Winston
Winston Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 66 dog cards (3 heads and 8 bodies for each dog color)
- 4 size cards (marked 2, 3, 4 and 5+)
- 2 wooden pieces (bone and poo)
- 3 rules booklets
Aim of the Game
To win the most points possible by creating and collecting the longest dogs you can make.
Before Starting
- Put the wooden pieces and the size cards on the table.
- Shuffle the dog cards.
- Give five dog cards to each player.
- Make a pile with the remaining dog cards, face down, in the middle of the table.
How to Play
Play starts and proceeds in a clockwise direction. The player with the longest first name starts the game. On your turn, you must play a minimum of 2 cards. You may carry out one or more of the following actions. They can be repeated.
Start a New Dog
You may start a new dog with a head or a body card. You cannot start a dog if there is already one of the same color on the table.
Extend a Dog
Add a head or a body to a dog on the table.
Note: All players create and extend the same dogs, in the center of the table.
A dog can only have one head but it can have multiple bodies. If a dog has no head yet, you can extend it with a body or a head. But if a dog already has a head, you can only extend it by adding a body.
Note: You may extend a dog on the table only by adding cards of the same color.
You can repeat this action as many times as you want when it's your turn. You can extend another dog or extend again the same dog.
Complete a Dog
At the end of your turn (once you have played at least two cards and don't want to play any more cards) you have to take ALL dogs that are now complete. You cannot choose not to take a complete dog.
A dog is complete if it has one head and two bodies (or more). Watch out: the longer the dog, the more points you get!
You can add multiple bodies to one dog to complete it. You can also complete several dogs during your turn. The player who completes a dog takes the cards and places them in a pile, face down in front of him. He has now won the dog. Each dog must be kept in a separate pile in order to count the points at the end of the game. (Variant for younger players: place completed dogs face up.)
Poo and Bone
Whoever completes and collects the first dog, gets the bone and the poo. They also get the size card corresponding to the assembled dog's size (the number of body parts that make up the dog, not including the head).
Later in the game, whoever gets a dog that is as long as or longer than the longest dog assembled at that point, takes the bone as well as the corresponding size card.
Whoever collects a dog that is as short or shorter than the shortest dog assembled at that point takes the poo and the corresponding size card.
Note: The highest card is "5+", but it's possible to collect a dog longer than 5 bodies if you are really good (or lucky). To take the bone from a player who collected a dog longer than 5 bodies (for example a dog with 6 bodies), you still need to collect a dog as long or longer (ex. 6 bodies or more), even if the size card only says 5+.
Refill Your Hand
At the end of your turn, replenish your hand with cards from the draw pile, ensuring you have five cards. If the draw pile is empty, no more cards can be taken. The next player then takes their turn.
Watch Out!
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When taking your turn, you must play a minimum of 2 cards.
Do you only have head cards that are already on the table? Then you can't play! Put one of your head cards under the draw pile, then take a new card from the pile. Make sure the other players see which card you discard. Are there no more cards to draw? Keep your cards and skip your turn. It's a dogs life sometimes!
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Dogs must be assembled with cards of the same color.
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Dogs can only have one head, of course. You may start a new dog with a head or a body.
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A new dog can only be started if no dog of the same color is already on the table.
End of the Game and Scoring
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The game ends when the last card is played.
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The players count the body cards per dog they have assembled.
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The longer the dog, the more points:
- 2 bodies = 1+2 = 3
- 3 bodies = 1+2+3 = 6
- 4 bodies = 1+2+3+4 = 10
- 5 bodies = 1+2+3+4+5 = 15
- 6 bodies = 1+2+3+4+5+6 = 21
- etc.
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The player who is left with the bone scores 6 extra points. Well done!
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The player who is left with the poo loses 6 points. Sorry!
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Whoever has the most points wins.
Counting Trick
Regroup side by side the stacks with the same dog's length. It makes it faster to count:
- 3 points x number of dogs with 2 bodies
- 6 points x number of dogs with 3 bodies
- etc.