Scribbly Gum Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game contents
• Setting up the game
• Playing the game
  • Starting a round
  • Playing a turn
  • Extra moves
  • Important rules
  • End of the turn
  • End of the round
• End of the game
• Advanced version
• Solo version
• Classroom play

Game contents

• 1 pad of tree diagrams
• 8 movement tiles
• 8 achievement tiles (only used in the advanced version)
• 3 letter tiles (only used in the advanced version)

Each turn a movement tile is flipped over. It tells all the players which direction they can draw a line on their tree.

Each achievement tile shows an extra way to score points. The front side of each tile is coloured gold and the back side is silver.

The letter tiles are used to label each achievement tile.

The main light grey area of the diagram is called the tree. This is where most of the game happens as you draw lines from circle to circle to collect food.

The dark grey area on the right is called the meal tracker. This is where you record all the food you have collected during the game.

The green area at the bottom is where you record and add up your score.

The front side of the diagram is called the 'Kuringgai' side and the back is called the 'Mooloolah' side.

If your pad runs out, you can print more diagrams for free from www.joeygames.com.au/scribblygum

Setting up the game

Each player takes a tree diagram from the pad and puts it on the table in front of them with the 'Kuringgai' side showing.

Find a marker or pen for each player to use. Dark colours or black work best.

Write your name at the bottom of your diagram. The oldest player is called the mother moth. They have the special job of turning over a movement tile each turn.

Leave the achievement tiles and letter tiles in the box, they are only used in the advanced version of the game.

After you have played a few times, try using the 'Mooloolah' side of the tree diagram. The rules are the same, but the layout of the tree will make the game feel different. All players must use the same side of the diagram.

Playing the game

The game is played over 3 rounds. Each round is made up of 7 turns. Instead of taking turns, all the players play each turn together at the same time.

Starting a round

The mother moth gathers all 8 movement tiles. They shuffle them well and place them in a face-down pile in the middle of the table. Each round, 1 movement tile will not be used. So now the mother moth takes the top movement tile from the pile and puts it back in the box, without anyone looking at it. Next, the mother moth places the remaining 7 tiles in a face-down line on the table, called the row.

Playing a turn

To start a turn, the mother moth flips over the left-most face-down movement tile in the row, so it is face-up. This means that on the first turn of the round, the first tile in the row will be flipped over. On the second turn of the round, the second tile will be flipped over, and so on.

This tile that was just flipped tells every player what sort of line they can draw this turn.

Everyone now draws their line at the same time. You may not look at what the other players are drawing until you finish your line.

Here's how you draw a line. First, choose any filled-in circle on your diagram. The 4 circles around the baby moth picture count as filled-in circles. Next, trace a line coming out of this circle in the direction shown on the movement tile, following the printed line.

Your line will connect to a new circle. You must fill this circle in with your marker to collect the food that is inside. To record what you have collected, fill in the corresponding circle(s) on your meal tracker.

Here's what each movement tile means:

• LEFT: Draw a line from any filled-in circle to the left.
• RIGHT: Draw a line from any filled-in circle to the right.
• UP: Draw a line from any filled-in circle upwards.
• DOWN: Draw a line from any filled-in circle downwards.
• LEFT/RIGHT: Draw a line from any filled-in circle to the left OR right - it's your choice.
• UP/DOWN: Draw a line from any filled-in circle upwards OR downwards - it's your choice.
• DOTTED LINE: Draw a line from any filled-in circle that has a dotted line coming out of it, along that dotted line.

Here is what each type of circle lets you fill in:

• Leaf (1): Fill in the next leaf.
• Leaf (2): Fill in the next 2 leaves.
• Leaf (3): Fill in the next 3 leaves.
• Nut (1): Fill in the next nut.
• Nut (2): Fill in the next 2 nuts.
• Nut (3): Fill in the next 3 nuts.
• Blossom (1): Fill in the next blossom.
• Blossom (2): Fill in the next 2 blossoms.
• Blossom (3): Fill in the next 3 blossoms.
• Mixed: Fill in the next nut, leaf, OR blossom - it's your choice.

Extra moves

If you fill in a circle on your meal tracker with 4 arrows around it, you get an extra move.

Immediately draw a line from any filled-in circle on your tree upwards, downwards, left, OR right - it's your choice. You may not draw along a dotted line. Collect what's inside the circle you come to as usual. It is possible to gain multiple extra moves in a single turn.

Important rules

• You must always draw along the lines printed on the tree. If there is no line coming out of a circle in a particular direction then you can't go that way.
• The only time you can draw along a dotted line is when the 'dotted line' movement tile has been turned over.
• If a line or circle has already been filled in, you may not draw over it again.
• On the rare turn that you have no legal line to draw, you simply do nothing that turn.
• When filling in your meal tracker, you must always fill in each column from the top down.
• If you have a full column of 15 food, you may still fill in that food on your tree, but you don't fill in anything on your meal tracker.
• The movement tiles from previous turns are left face-up in the row. Some players might like to keep track of which tiles have already been used.

End of the turn

Once everyone has finished drawing on their diagram, the turn is over. If there are any face-down movement tiles left in the row, the next turn now begins. If all 7 tiles are face-up, the round is over.

End of the round

After 7 turns, all the movement tiles in the row will be face-up and the round is over. Everyone scores points for the number of meals they have collected.

A meal is made up of 1 nut, 1 leaf and 1 blossom. Look at your meal tracker and find the lowest row that has all 3 types of food filled in. The number next to this row is how many meals you have collected.

Write this number in the 'total meals' circle that corresponds to the current round at the bottom of your diagram. In each round you score all the meals you have collected in the whole game so far.

It is now time to start the next round, so grab the unused movement tile back out of the box and head back to the 'Starting a round' section of the rules to start again.

If 3 rounds are complete then the game is over. You will know this because you have filled in all 3 'total meals' circles.

End of the game

After 3 rounds the game is over. First, everyone checks to see if they scored any column bonus points. You will see these listed below the 15th circle of each type of food on your meal tracker. 3 points are awarded if you collected 15 nuts, 15 leaves or 15 blossoms. You may collect multiple column bonuses. Write the total number of column bonus points you scored in the 'column bonus' circle at the bottom of your diagram.

Now it's time to add up your final score. Add all the numbers in the 3 'total meals' circles and the 'column bonus' circle. Write the sum in your 'final score' circle. The yellow 'achievements' circles are only used in the advanced version.

Whoever has the highest score wins!

In the case of a tie, the tied player with the most column bonus points wins. If it is still tied, then the tied players win together.

Advanced version

Once you have played a few times, you might like to try the advanced version for an extra challenge. In the advanced version achievement tiles are used. These tiles give you new ways to score points. You can use 1, 2 or 3 achievements in your game. The more you use, the more complicated it will get.

During setup, choose the 1-3 achievement tiles you want to use and place them in the middle of the table with the gold side face-up. Place a letter tile above each achievement. Use the A tile when using 1 achievement, the A and B tiles when using 2 achievements, and the A, B, and C tiles when using 3 achievements. The letter tiles simply label each achievement for when you score it on your diagram.

At the end of each turn, all players check to see if they have met the conditions listed on any achievement. If you did, you score the points indicated on the tile. These points are written in the 'achievement' circle with the corresponding letter at the bottom of your diagram.

A player may score multiple achievements on a single turn.

The first player to score an achievement gets the points listed on the gold side of the tile and then flips that tile over to its silver side. All other players can still score this achievement on any future turn, but it is now worth fewer points.

If multiple players are the first to score an achievement on the same turn, then they all score the points listed on the gold side. Then the tile is flipped over as usual.

Example: the player has filled in every circle in the bottom row of their tree so they score achievement B. Achievement B has been scored for the first time, so it is flipped over to the silver side. It is now only worth 3 points instead of 5.

At the end of the game, add all the points in your 'achievement' circles to your final score.

Solo version

You can also play Scribbly Gum by yourself. Gameplay works just like the rules of the advanced version, with these differences:

Set up the game with 3 randomly-chosen achievement tiles on their gold sides.

Play as normal. If you complete an achievement, score the points currently indicated on its tile. At the end of round 2, you must flip all 3 achievement tiles over to their silver side. This means if you complete an achievement in round 1 or 2 you get the points listed on the gold side of its tile, and if you complete it in round 3 you get the points listed on its silver side.

At the end of the game see how good your score is by consulting this chart:

Score	Rating
0-14	You're still just a larva, but there is plenty of time to grow.
15-19	Gum on, you can do better than that!
20-24	Nice scribbling! Can you improve even more?
25-29	Now you're really starting to blossom!
30-34	You are a regular moth Matisse!
35+	Scribbly Gum champion of the bush!

See if you can beat your top score!

Classroom play

You can play Scribbly Gum with any number of players, even a whole classroom. Play the game as usual, with the teacher acting as the mother moth.

The mother moth flips a movement tile as usual on each turn, but they will need to announce what it is out loud to all the players. If you have an interactive smartboard or screen, you can use the digital tiles instead (see instructions at www.joeygames.com.au/scribblygum). This will make it easier for everyone to see them.

To help the game run smoothly, each turn when a player finishes drawing they should raise their hand. When all players have their hands up, the mother moth will know it is time for the next turn.

You can also play this way remotely with any number of players in a video conference. Each player can use a physical tree diagram from the game if they have one, or you can print out a PDF version from the website. You can even save paper and draw digitally onto the PDF with your software's markup function. The mother moth player can hold up the movement tiles to their camera or share their screen and use the digital versions.