Nutty Squirrels of the Oakwood Forest Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Setup
• Player Boards
• Game Turns
• Event Cards
• Power Cards
• End Game
• Solo Rules

Game Overview

Objective: Be the first player to earn 20 points or have the most after all leaf cards are revealed.

Game Pieces:

• 1 Central Trunk board
• Leaf Deck (which includes six power reference cards)
• Acorns (60 brown cubes, 15 golden cubes)
• Matching coloured player boards and tokens

Setup

Place the Central Trunk onto the centre of the table. Remove the six power reference cards and give one to each player. Shuffle the leaf cards and deal, face down, in straight lines, five cards out from the centre along each edge of the trunk (totalling 30 cards), forming the six Tree Limbs. Set the remaining cards aside, creating the Leaf Deck. Place a brown acorn on the middle and farthest leaf cards from the Central Trunk on each Limb. Place all remaining cubes to the side, forming the General Supply. Grab player boards and tokens equal to the number of players, placing the tokens onto the Central Trunk. Shuffle and deal out the player boards face down. Pick a coloured token and have all players reveal their board. Whoever has that colour goes first. Play proceeds clockwise.

Player Boards

There are four main sections:

1. The Squirrel: Used to track acorns, a squirrel is actively gathering in their cheeks, up to a maximum of two.
2. Power Slots: A player may have up to three unique power cards (i.e., no duplicates), which are placed face-up in an available slot when in use. Power cards are explained later.
3. The Nest: Use this to temporarily store acorns, if you choose to, from your cheeks or Backpack (explained later), before burying them. You must be on the Central Trunk to use this.
4. The Burrow: This is your burying site. Acorns buried here are safe and secure, counting as points at the end of the game.

Game Turns

A player has up to three Action Points (AP) to spend on their turn. There are six actions available with differing AP costs:

Move: Traversing from one leaf card (revealed or not) or the Central Trunk to an adjacent card, and vice versa, costs one AP. Traversing onto a broken branch (more on those later) costs two AP. You cannot end your turn on a broken branch.

Flip: For one AP, a player may flip the unrevealed leaf card they are currently on. You may flip even if other players are on the same card. There are three possible outcomes:

1. You reveal a leaf card containing 0-3 brown acorns or a golden acorn. Remain where you are, gather the respective number of acorns from the General Supply and place them onto the newly revealed leaf card.
2. You reveal a power card. Claim the card if you choose. Picking up a revealed power card, or one left behind from another player, has no AP cost. If you have a free power slot on your player board, set the claimed card face-up next to one. Leaf cards further down the Limb shift towards the trunk to fill the spot where the power card was removed. Add a new leaf card to the end of that Limb face down. Place all player tokens, previously on the revealed power card, onto the card that shifted to close the gap. Player tokens and acorns remain on any other card that has moved. Shift the player tokens towards the trunk if the card that went under them is a broken branch card; repeat if necessary.

[Diagram: "Player picks up" and "Shift cards toward centre under squirrel. Add a card to the end."]

If you have no free slots when claiming a power card, swap the positions of the claimed power card with the one you currently own – do not shift any cards on the Limb in this scenario. NOTE: if claiming a power card from a shortened Limb, do not add a new card to the end.

3. You reveal an event card. Perform the event immediately, then remove the card from play (with some exceptions, explained later), following the protocol for shifting cards along a Limb as described when picking up a Power Card (above).

Gather: Gathering acorns from cards has no AP cost. You may only carry up to two acorns in your cheeks (cut-outs on player board) at any given time. You may freely drop and pick up acorns on cards any time during your turn (e.g., drop a brown acorn on a card to pick up a golden one).

Stash: While on the Central Trunk, a player may move any acorns from their cheeks or Backpack into the nest section of their player mat or back, at no AP cost.

Convert: While on the Central Trunk, a player may trade five brown acorns from their nest for a golden acorn from the general supply for one AP. Converting can save time and AP when burying.

Bury and Score: While on the Central Trunk, a player can move acorns from their cheeks, Backpack or nest to their burrow for one AP per acorn. Acorns cannot be unburied. Only buried acorns count toward your score. Brown acorns are worth one point each, and golden acorns are worth five points each.

Event Cards

Revealed event cards apply immediately. If instructed to remove, follow the procedure for picking up power cards.

Broken Branch: When revealed, anyone on this card falls. Move all player tokens that occupy this card to the Central Trunk, returning any acorns they are currently holding in their cheeks/Backpack to the General Supply. The active player's turn is immediately over. These cards remain in play.

NOTE: If two broken branch cards are revealed adjacent to one another or end up adjacent (e.g., from a power card picked up or another event card) that tree limb has broken. Remove all cards (revealed or not) beyond the two broken branch cards and place them out of play.

Wind Gust: When revealed, move any squirrel on that Limb out two cards away from the Central Trunk. If this pushes you, or another player, off the last card or onto a broken branch, you fall (following "broken branch" rules). Remove this card from play afterwards.

Fool's Gold: When revealed, if you have a golden acorn in your possession (cheek, nest, or burrow) when you reveal this card, you must exchange it for a brown one. Remove from play afterwards.

Sappy Feet: When revealed, you lose one AP on your next turn. Remove from play but place next to your player board, discarding it at the end of your next turn.

The Arborist: When revealed, flip all other leaf cards on the same Limb, showing the goodies and dangers hidden underneath.

Power Cards

Power cards improve your squirrel's ability to traverse, gather, or even sneakily steal acorns from other players. As a reminder, you cannot have duplicate power cards. Here is a breakdown of the available cards:

Swinging Squirrel: This reduces the cost to traverse onto a revealed broken branch card from two AP to one AP. This card will not save you when revealing a broken branch card.

Backpack: This allows you to store an additional acorn while gathering by placing it on the card itself. You can freely exchange acorns from your cheeks and Backpack when Gathering. Acorns stored here are lost if you fall. However, they are safe from theft, so think about keeping valuable ones here.

Sugar Rush: This gives the player one additional AP per turn, for a total of four.

Sticky Fingers: At the cost of one AP, you can steal one acorn from another player, but only once per turn. You may steal from another player's nest when: (1) you are on the Central Trunk and (2) they are not. You may steal directly from a player's cheeks when on the same leaf card as them (but not the Central Trunk). Track stolen acorns on the power card (up to a maximum of three). Upon filling the card, they are automatically buried for free and the card is then removed from play.

Alternatively, instead of acorns, you may steal one power card from another player on the same leaf card as you; remove the Sticky Fingers card out of play afterwards. NOTE: You can steal a power even if you have previously stolen acorns with this power but have not reached the limit of 3. Any acorns stolen in this scenario are removed from play and not buried.

The Lasso: This allows you to pull one acorn from an adjacent card to the card that your squirrel is on for the cost of one AP.

Doppelgänger: You can temporarily mimic any power that another player has that you do not possess. If you mimic the thief's power, move the stolen acorns to your cheeks or Backpack. This card is a one-time use – remove it from play after using it.

Spittoon: The Spittoon card allows you "spit" one acorn per turn, at the cost of one AP, from anywhere on the tree to your nest.

The Owl: This gives the player a powerful aid to wreak havoc from the skies! Being your pet owl, you are unaffected. While on a limb, you can have the Owl scare other players off that same Limb, causing them to fall (following the same rules of revealing a broken branch card). While standing on the Central Trunk, you may freely choose any limb and cause all affected players to fall. Alternatively, you may use this card to destroy any single power card another player has, regardless of where you stand. This is a one-time use card – remove it from play once used.

Flying Squirrel: This enables a player to traverse from one Limb to an adjacent Limb for one AP per movement. Ensure that your leaf card position remains the same (e.g., moving from the fourth leaf card on one branch to the fourth leaf card of another). You cannot land on a broken branch card nor skip over a fallen limb that would have no card available to land onto. (Editor's note: the printed text reads "broken brand card"; corrected to "branch" here.)

Flying Squirrel Movement (diagram)

End Game

There are one of two possible scenarios:

1. One player buried enough acorns to reach 20 points. Congratulations, they are the winner! Just make sure they don't go spending their acorns all at once now!
2. When the final leaf card is revealed, the end game triggers. Once the current round has finished (i.e., everyone has had an equal number of turns), all players will get one final turn before the game is over. Whoever has the most points is the winner!

In the event of a tie, the player with the most golden acorns wins. If it is still a tie, the player with the highest value of gathered and stashed acorns is the winner. If it is still a tie game, it's a tie game!

Solo Rules

As a solitaire style game, most multiplayer rules are in effect, with a few changes where noted. Actions have no AP cost. Acorn conversion no longer applies.

Objective: You win if you can collect at least 20 points worth of acorns for winter, with hopes of achieving a higher score with each playthrough. Brown and golden acorns are worth the same as the 2-6 player version.

Setup: Remove all power and event cards from the deck, except for the Owl, Sticky Fingers, and Broken Branch cards, and set them aside. Shuffle the deck and deal the cards following the multiplayer setup rules. Do not place any brown acorns on cards during the setup. Place your token on the Central Trunk to start.

Acorns: In addition to counting as points, these are now treated as currency to purchase powers. Spent acorns go back into the general supply. If you overspend when using golden acorns, take back the difference in brown acorns.

The Market: Retrieve one Flying Squirrel, one Backpack, one Lasso, and one Swinging Squirrel Power Card, keeping them within reach. They form the market. At any time, you can purchase these powers for 3 acorns each, using acorns from your cheeks, stash, or Backpack. If you have three powers and decide on the fourth one in the market, after paying, you can exchange it for one of the powers you currently have, returning the exchanged one back to the market (to be repurchased later if desired).

Power Cards Function as Follows:

Flying Squirrel, Backpack, and Lasso power cards behave as per the multiplayer rules.

Swinging Squirrel: This card allows you to traverse broken branches and is the only means to do so. Acorn costs still apply when moving away from the trunk and landing on a revealed card.

Move: When you land on an unrevealed card, you must flip it immediately. Moving away from the trunk onto previously revealed cards cost one acorn per card. Moving towards the Central Trunk, or laterally across Limbs has no acorn cost.

Solo movement diagram, with labels: "Costs 1 acorn to land on a previously flipped card when moving outward"; "No cost to move lateral but must have flying power"; "Must have swinging power to traverse broken branches"; "No cost to move inward".

Flip: Some special rules apply depending on what you reveal:

1. Event and Broken Branch Cards – follow the multiplayer rules.
2. You reveal an Owl Card – you must bribe the Owl at the cost of three acorns, or the game is immediately over. Remove the owl card after bribing it and move the cards inward to fill the space (do not add a card to the end of the Limb).
3. You reveal a Sticky Fingers Card – a greedy squirrel runs amuck! If you have any acorns in your cheeks or Backpack, lose the lowest valued acorn. Do not remove this card. Its effect remains in play throughout the game, activating if you land on the card again, moving inward or outward on a Limb.

Gather: Follow the multiplayer rules here.

Stash and Bury: Any acorns gathered can remain on the nest portion of your player board and do not need to be "buried." All will count as points toward your final score.

Ending the Game: If you have successfully gathered 20 points worth of acorns, the game is over, and you have won. Additionally, if all available moves have been exhausted, the game is over if going for a high score. As a reminder, if you are ever unable to bribe the Owl, the game is over.