Totem Hoarder
Totem Hoarder Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Game Components
- 2 Fung Bodyguards
- 45 other creatures
- 2 reference cards
- 5 Totems
2. Overview
In Totem Hoarder, two players compete to get Totem cards into their teams. When a player is up, they normally draw 1 card and play 1 card.
3. Setup
- Leave space in front of each player for their own team. Cards go there when they are played. Each team fits 10 cards: when a team is full, no more cards can be played or put into that team. For a better overview, arrange the team in 2 rows of 5 cards each.
- Place 1 Fung Bodyguard in each team.
- Shuffle the remaining cards and place them face down on the table. This is the draw pile.
- Each player draws 6 cards from the draw pile. Tip: there is no limit to the number of cards in your hand.
- Leave a space for destroyed and discarded creatures. This is the discard pile.
- The player who can name the most fish species starts.
(The German rulebook prints this step as written. It is transcribed as printed.)
4. Goal
You win if your team has 3 Totems and no Spooky Skellies at the end of your turn.
You lose immediately if your team has 4 Spooky Skellies.
5. Cards
Tribe. Every creature belongs to a tribe: Fungs, Roaches, Karps or Spookies.
Action. Carry this out (and only then) when you play this card from your hand.
Bonus. Do NOT carry this out when you play this card. Instead, bonuses in your team wait to be triggered in future turns:
- Roach bonuses in your team are triggered every time you play a Roach.
- Karp bonuses in your team are triggered every time you play a Karp.
Bodyguard. These armoured creatures protect your team! When your opponent strikes or hypnotizes your team, they must choose your Bodyguard.
Karp Impostor. These Karps trigger your Karp bonuses AND Roach bonuses (in any order).
Spooky Skelly. These creatures can stop the card your opponent plays. Stopping a Totem is particularly devastating (see "9. Spooky Skellies").
Totems. You win when you have these in your team. Totems are not creatures and react differently to destruction (see "6. Keyword: Destroy") or being stopped (see "9. Spooky Skellies").
Totems have two actions! Carry them out in any order.
6. Keyword: Destroy
Some cards or rules will ask you to "destroy" a card.
- Destroy a creature: place it on the discard pile.
- Destroy a Totem: move it to the other team (if there is space).
7. How to Play
When it is your turn, follow these two steps in order:
- Draw or Return
- Play or Clean Up
Most things in the game are optional. You may skip one of the steps above. When you play a card, you may skip any action or the bonuses.
1. Draw or Return
- Draw: Discard a creature if you have more than 6 cards in your hand (otherwise you discard none), then draw 1 card from the draw pile.
- Return: If your team is smaller than your opponent's team (e.g. it contains fewer cards), take 1 card from your team back into your hand.
2. Play or Clean Up
- Play: Place 1 card from your hand into your team. First carry out the action(s) of the played card. Afterwards, if the card triggered bonuses, carry those out too.
- Clean Up: Destroy 1 Roach, 1 Karp, 1 Spooky Skelly and 1 Fung in your team. If you have no creatures of a particular tribe, skip that one. A Karp Impostor is only a Karp, not a Roach.
You were stopped? Your turn is NOT over! You can play another card, clean up, or end your turn (see "9. Spooky Skellies").
8. Symbol Key
- Strike: Destroy a card in any team. When you strike your opponent, you must choose a Bodyguard if possible.
- Hypnotize: Move a card from one team to another (if there is space). Ignore that card's bonus this turn. You cannot hypnotize cards in your own team that you played this turn. When you hypnotize your opponent's cards, you must choose a Bodyguard if possible.
- Poison: A player of your choice (you or your opponent) must sort out and destroy half (rounded down) of the cards in their own team.
- Draw 1: Take 1 card from the draw pile and add it to your hand.
- Draw 2: Take 2 cards from the draw pile and add them to your hand.
- Steal: Take 2 random cards from your opponent's hand. Keep one in your hand and give the other back.
- Return: Take 1 card from your team back into your hand. You cannot return cards that you played this turn.
9. Spooky Skellies
Spooky Skellies can be used to interrupt the card your opponent plays ("Stop!"). They can also be used to avoid an interruption ("Don't stop!"). These are the only cards you can play during your opponent's turn. See "12. Spooky Examples" below to see how it works.
Stop! When your opponent plays a card you do not like, immediately place a Spooky Skelly in your team:
- Skip actions and bonuses: The stopped card stays where it is, but its action cannot be carried out and its bonuses are not triggered.
- Move a stopped Totem: If the stopped card is a Totem, move it to the other team (if there is space).
The turn of the stopped player is NOT over. The opponent may play another card, clean up, or end the turn.
Don't stop! When your opponent stops you, you may play a Spooky Skelly of your own:
- Continue normally: You may carry out the action and bonuses as usual.
- Do not move the stopped Totem. Your opponent may play ANOTHER Spooky Skelly and try to stop your card again!
This can go back and forth for as long as both players have Spooky Skellies to play. Remember: if you get 4 into your team, you lose!
10. When Nothing Is Left in the Draw Pile
The first time this happens, remove the Fung Bodyguards from the discard pile. Then shuffle the discard pile to form a new draw pile. Continue playing normally.
The second time this happens, the player who drew the last card finishes their turn normally. Then the other player takes one final turn. The player with the most Totems in their team wins. If both players have the same number, the player with the fewest Spooky Skellies in their team wins.
11. End of the Game
The game ends when either:
- one of the players wins or loses (see "4. Goal"), or
- nothing is left in the draw pile for the second time (see "10. When Nothing Is Left in the Draw Pile").
12. Spooky Examples
Stopping a creature. You play a creature, but your opponent stops you by placing a Spooky Skelly in their team! The stopped card stays where it is, but you cannot carry out its action or trigger its bonuses. You may then play another card, clean up, or end your turn.
Captions in the rulebook: NO ACTION; NO BONUS.
Stopping a Totem. Do not carry out the actions of the stopped Totem (see above). The Totem is also moved to your opponent's team (if there is space).
Captions in the rulebook: NO ACTION; MOVE (VERSCHIEBEN).
Don't stop. You have been stopped (examples above). You respond by playing a Spooky Skelly! You may carry out the action and bonuses of the played card as usual. If the card you played is a Totem (example above), it is NOT moved.
13. Common Mistakes
- Actions and bonuses are optional. You can always skip some or all of them.
- If you are stopped, your turn does NOT end automatically. You can still play another card or clean up.
- Do not forget the bonuses. Always check your team for bonuses after you play a card.
- You cannot hypnotize or return cards from your team that you played this turn. This includes stopped cards and Spooky Skellies.
- Totems can never end up in the discard pile. If a Totem is destroyed, move it to the other team instead. When discarding cards from your hand, you can only discard creatures.
- When moving or hypnotizing a card, you may NOT carry out its action. You can only carry out a card's action when you play it from your hand.