Pook
Pook Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Place the Piggy card in the center of the table.
Deal 1 Banner card face down to each player. This card represents your two allied Factions for this game.
Shuffle the 24 Faction cards and deal 6 to each player, Coin side up. These cards make up your hand.
With 2 or 3 players, make a Deck with the remaining cards, Coin side up.
Example of a 4-player game: each player's hand is shown with the Piggy card in the center. One card is called out to show that this symbol represents the card's Faction and level. Cards can be shown Coin side up or Warrior side up (your hand of cards).
Gameplay
On your turn, secretly look at your hand and choose a Faction card. Either play it Warrior side up (optionally applying its power) or Coin side up.
To do this, follow these rules:
- All cards must be played within a grid of 5 by 5 cards, shared by all players.
- Your card must be orthogonally adjacent (not diagonally) to at least one other card in play.
Additional Rules for Playing a Warrior
If you play your card Warrior side up, you must follow these extra rules:
- Count the number of Coin cards in both the row and column of the desired placement. This number determines the maximum level of the Warrior you may place (see Warrior Powers, below).
- Then choose whether or not to apply your Warrior's power (see Warrior Powers, below).
Only with 2 or 3 players: At the end of your turn, draw 1 card from the Deck (unless the deck is empty).
When you play a Warrior, you are not required to apply the power, except for the Knight, who has an ongoing power.
The Piggy
During your turn, you can swap the Piggy card with an adjacent card.
- Treat the Piggy like a Coin card.
- You can take this action before or after playing your card. You can never undo the action the previous player took with the Piggy.
- The Piggy ignores the Knight's powers. You can therefore swap it with a card protected by a Knight.
- The Mage can never remove the Piggy from the game.
Turn Example
In this example, you want to play a level 2 Orc card.
- You can place it here as a Coin, but it won't have any effect.
- You can place it here since there are at least 2 Coins in its row and column. However, you cannot apply your Orc's power to the adjacent Mage since it is protected by the Knight (see Warrior Powers, below).
- You cannot place it here since there are no Coins in either its row or column.
- You cannot place it here since it is outside the 5 by 5 grid of cards.
- You cannot place it here since it is not adjacent to another card.
End of the Game
Once all 24 Faction cards have been played, the game ends. Each player gains points depending on their Banner card.
To determine your score, add up the levels of Warrior cards that match your Banner card. The player with the highest score wins.
Final scoring example: you gain 1 + 2 + 1 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 3 + 2 = 17 points.
In Case of Tie for 1st Place
Each tied player simultaneously flips over 1 Coin card (they can choose the same card). Add up any extra points gained from the revealed card(s). Repeat this process if there is still a tie.
Variants
Teams of Two
Form teams of two and deal 1 Banner card to each team. Players cannot communicate their intentions or show their cards to each other. Each player takes turns like in the normal game.
Public Banner Cards
At the beginning of the game, instead of dealing 1 Banner card face down to each player, leave them all face up and visible to all players.
On your turn, before or after playing your card, you can take one of the available Banner cards. You must keep it for the rest of the game. The first player to take a Banner card will gain 1 extra point during final scoring. All players must have a Banner card before playing their final card.
Warrior Powers
Knight
Each Knight card has an ongoing power that protects each Faction card that is orthogonally adjacent to the Knight from other Faction card powers. It does not protect itself.
Mage
Each Mage card lets you swap a card orthogonally adjacent to the Mage (except the Piggy) with a card in your hand.
- If the swapped card is a Warrior, you must play the new card as a Warrior. The new card must also follow all placement rules, but do not apply its power.
- If the swapped card is a Coin, you must play the new card as a Coin.
Orc
Each Orc card lets you flip a Warrior orthogonally adjacent to the Orc to its Coin side.
Viking
Each Viking card lets you flip a Coin orthogonally adjacent to the Viking to its Warrior side.
Credits
Designer: Ivan Alouges
Illustrator: Jules Dubost
Graphic design and publishing: Adrien Barthélemy
Credits and Special thanks: foxtrollgames.com/thanks
Contents: 24 Faction cards, 6 Banner cards, 1 Piggy card, this rulebook.
Published by Fox Troll Games — www.foxtrollgames.com — © 2022 - Pook - All rights reserved.