Let's Take a Hike Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• What's in the Box
• Game Overview
• Game Setup
• Backpacks
• Playing the Game
  • Option One: Draw a Card
  • Option Two: Take a Hike
  • Scoring
  • Game Play Example: Dropping Out of a Hike
• Game End
  • Determining a Winner
• Important Hints & Reminders

What's in the Box

• 102 Pack It Cards: 90 Green and Blue Item Cards, 12 Red Hazard Cards
• 1 Lead Hiker Card
• 5 Scoring Cards
• 5 Player Pawns with Holders

Game Overview

• Prepare to hike by laying out your initial five Item Cards in the area of the table in front of you to create your Backpack, which has seven spaces to hold Item Cards.
• The diagram in the upper-left corner of each Item Card tells you where it can be placed in the Backpack.
• On your turn, either draw another card to add to your Backpack, or go on a hike. You don't need a full backpack to start a hike. Other players may join in the hike with you.
• On a hike, the Lead Hiker draws a card to show the distance traveled so far. Match the card drawn, or lose an item or items from your Backpack of equal value in miles. More cards are drawn as the hike continues.
• Choose to drop out of the Hike to score one of the Item Cards drawn. Be the last Hiker to choose to drop out to score all of the remaining Item Cards that were turned up during the hike.
• At the end, count up the miles of the cards you won on the hikes. The player with the most miles wins!

Game Setup

Play area layout (from the setup diagram): Draw Pile (Pack It Card Deck), Discard Pile, Hiking Pile, and the Lead Hiker Card near the middle.

1. Place the Lead Hiker card near the middle of the play area within reach of all players.
2. Give each player a Scoring Card and matching Player Pawn.
3. Shuffle the Pack It Card deck and deal five cards to each player. The Pack It Card deck consists of green or blue Item Cards as well as red Hazard Cards.
4. Place the Pack It Card deck face down in the middle of the play area as the Draw Pile, leaving space for a Discard Pile, as well as a Hiking Pile (see game setup image above). IMPORTANT: All discarded cards should always be placed in the Discard Pile, NEVER in the Hiking Pile or Draw Pile.
5. Each player creates their own Backpack by placing their cards face up in front of them in spaces on the table as shown by the orange icons in the upper-left corners of the cards. (See the 'Backpack Setup' section.) a. Any red Hazard Cards initially dealt to the players are discarded to the Discard Pile. Players should draw back up to five cards, all of which must be either green or blue Item Cards. b. Any green or blue Item Cards that cannot fit into a player's Backpack must be discarded to the Discard Pile so no cards remain in player's hands. For example, there is not room in a Backpack for two Tents or two Maps and a Frying Pan. Players do not redraw any Item Cards that can't fit into their Backpack.
6. Once everyone has set up their Backpacks, reshuffle the Discard Pile back into the Draw Pile.
7. The player that most recently went camping starts the game by choosing to either draw a card or take a hike. (See the 'Playing the Game' section.) Turns proceed clockwise.

Note: the printed setup steps are numbered 1 to 5, then 8 and 9; steps 6 and 7 do not appear in the source and are not supplied here.

Backpacks

Each player builds their Backpack in front of them on the table. The Backpack has seven spaces for transporting the items on the cards. These spaces are highlighted orange in the diagram in the upper-left corner of the Item Cards. Some items will fit into only one space in the Backpack, others may be placed in one of many spaces.

Backpack Setup: The image in the rulebook shows the seven spaces of a player's Backpack: Top of Backpack, Left Hand, Left Pocket, Middle of Backpack, Right Pocket, Right Hand, and Bottom of Backpack. To set up their Backpacks, players simply match their Item Card placement to the highlighted spaces on the diagram in the upper-left corner of the cards. Players do not need to completely fill their backpacks, nor do they require specific cards.

• Above, the Pans Item Card diagram shows two spaces highlighted that match the top and middle spaces of the Backpack. It can be placed in either of these spaces.
• Below, the Sleeping Bag Item Card diagram shows only one space highlighted, the bottom of the Backpack. It must be placed in this space.

Hint: Check the back of the Scoring Cards for a handy diagram of the Backpack layout. Players should keep the Scoring Card here to help orient their Backpacks.

Backpack Rules

• Each Backpack space may contain only one Item Card.
• Item Cards may only be played in the spaces indicated on the card. For example, a Tent can only be placed in the Top of Backpack space while the Compass may be placed in the Top or either Side Pocket space.
• If an item can be placed in multiple spaces, a Backpack may contain multiples of the item. For example, a Backpack could be full of Granola Bars or a Hiker could hold two separate Walking Sticks.

Playing the Game

The last player to go camping starts the game. Beginning with this player and continuing clockwise, players take turns until all of the cards have been drawn from the Draw Pile and the game ends.

When it is a player's turn, they must do one of two things: DRAW A CARD or TAKE A HIKE.

Option One: Draw a Card

On a player's turn, they may choose to draw one card from the Draw Pile:

• If this card is a green or blue Item Card, they can place it in their Backpack immediately.
• If the space or spaces the item can be placed are filled, the player may rearrange their backpack to try to fit everything.
• If the player cannot fit all of their items in the Backpack, they must discard one of their Item Cards, rearranging the remaining cards. The player does not draw again.
• If the card is a Hazard Card, it is resolved immediately (see 'Hazard Cards' below). The player does not draw again.

After performing the above actions, the player's turn ends and game play proceeds clockwise.

Hazard Cards: If a player draws a red Hazard Card, it will take effect immediately. The Hazard Cards affect only the player that draws the card, unless it is the Bear card. Note that Hazard Cards behave differently during a hike – see 'Option Two: Take a Hike' below. There are four types of Hazard Cards:

• Raccoon: A bandit raccoon is out to steal one of your Item Cards.
  • If a player draws a Raccoon Card they must discard a card of their choice from their Backpack.
  • If a player has no cards in their Backpack they ignore the effect of this card.
• Skunk: A skunk appears and does what skunks do. Phew!
  • If a player draws a Skunk Card they must discard any two cards of their choice from their Backpack.
  • If they have only one card in their Backpack they discard it.
  • If a player has no cards in their Backpack they ignore the effect of this card.
• Blister: Ouch! If a player draws the Blister Card they check to see if they have the 'Socks' Item Card in their Backpack.
  • If they have the Socks Card, the Blister Card has no effect.
  • If they do not have a Socks Card the player must discard the card in their Backpack with the highest number of miles (shown in the lower right corner).
  • If a player has no cards in their Backpack they ignore the effect of this card.
  • The Socks Card is not discarded after defending against a Blister Card.
• Bear: A hungry bear has wandered into camp! This card affects all players.
  • Whenever a player draws a Bear Card, the bear eats ALL of the granola bars in EVERYONE's Backpacks.
  • If a player has a Bear Spray Item Card in their Backpack, the bear will not eat that player's granola bars.

After the effect of a red Hazard Card is resolved, it is discarded.

Option Two: Take a Hike

Instead of drawing a card to add to their Backpack, a player may announce that they're going on a hike. Hiking is the only way to score. Players not taking part in a hike take no turns until the hike is completed.

• The player announcing the hike places their pawn on the Lead Hiker card.
• Any players that wish to join must (in clockwise order from the Lead Hiker) place their pawns behind the Lead Hiker pawn at this time.

Hiking Overview:

1. The Lead Hiker draws a card from the Draw Pile, placing it face up on top of the Hiking Pile. This card may be a blue or green Item Card or a red Hazard Card.
2. All Hikers resolve the card, discarding (to the Discard Pile) if necessary.
3. All Hikers, in clockwise order, decide to continue or drop out. Hikers score cards, if available (see 'Scoring' section).

Repeat these steps until all Hikers have dropped out (see 'Game Play Example: Dropping Out of a Hike' below). When a hike is finished, play resumes with the player to the left of the original Lead Hiker either drawing a card for their Backpack or starting a new hike. Any cards remaining in the Hiking Pile should be discarded.

How to perform the three steps of a Hike:

1. The hike begins! The Lead Hiker turns over the top card of the Draw Pile, creating a new Hiking Pile. If the card is a blue or green Item Card, Hikers should note which item is shown as well as the miles traveled (used later for scoring) in the bottom right corner of the card.

2. Next, all Hikers check if they have the green or blue Item Card in their Backpack that matches the card on top of the Hiking Pile, which determines whether their Backpack is safe, or if they'll have to give up something:

   • Hiker with a matching card: takes no action. Their Backpack is safe.
   • Hiker without a match: must discard one or more cards of equal or greater value in miles.
   • Note: A Hiker without a match that does not have enough miles in their Backpack to match the miles on the turned up card must discard all of the cards in their Backpack and drop out of the hike without scoring.
   • Hazard Cards: If a red Hazard Card is drawn during a hike, its effects are applied to all of the Hikers, rather than just the Lead Hiker that drew the card. Players who chose not to Hike or dropped out are unaffected.

3. After the turned-up card is resolved, each Hiker, beginning with the Lead Hiker, and continuing clockwise, announces if they wish to continue the hike or drop out. A hiker that chooses to drop out takes back their player pawn and may add one card (or more if they are the last Hiker) to their score (see 'Scoring' below).

   • Players with empty Backpacks must drop out of the hike. They do not earn any cards for scoring.
   • If the Lead Hiker drops out, they remove their pawn from the Lead Hiker Card and the next remaining Hiker to their left (clockwise) becomes the new Lead Hiker, moving their pawn onto the Lead Hiker Card.

Scoring

Players that choose to drop out may, if one is available, select any one of the Item Cards from the Hiking Pile to score. Cards collected in this way are placed under the player's Scoring Card, not in their Backpack. The last Hiker to choose to drop out collects all the remaining Item Cards from the Hiking Pile to place under their Scoring Card.

Note: It is possible that some hikers will not be able to collect a card from the hike since preceding players took all the cards from the Hiking Pile. Sometimes you have to know when it's best to drop out!

Game Play Example: Dropping Out of a Hike

Reteka has led Madison and Ken on a successful hike so far, resulting in a Granola Bar, Water Bottle, and Sleeping Bag being turned up. All three have either had the items in their Backpack or been able to travel the distance by discarding items from their Backpacks equal to the miles shown on each card. None of the three has dropped out of the hike yet.

Reteka has drawn 3 cards on the Hike.

Reteka (Lead Hiker) does not have much left in her Backpack and decides to end her hike and selects the Sleeping Bag Item Card and places it under her Scoring Card (four miles).

Madison does not think she has enough left in her Backpack to risk another card being turned up. She ends her hike and chooses the Water Bottle Item Card (two miles).

Since the other two have dropped out, Ken is now the Lead Hiker and chooses to continue. He turns up the Skunk Hazard Card! Ken must discard two cards out of his Backpack. Unfortunately for Ken, he only has two cards. He discards them both and does not get to collect the granola bar Item Card that remains in the Hiking Pile. If Ken had been luckier and turned up an item he already had in his Backpack, he would have been able to add both that item and the Granola Bar (one mile) to his score by choosing to end the hike, since he was the last Hiker.

This hike is over. The cards in the Hiking Pile are discarded and it is the player to Reteka's left (as she was the original Lead Hiker) who gets the next turn to either draw a card for their Backpack or take another hike.

Game End

The game ends immediately after all the cards have been drawn from the Draw Pile. If this occurs during a hike, reshuffle the Discard Pile to make a new draw deck and complete the hike. The game then ends when the hike is over.

Determining a Winner

At the end of the game each player counts the miles shown in the lower-right corner of the cards in their scoring pile (the cards in a player's Backpack do not count toward their score). The player that has the highest total of miles traveled is the winner! If there is a tie, the player that has the most cards in their scoring pile is the winner. If there is still a tie, reshuffle the Discard Pile and randomly draw cards until someone draws the skunk. They lose!

Important Hints & Reminders

• Any card that is discarded at any point during the game should always be placed on the Discard Pile, never the Hiking Pile. It may be helpful to place the discarded cards face down.
• Players can only score by earning cards from a hike! Only Item Cards can be scored.
• Players do not require any specific cards in their Backpacks, and may start or join a hike as long as they have at least one card in their Backpack.
• Players may not join a hike already in progress.
• Players do not get to take any turns until the current hike has been resolved.
• Only Hikers that choose to drop out of a hike get to take an Item Card for scoring. Players that run out of cards in their Backpack must drop out without scoring.
• The last Hiker to choose to drop out of a hike earns all the Item Cards from the Hiking Pile. If there is only one Hiker on the hike, this player counts as both the Lead Hiker and the last Hiker.
• Any remaining cards in the Hiking Pile after ending a hike should be discarded to the Discard Pile.