Scare It!
Scare It! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 32 animal cards
- 4 task cards: animal color
- 4 task cards: animal type
- These rules
Setup
- Shuffle all 32 animal cards and lay them out on the table so that they form the playing field: 4 rows of 8 columns, as shown in the setup illustration.
- Deal face down to each player two random task cards (for 2–4 players): one card of animal TYPE and one card of animal COLOR. At any moment of the game you may look at these cards, but do not show them to other players.
- The participant who last stroked a cat becomes the first player.
Now you are ready to play Scare It!
Goal of the Game
Each player has two task cards: one for the type of animal and one for the color of animal. Your goal is to make sure that by the end of the game as many animal cards as possible that match your tasks remain on the playing field. In other words, animals that match your task by COLOR or by TYPE.
- For a card of a matching color OR a matching type, the player scores one winning point.
- For a card that matches the task both by color AND by type, the player scores two winning points.
Gameplay (2 to 4 players)
The participants take turns. The first player makes the first move. After that, the turn passes from one participant to the next clockwise, until the end of the game.
First, all players must learn the rule they will follow for the whole game: the SCARE RULE. It is very simple: the elephant scares the dog, the dog scares the cat, the cat scares the mouse, and the mouse scares the elephant. A scared animal runs away from the field!
IMPORTANT: each animal can be scared only by certain other animals. So although the dog scares the cat and the cat scares the mouse, the dog cannot scare the mouse! On your turn, following the Scare Rule, you must choose any animal on the field and scare it with one of the animals located orthogonally adjacent to it: that is, from above, below, left or right.
MOVEMENT RULE. As soon as the animal you chose has scared another animal off the field, it may move into the emptied cell or remain where it is.
FALLING RULE. If there is an empty space under an animal card, that card inevitably falls into it.
Example:
- Masha decides to use the Yellow Cat to scare the Purple Mouse. The Purple Mouse leaves the row and is returned to the game box. Next, Masha decides to move the Yellow Cat into the empty cell left after the fleeing Purple Mouse.
- Then the Purple Cat must fall one cell down, into the empty space left after the Yellow Cat.
End of the Game and Scoring
The game ends as soon as one of the columns on the playing field empties, or when a player cannot make a move (no animal can scare another animal).
All players reveal their task cards (for convenience, lay them face up in front of themselves) and count their winning points.
As stated in the Goal of the Game, participants strive to have as many cards matching their tasks remaining on the playing field at the end, that is, animals matching the COLOR and TYPE on their task cards. Each player scores:
- First, 1 winning point for each card of a matching COLOR.
- Then, 1 winning point for each card of a matching TYPE.
Example:
- Misha's task cards are the yellow color and the Dog (animal type).
- Five yellow animals and three Dogs remain on the playing field, which bring Misha (5 + 3) = 8 winning points.
Game Modes
Teams of Two (4, 6 or 8 players)
In this variant the players are divided into teams of 2. One player in each team receives a task card with an animal type, and the other receives a task card with an animal color. IMPORTANT: the players may not share this information with each other.
Otherwise, follow the usual rules described in the Gameplay section, but change the end of the game: the participants win as teams. Add the points of both participants of one team together. Players may not change teams during the game.
All Included (2 to 8 players)
In this variant each player fights for themselves. During setup, the participants in turn receive ONE task card each: the first player receives a card with an animal type, the second a card with an animal color, the third a card with an animal type, and so on. The game is played by the usual rules, with one exception to the end-of-game rule: the battle ends when TWO columns have emptied.
When ONE of the columns empties, the game does not end. Move the remaining columns closer together, filling the gap. If another column empties, it ends the game.
There is a variant of this mode for young players. In this variant all rules stay the same, except that the game ends when ONE column empties.
Single Player
Set up the playing field as described in the Setup section. You do not take task cards.
Goal: in this mode you try to remove as many animal cards from the playing field as possible. To do this, make moves following the Scare Rule and remove the animals from the field one after another. Keep making moves until you can no longer scare any animal off the field. When a column on the field empties, move the remaining columns closer together, filling the gap.
The fewer animal cards remain on the field at the end of the game, the more honorable title you earn. Strive for the highest title! (See the table below.)
| Number of remaining cards | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | King of the Beasts |
| 2 | Lord of the Animals |
| 3 | Tamer |
| 4 | Animal Trainer |
Advanced variant: at the start of the game, draw one random task card with an animal type and one with an animal color. Your additional goal is to leave on the field the animal with these characteristics (matching color and type, for example, a yellow cat).