Nutz! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Set Up
  • Depending on the number of players
• Playing the Game
  • Order of Play
  • A. Dealing cards
  • B. Summer: Stock up on food
  • C. Winter: Retrieve the Food
• Moon Tokens
• End of Game

Contents

• Illustrated rules
• 80 food cards
• 10 Squirrel cards (5 yellow - 5 blue)
• 5 Tree Tiles
• 15 Moon tokens

Set Up

• Place the red border cards back in the box. They will be used in the « Bountiful Summer » variation.
• Place the Tree cards in a horizontal line, in ascending order from left to right. The number of trees must exceed the number of players by 1. Place the yellow Squirrel cards sporting the same numbers underneath the Trees. As the hand plays, the Food cards will be placed by the players, in a column below the Tree and Squirrel cards.
• Place the following number of Moon tokens on the Tree furthest to the right:
  • 2 players: 7 tokens
  • 3 players: 6 tokens
  • 4 players: 5 tokens
• Move immediately one of these tokens on the yellow Squirrel card just below.
• Shuffle the blue Squirrel cards and give one randomly, face up, to each player. The remaining card is set aside for now. The numbers on the Squirrel cards set the order for the first hand (or year), the missing number is skipped.
• The last player for the hand receives 2 Moon tokens, the other players receive 1 each. The remaining tokens are set aside above the trees.
• Shuffle the Food cards to obtain a draw deck, cards face down.

(Illustration: 3 players set up.)

Depending on the number of players

• 2 players use only the Tree and Squirrel cards numbered 1 to 3, 3 players use cards 1 to 4, 4 players use all cards.
• 2 players will discard the Food cards with a 3+ symbol.

Playing the Game

Squirrels live their lives according to the seasons. So each round symbolizes one year, a winter follows a summer, and a whole game is played during the lifespan of a generation of squirrels.

Order of Play

In both summer and winter phases, the Order of Play is set by the Squirrel cards, the missing rank being skipped. Therefore, in a 3 player game, if players have number 1, 3 and 4 Squirrel cards, number 1 is played first, then 3 and 4 and so forth.

A. Dealing cards

At the beginning of the first round, the Food cards are shuffled and each player takes 5.

The following rounds, each player gets 3 new cards in order to remain with 5 cards in hand.

B. Summer: Stock up on food

In turn and in the order set by the Squirrel cards, each plays a Food card below 1 of the Trees according to the following rules:

• Food Cards are arranged in columns below each Tree.
• There cannot be more than 3 Food cards below 1 Tree.
• Cards are placed face up unless players use one of their Moon tokens. Then the Food card is played face down and the moon token used is set on top of it.

Players continue this way, playing in turn Food cards until each has played 3 cards, with only 2 remaining cards in hand.

C. Winter: Retrieve the Food

In turn and in the order set by the Squirrel cards, players take:

• All the Food cards stocked below a tree.
• The Moon tokens which happen to be on the Food and/or the Squirrel card, as well as the Moon tokens represented on the top of the Food cards (drawn from the stock pile).
• The Squirrel card placed underneath the tree. Players then return their old Squirrel card (yellow if they take a blue one, blue if they take a yellow).

Players arrange the Food cards they collected in front of them, face up visible to all, adding to the ones collected during previous rounds.

If a player gets a Predator card, it must be applied and discarded immediately.

When all players have collected a column of cards,

• The Food cards of the remaining column are discarded, keeping the cards face down unrevealed. If they had Moon tokens on them, those are also discarded.
• If the last column has not been collected, the Moon token on the squirrel is also discarded.
• The uncollected Squirrel card is set aside, and the Squirrel cards just returned by the players are placed below the matching trees, for the next round. A Moon token is picked from the last Tree and placed on the last Squirrel.

Moon Tokens

Moon tokens allow for Food cards to be played face down. The used token is then placed on the face down card, and will be collected by whoever harvests the cards on the column.

Players who collect the last column of cards, the one farthest to the right, also take the Moon token on the Squirrel.

If a players has more than 3 Moon tokens, the ones in excess must be discarded.

The discarded Moon tokens stay in the game, they are set aside with the rest.

End of Game

The game ends when no Moon Token remains on the Last Tree at the end of a round. A game therefore takes 7 rounds for 2 players, 6 for 3 players and 5 for 4 players. This is about how long a Squirrel lives!

Players then add their 2 remaining cards to their face up cards. Those are the only cards they can play directly in front of them.

These cards have to be played (their effect can be applied in the order you choose), in the order set by the Squirrels gathered during the last round. This order may be important because of the impact of specific Predator cards.

Players count their points according to the cards in front of them, taking into account the Berries and Mushroom cards. The player with the most points wins the game.

(The rulebook illustrates this with three scoring examples, totalling 20, 27 and 29 points. The individual card values and effects are printed on the cards themselves; the rulebook does not list them, nor does it describe the « Bountiful Summer » variation beyond the set-up note above.)