Waka Tanka Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
• Object of the Game
• Set-up
• Game Turn
  • Play a Card
  • Call a Bluff
  • Attempt to Cast a Spell
• End of the Game

Game Contents

• 42 cards (6 for each of the 6 Animals + 6 Mice)
• 6 round Animal tiles
• 19 Apprentice tokens
• 1 Totem
• 1 Indian marker
• 1 Rules leaflet

Object of the Game

Each player is a young apprentice who is trying to summon the sacred animals at the feet of the Sioux Tribe Totem.

The players take turns to invoke the Great Shaman and make one of the six Totemic Animals appear. Unfortunately, sometimes they don't remember the proper invocation and do not have the corresponding Animal card in their hand. Since the cards are played face down, some apprentices may play the card of a different animal to keep up appearances. It's up to the other players to see through the trick and expose them...

Waka Tanka is a game for the entire family, with simple rules, tricks, and bluffing.

Set-up

Assemble and place the Totem at the center of the table.

Place the 6 Animal tiles (Coyote, Puma, Bear, Owl, Buffalo, and Eagle) around it, in a circle. Choose one of these tiles at random and place the Indian marker on it.

Place the Apprentice tokens at the feet of the Totem.

• In a 3-player game, remove 2 cards of each of the 6 Animals and 2 Mice cards.
• In a 4-player game, remove 1 card of each of the 6 Animals and 1 Mice card.
• In a 5- or 6-player game, use all the cards.

Shuffle the remaining cards and distribute all of them to the players. They may look at their own hand, but have to keep it secret from the other players.

The youngest player plays first, then the player to their left, and so on. The first player places one card face down on one "Animal" tile, according to the following rules.

Game Turn

During their turn, the players do one of the following:

• Play one card face down, in front of one Animal; or
• Call the bluff of the previous player; or
• Attempt to cast a spell.

Play a Card

The player moves the Indian marker one tile (1/6 of the way around the totem), placing it on the previous or the following animal. Then they play one of their own cards, face down, in front of that animal, and declare that they have played a card that matches that animal.

For example, if a player plays a card in front of the Coyote, they have to state it's a Coyote card, even if this is not true.

If there are already other cards in front of the Coyote tile, place the new card on top of them, to build a stack. You should shift the cards a bit so that all players are able to count them.

Since they have to move the Indian one tile before placing the card, the player may only place their card in front of the animal that's immediately to the right or left of the animal where the last card was played.

A player may choose not to play any card. In this case, they must either call the bluff of the previous player, or attempt to cast a "spell".

Call a Bluff

If the previous player placed a card in front of an Animal, the following player may call the bluff and declare that card is different from the one that was announced.

Reveal all cards in front of that Animal tile:

• If the last played card matches the animal tile, the player who wrongly called the bluff must take all the revealed cards into their hand.
• If the last played card does not match the animal tile, the player who made the false statement must take all the revealed cards into their hand, and the player who called the bluff gains one Apprentice token.

Mice are always bad cards since there is no Mouse in the totem of the Tribe. In order to get rid of them, the players have to bluff.

Attempt to Cast a Spell

The player chooses one Animal (no matter which: it does not have to be next to the Indian marker) and reveals all cards in front of it:

• If there are at least 2 cards of that Animal in the stack, the spell is a success and the player gains one Apprentice token. Remove all revealed cards from the game.
• If there are fewer than 2 cards of that Animal in the stack, the spell fails and the player takes all the revealed cards into their hand.

End of the Game

The winner is the first player who has no cards in hand or who has 4 Apprentice tokens.

Note: When a player places their last card, victory is not immediate: the next player still has the chance to call the bluff and, of course, it's the most appropriate thing to do! If the player was really bluffing, the game continues — unless the denouncing player in this way gains their 4th Apprentice token and wins the game.

Tactical Advice: When a player plays their last card and has no other choice than to bluff, they should attempt to place it in front of an Animal where there are already other cards. Otherwise, the player will get back one single card that the opponents already know.