Zoomies Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Components
  • Dog Tiles
  • Scoring Tokens
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Making a Pack
  • Placing a Dog Tile
  • Placing a Token
  • Understanding Scoring Tokens
    • Leader
    • Bones
    • Frens
    • Zoomies
  • Drawing New Dog Tiles
• Game End
• Scoring
  • Sample Scoring
• Scoring Reminders
  • Leader
  • Bones
  • Frens
  • Zoomies

Objective

Score the most points by playing dog tiles and scoring tokens. Each turn you will play a dog tile to the middle of the table, matching at least 1 type of dog, and then place 1 of your tokens on that tile to create scoring opportunities. Scores are totaled at the end of the game, so every token you play can score bigger and bigger as the game continues.

Components

• 50 Dog tiles
• 32 double-sided scoring tokens (4 circular and 4 square, each in 4 colors)
• Rulebook

Dog Tiles

Each Dog tile has 2 dogs of 5 possible breeds on it. The 5 breeds are chihuahuas, poodles, beagles, huskies, and greyhounds. One dog on each tile has a Bone icon and some dog tiles will also have one dog with the "Zoomies." Zoomies dogs have running dog artwork and a paw-print icon.

Scoring Tokens

All tokens are double-sided, so there are 2 ways to play each token. The four types of scoring options are Bones, Frens, Leader, and Zoomies. Bones and Frens are on the square tokens. Leader and Zoomies are on the circular tokens.

Setup

1. Each player chooses a color and takes all 8 tokens of that color (4 circular and 4 square).
2. Arrange the starting tiles: a. Draw 3 dog tiles at random and lay them faceup next to each other in the middle of the play area, in any order. These dogs do not need to match. These are the starting tiles that players will make matches with.
3. Shuffle the remaining dog tiles facedown and give each player 2 tiles. Players may look at their own tiles but should keep them hidden from other players.
4. Place the stack of remaining dog tiles facedown near the starting tiles. This will be the draw pile.
5. The player who owns the most dogs (in real life) goes first.

How to Play

Each turn you will perform the following 3 steps in this order:

1. Place a dog tile.
2. Place a scoring token.
3. Draw up.

You must place a dog tile, and you must place (or discard) a token each turn. See below for details.

Points are not scored until the end of the game.

Making a Pack

Any grouping of the same breed of dogs that are touching is called a "Pack." A Pack is usually made from several dogs, but a single dog is also considered a Pack. Packs are important to understand for scoring. (The rulebook illustrates an example with 6 Packs.)

NOTE: Even though the dogs in Packs 1 and 6 are the same breed, they are not touching, so they are not part of the same Pack.

Placing a Dog Tile

Choose 1 dog tile from your hand and add it to the dogs in the middle of the table. When placing a dog tile, follow these rules:

• The tile you play must be placed so at least 1 side is touching 1 side of another tile. Diagonal connections are not allowed.
• You must match at least 1 type of dog on your tile, but you do not have to match both.
• If you can play, you must. If you can't legally play ANY of your tiles, you must discard both tiles in your hand, draw up, and place 1 of your 2 new tiles.

Placing a Token

• You must place a token on the tile you just played.
• If you cannot place a token (per the rules below), you must discard one of your tokens.
• A Pack cannot have more than 1 Leader token or Bones token.

NOTE: It is possible for 2 tokens of the same kind to end up in the same Pack if 2 Packs that had been separate are later joined by new tiles placed. If this occurs, those players will split the points, rounded down.

Understanding Scoring Tokens

The tokens provide 4 different ways to score in the game. Each token is double-sided, so when you play it, you choose which side is faceup and will score.

Leader

• Place this token on 1 dog. At the end of the game, you will score 1 point for each dog in that Pack.
• Only 1 Leader token can be placed in each Pack.

Example: Red scores 5 points for a Pack of 5 chihuahuas.

Bones

• Place this token on 1 dog (even if there is no Bone icon on that dog). At the end of the game, you will score 2 points for every Bone icon in that Pack.
• Only 1 Bones token can be played in each Pack.

Example: Purple scores 8 points for 4 Bone icons.

Frens

• Place this token on 1 dog with the arrow pointing toward an adjacent dog of a different breed.
• The pack with the token is now the Base of the Frens-ship and is Frens with the breed the arrow is pointing to.
• At the end of the game, you will score 2 points for every unique side where a dog in the Base Pack is adjacent to a dog of the Frens breed.
• The same dog may be adjacent on more than one side.
• The same 2 breeds may become Frens a second time as long as the Base of each Pack is different.
• Frens must point to a different breed than the dog the token is placed on.
• One Pack is allowed to be the Base for more than 1 other Frens token as long as the arrows point to different breeds.

Example: Orange placed their Frens token on a beagle with the arrow pointing to a poodle. At the end of the game they score 10 points, 2 points for 5 unique connections from the Base beagles Pack to the adjacent poodles.

Zoomies

• Place this token on a dog with the Zoomies icon. And then immediately place the second dog tile in your hand anywhere legal on the board. (All the dogs in your hand got the zoomies and ran out into the park!)
  • Do not place a token on the second tile.
• At the end of the game, you will score laddered points for every dog with the Zoomies icon in the same group as the dog with your token on it. Here is how the scoring results depending on the number of dogs in a Zoomies group:
  • 1 dog = 1 point
  • 2 dogs = 3 points
  • 3 dogs = 6 points
  • 4 dogs = 10 points
  • 5 dogs = 15 points
• The maximum number of dogs in a single Zoomies group is 5.
• Dogs in a Zoomies group must be adjacent, not diagonal.
• Zoomies groups can include dogs of different breeds.
• No player can add a 2nd Zoomies token to an existing Zoomies group.
• A Pack can have more than 1 Zoomies token in it as long as the Zoomies groups within the Pack do not touch each other.
• It is possible for 2 separate Zoomies groups to end up touching through subsequent tile placement, creating a large Zoomies group. If that happens, the points are split evenly (rounded down) between all affected players. (Recall, though, that the maximum is 15 points for Zoomies.)

Example: Teal scores 10 points for connecting 4 Zoomies.

It's important to remember that tokens do not score anything when they are played. Instead, you will count the score for each token at the end of the game. This means that you might play a token that doesn't score you any points when it is played, but it could end up scoring big at the end of the game!

How you play your tokens and where you put your dog tiles is the key to scoring big.

Drawing New Dog Tiles

• After placing your tile, you may discard the tile in your hand, if you wish.
• Then, draw up to a hand of 2 from the draw pile.
• After drawing up, your turn ends and the player to your left will take their turn.

Game End

After all players have played (or discarded) their last token, the game ends.

Scoring

Each player totals their score for every token they placed. Discarded tokens count as 0.

• It may be easiest to score all the tokens of 1 player before moving on to the next player, counting the points as you pick up each scoring token. (Players should note their single highest scoring token in case of a tie.)
• Remember to split the points (rounded down) if the tiles have aligned so that 2 or more players have 1) the Leader or Bones tokens in the same Pack, 2) the same Base Pack making Frens with the same other breed, or 3) Zoomies tokens in the same group.
• If there is a tie, the player with the highest single scoring token wins. If the result is still a tie, the win is shared.

Sample Scoring

• Orange scores 4 points for their Frens token and 6 points for their Zoomies token, for a total of 10 points.
• Red scores 4 points for their Bones token and 8 points for their Frens token, for a total of 12 points.
• Teal scores 3 points for their Leader token and 10 points for their Frens token, for a total of 13 points.
• Purple scores 4 points for their Bones token and 3 points for their Leader token, for a total of 7 points.

Scoring Reminders

Leader

• Place this token on 1 dog.
• Scores 1 point for each dog in that Pack.

Bones

• Place this token on 1 dog (even if there is no Bone icon on that dog).
• Scores 2 points for every Bone icon in that Pack.

Frens

• Place this token on 1 dog with the arrow pointing toward an adjacent dog of a different breed.
• The pack with the token is now the Base of the Frens-ship and is Frens with the breed the arrow is pointing to.
• Score 2 points for every unique side where a dog in the Base Pack is adjacent to a dog of the Frens breed.

Zoomies

• Place this token on a dog with the Zoomies icon.
• Immediately place the second dog tile in your hand anywhere legal on the board.
  • No token on second tile.
• Score points for every dog with the Zoomies icon in that Zoomies group:
  • 1 dog = 1 point
  • 2 dogs = 3 points
  • 3 dogs = 6 points
  • 4 dogs = 10 points
  • 5 dogs = 15 points (maximum)