Rudolph
Rudolph Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Your goal in Rudolph is to put together the best Sleigh and Reindeer team to get the highest score so Santa Claus will choose your sleigh to deliver gifts to all the good little children in the world. Frantically collecting cards, we will select and position them to make the best combination of Sleigh and Reindeer. At the end of the game, whoever has most Gift Points will be the winner!
Components
- 65 Sleigh cards
- 12 Rudolph cards
- 5 Reindeer majority cards
- Rulebook
Features of a Card
a. Sleigh Part: Shows the condition you must fulfill in order to earn the Gift Points shown on the card.
b. Reindeer: Types of Reindeer that can be used to match the requirements for your Sleigh.
Setup
- Shuffle all 12 Rudolph cards and deal 2 to each player. Each player chooses 1 card and puts the other back in the box without revealing it.
- Shuffle the 65 Sleigh cards and deal 10 cards, face-down, to each player to create their own game deck. Players cannot look at their cards at this time.
- Place 1 Sleigh card from those left over face-up in the center of the table. If there are more cards left over, put them back in the box. They will not be used anymore in this game.
- Place the 5 Reindeer majority cards face-up to one side of the table, within reach of all players.
How to Play
There are no turns in Rudolph. The game is played over 10 rounds. During each round, all players play at the same time, carrying out these 3 actions:
- Reveal: Each player places the top card from their game deck face-down in the middle of the table. Once all the players have done this, these cards are all turned over and shown at the same time.
- Select: Once all the cards have been revealed (remember there are no turns), each player takes 1 card from the center of the table (the longer a player takes to choose a card, the fewer options will be left).
- Place: As soon as all players have taken a card, they place their card in their playing area to add to their Sleigh combination. There will always be 1 card left in the center of the table for the next round.
The 1st card taken by each player is placed in their area to start their Sleigh. Their Sleigh will then spread out to the left of that card while the Reindeer pulling their Sleigh will spread to the right as each card is placed.
Cards placed as part of the Sleigh (to the left of the 1st card) provide more scoring options. Cards placed as Reindeer (to the right of the 1st card) can form groups that fulfill the scoring requirements of their Sleigh.
End of the Game
The game ends after 10 full rounds have been played. Then each player places their Rudolph card on the right end of their row of cards, to lead the rest of their team of Reindeer. After that, the game moves on to the scoring phase.
How to Score
Whoever has the largest group of Reindeer of each of the different types gets the corresponding Reindeer majority card. If there is a tie, no one gets that Reindeer majority card.
Note: A group means Reindeer of the same type that are connected to each other (i.e., that are in an uninterrupted line in a row). 1 single Reindeer is a group of 1.
Example: In this case, a group of 4 light blue reindeer, a group of 1 light blue reindeer, 2 groups of 1 purple reindeer, and 1 group of 1 pink reindeer are formed.
To find your final score, you must add up:
- The Reindeer majority cards you earned.
- The points on all your Sleigh cards.
- Your Rudolph card.
After counting everything, the player who has the most Gift Points is the winner and Santa Claus will use their Sleigh to deliver gifts around the world! If there is a tie, the one who has the most Sleigh cards wins. If there is still a tie, whoever has the largest number of Reindeer majority cards wins. If there is still a tie after that, the tied players share the victory.
Examples of Sleigh Cards
- 5 points if you have more Reindeer of the type shown on this card than the other players (they do not need to be connected in groups, just the total number of that type of Reindeer). If there is a tie, all tied players can get the points shown on this card.
- 1 point for each Reindeer you have of the type shown on this card (they do not need to be connected in groups, just the total number of that type of Reindeer).
- 2 points for each set of 2 Reindeer you have that match the types shown on this card (they do not need to be connected, just the total number of matching sets).
- 4 points for each set of 3 Reindeer you have that match the types shown on this card (they do not need to be connected, just the total number of trios of that type of Reindeer).
Rudolph Cards
- 1 point for each group of 2 Reindeer of the same type (each group is only scored once).
- 2 points for each group of 3 Reindeer of the same type (each group is only scored once).
- 3 points for each group of 4 Reindeer of the same type (each group is only scored once).
- 1 point for each Sleigh card you have (the first card counts).
- 1 point for each Reindeer in your largest Reindeer group.
- 4 points for each set of 5 Reindeer you have that are each a different type (they do not need to be connected and can be selected from among all the Reindeer you have).
- At the end of the game, counts as 1 Reindeer of whatever type you choose (and will be connected to the 2 Reindeer on the card behind him).
- Grants 2 points. Additionally, it breaks ties for the Reindeer majority cards in your favor.
- The score farthest to the left on your Sleigh is doubled (the last Sleigh card that you placed).
- 1 point for each Reindeer of the type you have the second largest number of (they do not need to be connected, but out of the total, the type that you have the second most of).
- 3 points for each Reindeer of the type you have the least of (they do not need to be connected, just the number of that type out of the total).
- 3 points for each Reindeer that is the only one in a single horizontal line (either alone in the top or alone in the bottom row).