. These cows are no longer sensitive to rain, hunger or the temptation of a full feeding trough at the neighbours'. Their mood cannot change as long as they stand in the cow barn. A sad cow in a barn stays sad, even if a Farmer or a Bull comes along. Only the "Nice Weather" card can bring a cow out of the barn. Farmer's tip: it is smart to put only happy cows in your barn!
When someone plays a barn card, they may place their own cows in their cow barn. Only a maximum of 3 cow cards fit in one barn! Also, a player may not own more than 1 barn. The cow cards must form a small pile on the cow barn. The maximum of 3 cow cards in a barn applies regardless of the "value" of the cards (the number of cows on the cards). It is therefore possible, for example, to have 10 cows in a barn with 3 cards: for example with a card with 2 cows, a card with 3 cows and a card with 5 cows.
With 2 players Only when you play Koe zoekt Boer with 2 players may you own a second cow barn. If you play a barn card and you already have one cow barn standing, you may use this barn card to build a second barn. You may then only fill this second barn. It is not allowed to add cows to your existing cow barn at the same time!
Rain (Regen) [5x] > sad cows! When someone plays the rain card, it comes down in buckets. The player of this card may place all their cows that have the same colour as the rain in their barn. Again, the maximum is 3 cow cards in a barn. Cows of this colour that are still in the meadow (of all players) become sad from the rain: turn over the happy cow cards.
In this example, if a player plays the blue rain card, they may still place their own blue cows in their barn, just before the storm breaks (and all blue cows in the meadow become sad).
Feeding Trough (Voederbak) [4x] > cows swap! Your farm has become popular! If you play this card, you must swap one of your cow cards with a cow card on another farm. The mood of the cows (happy or sad) does not change in this swap. Note! You cannot swap cows that are standing in a barn. Farmer's tip: if you want to make cows happy, take a happy cow from another player and give them a sad cow back, and do not do it the other way round.
Bull (Stier) [2x] > cows in ecstasy! The cows go into ecstasy because of this macho bull. The player of this card may turn 1 or 2 cow cards from sad to happy, by turning these card(s) over (depending on the number of small icons on the underside of the bull card).
Hunger (Honger) [2x] > rumbling stomachs! When someone plays the hunger card, they turn over 1 or 2 happy cow card(s) of the other players (depending on the number of small icons on the underside of the hunger card), so that sad cows become visible.
Nice Weather (Mooi weer) [2x] > happy to the meadow! When someone plays the "nice weather" card, one cow card comes out of each cow barn of the other players. It is always the cows that are closest to the barn door (the cow cards lying on top) that come out first to get some fresh air and join the other cows in the meadow. The mood of the cows that go outside does not change.
Farmer's Wife (Boerin) [2x] > milked to the barn! Some cows are very sad because of their full udders and long for milking by the farmer's wife. The player who plays the farmer's wife may place one cow card with sad cows in their barn and turn it over to its happy side.
Super Farmer (Superboer) [1x] The Super Farmer is a farmer who can take on any colour. Otherwise it has the same function as an ordinary farmer. The player who plays this card decides which colour cows become happy (or stay happy).
For colour-blind players, the colours are marked with the following symbols (in the bottom right, in the grass above the bar on the card): Blue = ■ Purple = ▲ Red = ✖ Orange = ◆ Green = ●
End of the Game
When the face-down pile of cards is empty, the game is over.
Each happy cow scores 1 point and each sad cow scores 1 penalty point. There are cards with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 cows. A card with, for example, 5 happy cows scores 5 points, and a card with 5 sad cows scores 5 penalty points. The points of the happy cows minus the penalty points of the sad cows give the final score per farm. The player with the highest score, that is the best mood on their farm, wins!