ARGH
ARGH Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Aim of the Game
As soon as a player gets 2 of the 3 components for the bomb, they immediately win the game. If nobody succeeds, the player with the strongest team of animals wins. Beware of animal spies who still work for the humans!
Game Components
- 24 cards, 8 for each location (house, garden and laboratory)
- 2 player aid cards with a quick reference guide to all the cards, their values and powers
- 2 rulebooks (French and English) with a quick reference guide on the last page
Setup
Each player takes a player aid and places it in front of them.
Arrange 3 piles of cards, face down, at the center of the table: 1 pile with the house cards, one pile with the garden cards, and one pile with the Laboratory cards.
The player who is the strongest advocate for animals rights or the one who has most recently fed an animal starts the game.
Last step of the set up: randomly choose one card in each pile (without looking at it) and remove them from the game. Place them back in the box. Thus there will be 1 house card, 1 garden card and 1 Laboratory card which won't be used in the game, and which will remain unknown until the end of the game.
With 2 players: 2 cards in each pile are removed instead of 1.
Game Turn
Players play one after the other, clockwise.
At their turn, a player chooses 1 of the 2 following actions:
Action 1: Take the first card from one of the 3 piles and look at it without showing it to the others. Then, the player decides whether they want to:
- place it in front of them, face down. This ends their turn;
- give it, face down to another player. This player may then:
- accept the card without looking at it first. They place it face up in front of them once they have accepted.
- refuse the card, still without looking at it. In this case, the active player (who was giving the card in the first place) has to place it in front of them, face up.
Action 2: The active player may steal a card which has been placed face down in front of a player. When a player steals a card, they must reveal it and place it in front of them.
The only way for a player to place a card face up in front of them is to offer it to another player first who refuses it. If a player takes a card and places it face up in front of them straight away, the game is canceled. The culprit must squeak and look like a cocker to be excused!
There is no way to prevent a card which has been placed face down from being stolen... but a player can always bluff!
There is no limit to the number of cards a player may have in front of them (faces up or down). A card which has been placed face up in front of a player cannot be stolen.
End of the Game
The game ends as soon as a player has placed 2 of the 3 components of the bomb in front of them, faces up. They immediately win the game.
If this does not happen, the game ends when 1 of the 3 piles runs out of cards. Each player plays one last time (except the player who had taken the last card from a pile).
When the last turn is over, all the players reveal the cards which had been placed faces down in front of them. If a player has 2 of the 3 components of the bomb, they immediately win the game.
If this does not happen, the player with the most points wins the game.
Warning: if a player has 1 or 3 spies, they lose the game, no matter how many points they had!
Example: +2, +5, +6, -1, -4 = 8 points
If there is a tie, the player who has the card with the highest value wins.
Description of the Cards
Values: You win or you lose the indicated amount of points.
Bombs: They allow you to win the game if you have 2 of the 3 in front of you, faces up, or at the end of the game.
Lizards: You win 1, 5 or 10 points depending on whether you have 1, 2 or 3 of these cards.
Mosquitoes: If you have this card in front of you, you must switch the sign of one of your cards. Preferably a minus card of course, but if you don't have any you will have to turn a positive sign into a negative sign.
Spies: You lose the game if you have an odd amount of them.
Angry hamster: If you have it in front of you at the end of the game, you must discard a negative card (even if the only one you have is a spy and this might make you lose the game!).
Scientist: If you have it in front of you at the end of the game, you must discard your card with the highest value.
Credits
Game designer: Romaric Galonnier Illustrations & models: Anne Heidsieck Development: Blue Cocker Rules writer: Dominique Bodin English translation: Camille Benoit Correction: Sandra Grès
Thanks
The Blue Dog licks tenderly Andrée Frances, Bruno Desch, Christophe Hermier, Richard Allin, Jean-Emmanuel Gilbert, Mathieu Halfen and all of those who support him.
The author thanks Cécile Monnier, Joan Dufour, Benoît Turpin, Cédric Riehl, Antoine Blais, Lola Esteve, Simon Murat, Nicholas Bodart, Ludovic Maublanc, Martin Vidberg, Anne Heidsieck, Alain Balaÿ and also the Brothers Grimm for their tale Snow White, which was at the origin of ARGH!
ARGH is a game developed by BLUE COCKER GAMES.
BlueCockerGames: Tel.: +33 (0) 534 280 501 209, avenue de Castres 31500 Toulouse FRANCE www.bluecocker.com
© BLUE COCKER 2017. All rights reserved.
Quick Reference: The 24 Cards
The last page of the rulebook lists every card in each of the 3 piles, for quick reference.
Garden pile (8 cards): Bomb; Lizard (+1/+5/+10); +4; +7; Mosquito (switch the sign of one card); −4; Spy; Spy.
Laboratory pile (8 cards): Bomb; Lizard (+1/+5/+10); +2; +3; +6; −3; Scientist (discard your highest-value card); Spy.
House pile (8 cards): Bomb; Lizard (+1/+5/+10); +2; +5; Angry hamster (discard a negative card); −1; −2; Spy.