Stubborn Mules
Stubborn Mules Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
1 board, 5 mules, 3 shepherds, 3 dice (6 colors)
Preparation
Depending on the number of players, use the following mules and shepherds:
- 2 players: red, orange, yellow, green mules / blue, purple shepherds
- 3 players: red, orange, yellow mules and all shepherds
- 4 players: red, orange, yellow, green mules / blue, purple shepherds
- 5 players: all mules and purple shepherd
The mules and shepherds thus cover all 6 colors. Place the mules and shepherds behind the starting line of the board. Each player chooses one of the mules. The shepherds are neutral. [In a 2-player game 2 mules are neutral, too.]
Play
The most mulish player will start the game by rolling all three dice. Depending on the dice the mules and shepherds are moved:
- 1 field forward if their color is on only one die
- 1 field backward if their color is on exactly two dice
- 3 fields forward if their color is on all three dice
The player who rolled the dice decides about the chronology of the moves. Once a mule or a shepherd started the race into the board, they can't be back out of the game with the backward movement.
After the movement the player passes the dice to the player to his left without changing their colours.
[Example]
The previous player rolled 1 red and 2 yellow. Suzy decides to roll the 2 yellow dice, and gets 1 orange and 1 red. Now she has 2 red dice and 1 orange die. This means that the orange mule moves 1 field forward and the red mule moves 1 backward.
The next player must re-roll 1, 2 or all 3 dice of his choice and any die showing a colour that cannot be moved anymore. Turns continue this way until after a player's turn a mule or a shepherd has reached the end of the track. At this moment all mules and shepherds change direction and race back home. Continue playing as before. If a mule or a shepherd reaches the starting field again he is withdrawn and cannot be moved anymore.
The first player whose mule comes back home may continue playing his turns until all shepherds are back home, too. All players whose mules come back later must not roll dice anymore because they cannot win. (This does not apply to the 2-player game.)
End of the game
The game ends immediately (even within a player's turn) in the following cases:
A. If there is only one mule but no shepherd on the track. This last mule wins. [In a 2-player game, if it is a neutral mule the player whose mule came in last wins.]
B. If there are only shepherds on the track. The player whose mule came home first wins.