Too Sloth To Win Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal
• Setup
• Round Progression
• Suspicious Drink
• End of Round
• End of Game
• No-Board Variant

Components

• 40 Running Cards
• 5 Suspicious Drink Cards
• 1 Track Board
• 6 Trophies / Cash Chips
• 10 Meeples / Tokens
• 1 Rulebook

Goal

This is a climbing game where players take turns playing stronger combinations of cards to advance along the race track. Every time you play a combination, your meeple moves forward a number of spaces equal to the number of cards played. Reach the 9th space or beyond to cross the finish line. Just keep two simple things in mind:

First, race to first-place with true sportsmanship, and enjoy the glory of a shiny but not-so-useful trophy.

Or, team up in the match-fixing scheme and finish second to walk away with cold, hard cash - worth more than honor, isn't it?

Setup

1. Shuffle the 40 Running Cards (or 30 cards if playing with 3 players, with all 7s and 8s removed), then deal 8 cards to each player. In addition, give each player 1 Suspicious Drink Card. Each player takes these 9 cards into their hand and checks them privately. The remaining cards will not be used in this round.
2. Place the Track Board in the center of the table, and place one meeple per player at the starting line. Give each player a token that matches the color of one of the meeples. The meeple matching your token is your own.
3. Place 3 Trophies and 3 Cash Chips next to the Track Board.
4. The player who most recently drank a caffeinated drink becomes the Pacemaker (first player) and starts the first round. From the second round onward, the first-place player from the previous round becomes the new Pacemaker.

Round Progression

1. Starting with the Pacemaker, each player takes turns playing a combination of cards in front of them. There are three types of combinations: Single, Jump and Run.
   • Single: 1 card (e.g. 2).
   • Jump: 2~3 cards of the same number (e.g. 7-7, 7-7-7).
   • Run: 2~3 cards in numerical sequence (e.g. 4-5, 4-5-6).
2. Turns proceed clockwise. On your turn, you must either: play a stronger combination than the one currently on the table, or declare "pass" and skip your turn.
3. Whenever you play a combination, advance your meeple by the same number of spaces as the number of cards you played (1 to 3 spaces). The previous combination is no longer active - flip it over or remove it from the table. Stronger combinations generally: have more cards, and contain higher numbers.
   • Single: The weakest type of combination. Among singles, higher numbers are stronger.
   • Jump / Run: Stronger than singles. A 3-card combination is stronger than a 2-card one, and if the number of cards is the same, the one with higher numbers is stronger.
   • Important: There is no strength hierarchy between Jumps and Runs. For example, if the current combination is a Jump like "2-2", you cannot play a Run such as "3-4-5". Jumps can only be beaten by Jumps, and Runs can only be beaten by Runs.
   • Examples: Single 2 -> Stronger Single 8. Jump 7-7 -> Stronger Jump 4-4-4. Run 6-7 -> Stronger Run 3-4-5.
4. When you pass, you must take one of the cards at either end of the current combination to your hand (for Runs, either the highest or lowest number). As a result, a 3-card combination becomes a 2-card combination, and a 2-card combination becomes a Single.

Suspicious Drink

The "Suspicious Drink" is a wild card handed to you by figures in black suits, used to enhance your combinations. You must use it before the first player finishes the race - otherwise, you'll be disqualified due to drug possession, so timing is key.

1. On your turn, you may declare the Suspicious Drink as any number from 1 to 9 and use it as part of a Jump or a Run. It cannot be played as a Single. Until a stronger combination is played, the drink is treated as the declared number. However, if the Suspicious Drink ends up alone on the table (e.g. after others pass), it is treated as a Single "9".
   • Examples: a drink with 4 and 6 can be declared 5, making "4-5-6"; a drink with a 5 can be declared 5 ("5-5") or 4 or 6 ("4-5" / "5-6"). Not playable as a Single. Max 1 per combination.
2. When passing, you may take a previously played Suspicious Drink into your hand, as per the usual rules. However, you cannot use more than one Suspicious Drink in a single combination - overdosing can be fatal!

End of Round

1. When a player is the first to reach the finish line, they immediately stop moving, claim 1 Trophy, and check the following conditions:
   1. If any other player (except for the first-place in a race) is still holding a Suspicious Drink at this point, they are immediately eliminated from the round due to drug possession. However, the first-place finisher is still recognized as the first-place, even if they're holding a Suspicious Drink.
   2. If, unfortunately, all remaining players are eliminated for drug possession, the first-place player also claims 1 Cash Chip, and the round ends immediately.
   • Important: If someone is eliminated before anyone finishes the race - because they couldn't beat a Single, for example - the organizers grow suspicious, and the match-fixing scheme falls apart. In this case, and this case only, the win condition changes: as soon as someone finishes the race, they claim both 1 Trophy and 1 Cash Chip, and the round ends.
2. All players except the first-place finisher and any eliminated players continue the round. Taking turns in clockwise order, players must either play a stronger combination than the last one played (i.e., the combination used by the first-place player to reach the finish line) or pass. If everyone passes, the player to the left of the first-place finisher becomes the new Pacemaker and may play any combination.
3. The player who reaches the finish line second is considered to have successfully fixed the race and claims 1 Cash Chip. If, after the first-place finisher, all other players are eliminated except one, that player is still treated as the second-place finisher.
4. Reshuffle the Running Cards and proceed to the next round.

Example of a 4-player game: Players A, B, C, and D are competing.

1. Player A is the first to reach the finish line. Player B, who still held a Suspicious Drink at that point, is immediately eliminated.
2. A claims 1 Trophy, and only players C and D continue playing.
3. C is unable to play a stronger combination than A's last one, so they pass and take 1 card into their hand. With the current combination now weakened, D plays a stronger combination and reaches the finish line in second place.
4. Having successfully fixed the race, D gains 1 Cash Chip.

End of Game

1. After 3 rounds, the player with the most Cash Chips wins the game. If someone has the most Trophies... well, it doesn't really mean much, but they do receive everyone's applause.
2. In the event of a tie, the player with more Trophies wins. If it's still a tie, the player who most recently gained a Cash Chip wins.

No-Board Variant

You can also enjoy the game without the Track Board, meeples, or tokens. In this variant, a player is considered to have crossed the finish line once they empty their hand. With a greater emphasis on hand management, this version plays more like a traditional climbing game - offering a different kind of tension from the standard rules.