Supernatural Socks
Supernatural Socks Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
Your goal is to wash socks to earn points, while making sure your opponent's socks don't ever make it to their laundry basket.
Game Contents
- 1 first player token (maybe)
- A pair of socks (maybe)
- 76 Sock Cards
- 23 Ghost cards
- 4 Washer Cards
- 4 Dryer Cards
- 1 Lost Sock Pile card
- This rulebook
Game Setup
To set up the game put the lost sock pile in the middle of the table and put a washer & dryer in front of each player (with the washer on the left and the dryer on the right).
Now you'll need to shuffle the two decks after taking out a few cards. Let's begin with the ghost deck.
First get all the ghost deck together. Then, find one Terrible Tony ghost card and take that card out of the deck and place it off to the side.
- In a 2-player game take out four Wacky Wilbur cards and five Caring Caitlin cards and place them back in the gamebox.
- In a 3-player game take out two Wacky Wilbur cards and three Caring Caitlin cards.
- In a 4-player game no additional cards have to be taken out.
Shuffle the rest of the ghosts together and put the Terrible Tony that you took out at the bottom of the stack. Then put the deck in the middle of the table (to the right of the lost sock pile).
Now let's shuffle the sock deck. First, make sure there are no other cards mixed into the sock deck.
- In a 2-player game remove four Tighty Whities cards and four Dirty Sock cards and place them in the gamebox.
- In a 3-player game remove two Tighty Whities cards and two Dirty Sock cards and place them in the gamebox.
- In a 4-player game no cards need to be removed.
Take out one Toe Sock, one Dress Sock, an Ankle Sock, a Mismatch Sock, and a Kid Sock and put them face down under the Lost Sock Pile card. Shuffle the remaining sock cards together. Then deal seven cards to each player from the sock deck.
After dealing everyone's cards put the deck to the left of the Lost Sock Pile.
Choosing the Starting Player
If one player is wearing mismatched socks they are the starting player. If two players are wearing mismatched socks then they must play an epic game of rock, paper, scissors to decide who goes first (best out of 3).
If you're playing with 3-4 players and more than two players are wearing mismatched socks or no players are then all players must throw dirty socks at the other players until everyone else leaves angry and unwilling to play any game. Just kidding. Seriously, don't do that.
Instead, all players construct an epic tale of a lost sock (starting with the leftmost player and working clockwise around the table) or for a two-player game just play rock, paper, scissors. In the case of 3-4 player games with epic stories, all players must grab a sheet of paper and write whom they think should be starting player - don't pick yourself! The person with the most votes wins starting player and can brag about it for the rest of the game, and probably for several hours afterwards.
If all these options don't suffice your group will have to find another way to decide (get creative).
The winner will get the first player token.
How to Play a Round
Now that the game is set-up and a starting player has been chosen all players will look at their hand of seven sock cards and determine what to play.
Each player will play three sock cards face down.
If they play a pair each sock is worth more points assuming they reach the dryer together (though several cards will prevent that). For example, the Tighty Whities can be used to get an opponent's sock lost and is negative points for whomever it is played upon if it reaches their dryer. Dirty Socks can be used to prevent Tighty Whities from scoring by moving it back to the washer, where the player may throw them into another player's washer, thus repeating the effect.
Thus there are benefits and drawbacks of playing pairs or choosing not to.
If players play a pair they will only get one ghost card, but if they do not play a pair they can draw two ghost cards when they reveal their cards.
The cards are revealed in turn order beginning with the starting player and going clockwise around the table. Any cards that affect other players, such as Tighty Whities, will be placed in between the player's washer and dryer facing away from them (do not apply their effect immediately).
All the card effects and when they are resolved are included on page 8.
Remember: If revealing a pair draw one ghost card, otherwise draw two.
After all players reveal their socks Tighty Whities and Dirty Socks played on other players can have their effects applied (Dirty Socks played on other players can apply before Tighty Whities).
Once all socks are resolved players may chose to play one offensive ghost card in turn order. Wacky Wilbur cards used as defense can be played without counting towards that limit. Might change the number of ghost cards one can play. (Printed in blue in the source booklet.)
Once all players either play or decide not to play Ghost cards the turn ends and any socks in the washer will move to the dryer.
If there are any socks in the dryer these will be scored into a player's laundry basket before the socks in the washer move over.
Now the turn is over and the first player token will move clockwise around the table. All players must draw three more sock cards starting with the new player one and moving around the table clockwise.
This process repeats until the Ghost deck is depleted. Once the last Terrible Tony card is played the game ends. All players can elect to play any ghost cards they have in turn order and then all dryers except the one which is broken will score. The player with the highest points at the end the game will win. Though, the player with the coolest socks is the true winner.
Cards
The Sock cards have their name and a handy symbol at the top corner to show what they are at quick glance while in your hand.
Most importantly it shows how many points they are worth. The number listed for a pair is the total for the pair. For example, a pair of Kid Socks that makes their way to a player's laundry basket would score 8 points whereas a single would only score 3 points.
Each sock also has an ability. More about each individual ability are listed below.
Each ghost has a name at the top of the card and a description of how they change the game. More information about their individual goals are listed on page 10.
Specific Card Rules
Dress Socks are all business. They go straight to the dryer. When a player reveals their cards if they play dress sock(s) those effects will apply before any others.
Ankle Socks - A single Ankle Sock is particularly lonely. Therefore, it can "find" the top sock from the lost sock pile. This effect applies after Dress Socks and before any other sock effect.
Toe Socks are extra dirty. They must be washed twice to get clean. At the end of the turn place them sideways to denote they are on their second cycle or place any generic counter on them.
Their effect's order does not matter. Tighty Whities do not work on Toe Socks on their second cycle. Though, ghost cards can still mess with them. If a Caring Caitlin card is played to take a Toe Sock on its second cycle the player that gets the sock will still have to wash it two turns.
Kid Socks - If a pair of kid socks reach the dryer that player can draw one extra card and then send one of the eight cards in hand to the lost sock pile.
Mismatched Socks - For Mismatched Socks the more is definitely the merrier. Three mismatched socks are worth even more than a pair and mismatched socks can even find friendship with Dirty Socks.
Dirty Socks - Remember that gym sock from high school? Put it in any dryer to ruin the laundry (thus sending everything back to the washer). Dirty Socks can either be played on a player's own washer or an opponent's.
The Dirty Sock effect applies after Dress Socks, and Ankle Socks but before Tighty Whities.
Tighty Whities - Those gross undies you found on the laundry mat floor can be thrown into an opponent's washer! The opponent must shuffle all cards in their washer (other than Toe Socks on their second cycle). Next, they must fan out the cards and the opponent who played the Tighty Whities can randomly select one to be shuffled into the lost sock pile.
Tighty Whities act as negative points to the player they are placed on. Though, a Dirty Sock can be used to send them back to the washer where their effect will apply again*.
* When Dress Socks and Ankle Socks move back their effects do not apply again.
Ghost Cards
Caring Caitlin is an incredibly loving ghost who is simply interested in collecting socks. She doesn't mean any harm. she can take an opponent's sock OR "Find" two socks in the lost sock pile.
When she takes an opponent's sock it is from their washer. She doesn't like how hot socks get in the dryer. When she finds socks from the lost sock pile she can scavenge through to find her favorites (though it is a hard decision as she loves them all very much).
Defensive Dave is a bruiser. He is not really after socks and thinks his friend's interest in them is peculiar. He can protect a player's socks the following turn.
Even Tighty Whities won't be able to get a sock lost from that player (though they would still receive negative points if a Tighty Whities card were played on them and reached their dryer).
Tony is interested in socks just about as much as he is fascinated with destruction. He is a menace.
When any player draws a Terrible Tony card it is played immediately. It may be played on any player. Their dryer will break so they will be unable to score points for the turn. Though, for the first two instances a player could use their broken dryer to create more pairs of socks and score more points. However, on the last occurrence the game will end and the player with a broken dryer will not be able to score any points for the round.
Wacky Wilbur is the crazy dude of the group. He doesn't quite know what he is doing. Sometimes he is stopping Caring Caitlin from taking socks and at other times he is stealing socks from other washers.
He's truly all over the place.
When he blocks a lost sock he can be played off turn and does not count for a player's Ghost card played that turn. Any player can block as many times as they can each turn and play one offensive card.
All Your Basics
Scoring
At the end of the turn any socks that are in a dryer are scored (unless a card says otherwise). Any socks that remain in the washer will be moved to the dryer at the start of the next turn (unless a card says otherwise).
Winning / Game End
The player with the most points at the end of the game will win. The game ends when the final Terrible Tony card is played (when the Ghost deck runs out).