Backpacker Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Aim of the Game
• Definition of Terms
• Starting the Game
• 4. Country Cards
• 5. Event Cards
• 6. Core Rules (How to Play)
  • Taking a go
  • Card play
  • Going home & scoring
• 7. Going Home / Scoring Points
• 8. What Happens When There Are No Cards Left On The Future Pile
• 9. Reference Section For Event Cards
  • 9.1. Blue Event Cards (10) - Bonus cards enable you to score more points
  • 9.2. Grey Event Cards (9) - Bad cards prevent you going home and scoring points
  • 9.3. Red Event Cards (6) - Bad Advice which stops another player from travelling
  • 9.4. Green Event Cards (12) - Good Advice to go travelling again if stopped
  • 9.5. Orange Event Cards (13) - Change cards which allow you to improve your hand
    • Cards for the Advanced Players Game
  • 9.6. Yellow Event Cards (13) - Special cards that alter the game to your advantage
  • 9.7. Pink Event Cards (5) - Problem cards you play on other players
• Information For Beginners
  • Introduction
  • Colour Code Of Cards And Symbols
  • Learning The Basic Game: (A Step By Step Guide For Beginners)
    • The 1st Hand To Learn The Game
    • Starting the game
    • Taking a go
    • How to play a grey event card
    • How can I score points ?
    • What happens when the Future Pile runs out of cards?
    • The 2nd Hand To Learn the Game
    • How to stop another player by playing a red Bad Advice card

Aim of the Game

To win the game you need to be the player who has the most [...] photos safely back at home (and hence the most points) at the [...] end of the game.

You are travelling on a number of trips around the world. On each [...] trip you can photograph one or many countries provided that [...] they are all on different continents. Each time you return home [...] safely from a trip, you score points for the number of photos [...] you have taken. If you return from a trip with photos from 5 [...] different continents you score extra bonus points.

Definition of Terms

The terms below are referred to frequently in the rules:-

Future pile: The draw pile. Cards turned face down in the middle from which players draw a card on their go.

Past pile: The discard pile. Cards played or discarded that are stacked face up in the middle of the table.

Year: Time taken between drawing the first and last cards from the Future pile. (i.e. time taken to exhaust the deck).

Trip: A trip lasts from when a player plays their first country until they decide to go home.

Go home: When a player is required to draw a card from the Future pile or go home.

Hand: The 5 cards in a player's hand.

Played pile: The country cards, Bonus cards and certain other event cards played on the table in front of a player that are scored when you go home.

For card layout, see diagram on Information For Beginners sheet.

Starting the Game

Before dealing, you must decide when the game will end. Games usually last for an agreed number of years. (e.g. 2 years means exhausting the Future pile twice).

Shuffle thoroughly and deal 5 cards to everyone face down. These represent each player's plans. Place the remaining pack face down in a pile in the middle of the table forming the Future pile. Everyone looks at their cards and the player on the [...]aler's left takes the first go. When they have finished, play passes in a clockwise direction for the next player's go.

4. Country Cards

There are 38 country cards from 6 continents, represented by different coloured backgrounds. (e.g. Brown for Africa).

9 countries are from Asia, 8 from Europe, 7 from Africa, 7 from Americas, 6 from Oceania and 1 for Antarctica.

Note: Antarctica acts like a wildcard. If you have it played on your pile you only have to photograph 4 of the other continents to get the 5 continent bonus.

The camera symbol shows the number of points (photos taken) for each country. There are fewer high scoring countries.

100 pts (3 cards) Mongolia, Egypt, Mali.

80 pts (6) China, India, Kenya, Bolivia, Brazil, Peru.

60 pts (9) Indonesia, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Morocco, Uganda, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, Easter Island.

40 pts (9) Thailand, Vietnam, South Africa, Argentina, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Antarctica.

20 pts (11) Japan, Zimbabwe, Canada, USA, France, UK, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Fiji, Cook Islands.

5. Event Cards

There are 68 Event cards, with black text on the bottom to describe how the card is played. There are 7 easy to learn categories of event cards, coded with different coloured backgrounds.

( ) = number of each card.

Blue (10) = Bonus. Enables you to score more points.

Grey (9) = Bad. Prevent you from going home (& scoring points), but penalise you if you discard them.

Red (6) = STOP other players from travelling.

Green (12) = Allow you to GO travelling again if stopped.

Orange (13) = Change cards that improve your hand.

Yellow (13) = Cards to alter the game to your advantage.

Pink (5) = Problem cards that you play on other people.

Arrow symbols in the bottom left corner of all event cards show where to place the card when it is played. (See "Information For Beginners" sheet for explanation of these symbols).

6. Core Rules (How to Play)

Taking a go

1. Players always start a go by either taking the card on top of the Future pile or announcing they are going home instead.
2. A player drawing a card from the top of the Future pile has three options:-
   • Play a country card face up on their played pile in front of them to visit and photograph that country.
   • Play an event card, and follow the instructions on the bottom of the card.
   • Discard a card onto the Past pile.
3. Everyone should always have 5 cards in their hand at the end of any player's go.

Card play

4. A player can only play cards when it is their go.
5. A player cannot have 2 countries of the same colour (i.e. from the same continent) on their pile. (For example if you already have one African country played on your pile, you cannot play another African country, until after you have gone home. However if for some reason you lose the African country you had played, you would no longer have any photos from Africa and therefore would be able to play another African country).
6. Once a Bonus card is played on a country, it always moves with that country card until they both end up in the Past pile.
7. Grey event cards cannot be discarded into the Past pile without suffering the penalty. (Unless the Change of Plans or Insurance card is played).
8. A player can only have one grey, red or pink event card on their played pile at any one time.
9. A voluntary exchange of cards between 2 players can only occur when the Internet Café card is played. Players can only swap a card from their plans.

Going home & scoring

10. A player can only go home at the start of a go, and must do so instead of drawing a card from the Future Pile.
11. A player cannot go home (i.e. score), if they have any grey event cards in their hand.
12. A player must show all the cards in their hand to the other players when they go home.
13. Returning home with photos from 5 different continents in one trip scores an extra 200 point bonus, because you will have experienced more diversity.
14. When the Future pile runs out, all players go home and score points, but only if they have no grey cards left in their hand.

Note: In the Advanced game, core rules 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12 and 14 are broken by particular yellow event cards.

7. Going Home / Scoring Points

To score points, players must get their photos from their current trip home safely. Players may go home many times during one year to bank points. To go home a player must:-

1. First ensure that they have no grey event cards left in their hand. (The grey cards are Sickness, No Flight Available, Out of Cash, and Thief Steals Bag).
2. Then, at the start of a go, instead of picking up a new card, they announce to the other players that they are going home.
3. They then put the 5 cards in their hand face up on the table, so that the other players can see that they have no grey cards.
4. If they went home with a Bad Advice card on their played pile, they will not have taken any photos in the country on top of their pile. This country plus any attached bonuses will not score and is immediately removed to the Past pile.
5. The points scored for the countries (written in the camera symbol) and bonus cards left on their played pile are added up and the score is recorded and added to any points collected from previous trips.
6. Then 200 points are added if they have photographs from 5 different continents on this trip.
7. All cards on their played pile are then placed on top of the Past pile. They take back their hand from the table and their go is over. Play passes to the next player.
8. Only on their next go are they able to pick up a new card and then set off on another trip.

Note: The Information For Beginners sheet contains an example hand to show how scores are calculated.

8. What Happens When There Are No Cards Left On The Future Pile

When the pack runs out the year is over. Play stops and everyone tries to go home. All players show their hands immediately.

• Players with no grey cards in their hand can go home and therefore score the points for the countries they have played in front of them (photographed) on their current trip. (see section 7. GOING HOME/SCORING POINTS).
• Players who have grey cards in their hand can't go home and therefore do not score any points.

All cards are collected up and either the game is over, or shuffle thoroughly, deal out the cards and play another year.

9. Reference Section For Event Cards

The text on the bottom of each card describes how the card is played, but this section can be referred to if further clarification is required. ( ) = number of each card if more than one.

9.1. Blue Event Cards (10) - Bonus cards enable you to score more points

Four types:- Beach(3), Culture(3), Trekking(2) and Wildlife [...]

You can play a Bonus card on the country on top of the played pile provided that the country has the same match [...] bonus symbol on the card. When you go home the bonus [...] the same number of points as the country it is played upon [...]

Note: If you lose a country, you also lose any bonus cards [...] were played on that particular country.

9.2. Grey Event Cards (9) - Bad cards prevent you going home and scoring points

These cards cannot be discarded. You have to either try to [...] another card to pass them on to another player or ch[...] when to play them and suffer the penalty. (Note: You may [...] them even if you have no countries played in front of you [...] When played, all these cards are initially placed on your [...] They are then removed to the Past pile, after you have m[...] the required number of goes.

Thief Steals Bag: When played, you lose all cards on your played pile into the Past pile. You also miss your next go. You can't go home if this card is in your hand.

Sickness:(4) When played you lose the country on the top of your pile (plus any bonus cards attached to it) into the Past pile. Everyone then passes a card to the player on their left and you also pass [...] your next go. You can't go home if this card is in your hand.

No Flight Available:(3) When played, you miss a go. You can't go home if this card is in your hand.

Out of Cash: When played you miss 3 goes. You can't go home if this card is in your hand.

9.3. Red Event Cards (6) - Bad Advice which stops another player from travelling

[B]ad Advice cards represent out of date, inaccurate information that is shared by travellers.

There are 3 types of Bad Advice cards: - Timing (2), Transport(2), and Bureaucracy (2).

These cards are harmless in your hand, but can be played on an opponent's pile to try to stop them travelling or make them move a country. They cannot be played on someone who has no countries on their pile.

A player with a Bad Advice card on their played pile cannot place any new countries or bonuses on their pile, until they remove the Bad Advice.

However this card does not prevent them from having their go, and so does not necessarily need to be immediately removed. If they decide to go home with Bad Advice on their pile they will lose the country on top of their played pile (plus any attached bonuses).

There are 4 different ways that you can remove a red Bad Advice card from your played pile to the Past pile, to continue travelling:

• On your go, find and play the corresponding green Good Advice card for the problem you have (e.g. Good Advice Timing to remove Bad Advice Timing). Both the Good and Bad Advice cards are removed from your pile onto the Past pile.
• On your go, find and play a green Good Advice Money Talks card. This card will remove any Bad Advice card. Both the Good and Bad Advice cards are removed from your pile onto the Past pile.
• Give up on photographing the country where you have the Bad Advice problem. When it is your go you discard the country from the top of your pile (plus any attached Bonus cards) into the Past pile, along with the Bad Advice card.

Note: Afterwards, make sure that you finish your go with 5 cards in your hand.

Bad Advice is removed from your pile if a card is played that requires you to lose the country on top of your played pile. (e.g. If you play Sickness or Thief Steals Bag or someone plays the Paths Cross or Broken Camera card on you).

9.4. Green Event Cards (12) - Good Advice to go travelling again if stopped

These cards represent good advice that is shared by travellers. Play Good Advice on your go to allow you to start travelling again if a Bad Advice card has been played on your pile. Both the Bad and Good Advice cards are removed to the Past pile. Your go is over.

There are 3 types of ordinary Good Advice cards: - Timing (3), Transport (3), Bureaucracy (3), which only cancel out their corresponding Bad Advice cards. (e.g. A Good Advice Timing card can only remove a Bad Advice Timing card from your pile).

However, there is also the Good Advice Money Talks (3) card, which can remove any Bad Advice card from your pile.

9.5. Orange Event Cards (13) - Change cards which allow you to improve your hand

The orange cards work to your advantage, either by changing the cards in your hand or helping you to gain another country.

Wrong Backpack: Choose a player. Give them your hand and take all 5 cards in their hand.

Reunion: Everyone passes a card to the player on their left and you get another go.

Seek Guidance: Look at somebody's hand, take their best card and give them your worst card.

Fate: Starting from your left, blindly pick a card from each player and give them a card from your hand in return.

Inspiration: Name a country. If it's found in the Past pile you take it and play it immediately on to your played pile. (Note: It must be a country on a continent you can still visit).

Change of Plans: Discard all 5 cards in your hand into the Past pile and pick up 5 new cards from Future pile. Note: If Change of Plans is played at the end of the pack when there are not enough cards left in the Future pile, then just pick up however many cards are left.

Paths Cross:(3) Take the country (along with any attached bonuses), from the top of someone's played pile and put it on your pile. It must be a country from a continent you can still visit. Note: If you take a country from a player with a Bad Advice card on their pile, then the Bad Advice card is discarded.

Internet Café:(4) When you play this card you first draw a new card from the Future Pile. If you want, you may then exchange one card in your hand for a card in another player's hand, (if both players agree). Then finish your go by discarding or playing a card, even if there was no exchange. Note: An agreed exchange of cards can only occur when this card is played and never involves cards already played on the table. For more explanation see "Information For Beginners: The 3rd Hand To Learn The Game".

Cards for the Advanced Players Game

There is one of each of these cards. Cards are listed in the order we recommend to add to the game.

9.6. Yellow Event Cards (13) - Special cards that alter the game to your advantage

Travel the Clock: When you play this card, you take 3 more goes in a row.

Whirlwind Tour: On the same go actively play (not discard) as many country and bonus cards from your hand as possible. Only when you have finished your go can you draw the cards to replace them.

Insurance: KEEP IN YOUR HAND TO REUSE. On your go show this card to the other players to allow you to discard a grey event card from your hand without following the instructions. Overcomes the effects of Sickness, No Flight Available, Out of Cash and Thief Steals Bag.

Everest: Play this card to look at all the other players' hands. Then have another go.

Video Camera: Play this card on to your played pile. You score 20 extra points for each country or bonus card played after this card. (i.e. When you go home, all countries and bonus cards that were played after this card are increased by 20 points). You can use for one trip only.

Grapevine: Look at another player's hand and take any card you want. Give them this Grapevine card in return. You then play or discard a card.

Follow the Trail: At any time in the game you can swap this card for the card on the top of the Past pile.

Solar Eclipse: Draw a card from the top of the Future pile. If you don't want the card, place it immediately in the Past pile. Repeat this until you draw a card that you want to keep. You then draw no more cards, but continue playing as you will have 6 cards in your hand. (You can draw a maximum of 8 cards).

Travelling Companion: Travel home with another player. When another player goes home, immediately play this card before the next player's go, to allow you to go home as well (even if you have grey cards). You do not have to show the cards in your hand. Draw another card from the Future pile to make 5 cards in your hand. (Note: You can also use this card when the Future pile is exhausted, if someone goes home).

International Date Line: This card enables you to find a good card from the Past pile. When played you turn back between 1 and 20 cards from the top of the Past pile back, face down on to the Future pile. Cards must be turned one at a time and can only go in one direction, from the Past to the Future pile. (Note: Once a card has been picked up from the Past pile it must be placed on the Future pile). When you have finished turning, discard this International Date Line card. Then have another go.

Near Miss: A defensive card. Play this card immediately, any time someone tries to play a bad card on you individually (i.e. one that affects only you and them). Give them this Near Miss card to put in their hand and take the card they tried to play on you into your hand. The other player will still have 6 cards so they will need to finish their go. (You can use this Near Miss card against Bad Advice, all pink event cards, Wrong Backpack, Paths Cross, Seek Guidance and Grapevine, but not Sickness).

Flying Visit: When you play this card you go home immediately (if able to), score points, then return to the last country you visited in the same go. (i.e. Place the country from the top of your pile plus any attached Bonus cards, on your new played pile to start your next trip). Note: If Flying Visit is played by a player with Bad Advice on their pile, the player doesn't score for the country on the top of their pile (or any Bonus cards attached to it), but still keeps the top country and bonus cards for their next trip. The Bad Advice card is removed to the Past pile.

Credit Card: KEEP IN YOUR HAND TO REUSE. On your go show this card to the other players to allow you to play a country from a continent you have already visited on your played pile. Can be used on each trip, to have 1 country in your pile. (Note: Only 2 countries in your whole pile can be the same colour).

Note: There are only 3 cards in the entire pack that you can play when it is not your go, Follow the Trail, Near Miss, Travelling Companion.

9.7. Pink Event Cards (5) - Problem cards you play on other players

You choose which player to play the card on. All these cards are initially placed on the chosen player's pile and are removed to the Past pile once the penalty is over.

Broken camera: Play this card on someone else. They miss their next go and lose the country on the top of their played pile (plus any Bonus cards attached to it) into the Past pile.

Low Battery: Play this card on someone else. They miss 2 goes.

Under the Influence: Play this card on someone else. On their next go, you look at their hand and select a card that they must play or discard.

Love: Play this card on someone else. They cannot put any more country or bonus cards on their played pile for their next 2 goes.

Visa Problem: Play this card on someone else. They cannot visit any new countries. To remove this card they must either discard from their hand a country from a continent which they could still visit. (i.e. A country from which their Visa was declined), or go home. They can then remove the Visa card in the Past pile and continue travelling on their next go.

The Strategy Tips section on the "Information For Beginners" sheet provides some useful tips on game strategy.

Information For Beginners

[...] sheet contains information on card colours and symbols, a [...] step by step guide for beginners who want to learn the game [...] gradually, strategy tips, an example of scoring, and card layout.

Introduction

Backpacker is a fantastic, competitive game for 2 to 6 players. Just like travelling it's both enjoyable and addictive. To win, you must outwit your opponents to be the player who has the most photos safely back at home (and hence the most points) at the end of the game.

The game is easy to learn, although there is no substitute for experience. The more you play the more you will improve.

Backpacker has been developed for 2 levels of play:-

• Basic - (excludes pink and yellow event cards). Recommended when most players are new to the game.
• Advanced - (includes all cards).

The best way to play the game. Players moving from the Basic to the Advanced game may choose to add a few extra yellow or pink cards at a time rather than add them all at once. This will allow players time to become familiar with the new cards and how they change the game.

Colour Code Of Cards And Symbols

There are 2 card types. Event Cards and Country Cards.

Event cards, have a black title, an illustration in the centre and [...] and a symbol at the bottom to explain how to play the card.

The background colour shows the category of event card:

• Blue = Bonus. Enables you to score more points.
• Grey = Bad. Prevent you from going home & scoring points, but penalise you if you discard them.
• Red = Stop opponent from travelling.
• Green = Allow you to go travelling again if you are stopped.
• Orange = Change cards that improve your hand.
• Yellow = Cards to alter the game to your advantage.
• Pink = Problem cards that you play on other people.

Black text = How to play this card.

Crossed house = You can't go home with this card in hand.

Card symbol: Arrow shows where to place the card when played.

• Arrow up = Past pile
• Arrow down = Your pile
• Arrows sideways = Opponent's pile
• Two arrows = Keep card in your hand.
• Arrows up and down = Exchange card in opponent's hand.

Country cards, have the name of the country written in white and a photo in the centre.

Camera symbol = Points. (Number of photos taken in that country).

Background coloured by continent:

• Lime Green = Asia
• Violet = Americas
• Brown = Africa
• Purple = Europe
• Turquoise = Oceania
• White = Antarctica

Bonus symbols: Show which Bonus cards can be played on this country.

Learning The Basic Game: (A Step By Step Guide For Beginners)

The best way to learn is to play with or watch others who know how to play, ask questions and perhaps play an open hand. All of the event cards have text on the bottom summarising what they do and if during a game, you are still uncertain how a particular card is played, you can refer to the Backpacker Official rules section 9 for clarification.

However, if all players are new to the game we strongly recommend the following:

• One player should look at the cards and read sections 1-8 of the Official rules first, before attempting to play the game.
• Then explain the game to others, so that everyone is familiar with the aim of the game, the categories of cards, core rules and how to go home and score. (i.e. Play countries one at a time. Then go home to score the points that are written on the country cards. You must get rid of grey event cards before you go home).
• Find a pen and paper to write down scores.

If players feel confident after reading the Official rules, they should launch straight into the Basic game. Otherwise, play the following 3 hands, which are designed to help you learn the game more gradually. They will help players quickly grasp the main principles of Backpacker, whilst playing with a limited pack of cards. Each hand will introduce extra cards, till eventually (after 3 hands) you should feel fully confident with the rules of the Basic game. Players may wish to play these hands open with cards showing.

Note: These hands are used only to help new players gradually learn the game, and may be skipped if players feel they have quickly grasped the Official rules.

The 1st Hand To Learn The Game

Include all the country cards, the 9 grey event cards and the 10 blue event (Bonus) cards only.

NOTE: The primary purpose of the first hand is to explain the following to new players:

1. Colour code and symbols of country cards and event cards.
2. How to take a go
3. Core rules of the game
4. How to play blue event (Bonus) cards
5. How to play grey event cards
6. How to go home and score points

Once these principles have been grasped, feel free to skip to the next hand when ready, to spice things up.

Starting the game

Shuffle thoroughly and starting on your left deal cards face down, one at a time in rotation to each player until everyone has 5 cards in their hand. These represent each player's plans. Place the remaining cards face down in the centre of the table making the Future pile.

Players look at their hands, which will contain cards of the following 3 types.

• Country cards: These have a coloured background, which represents the continent to which the country belongs. The aim of the game is to visit these countries by playing them one at a time on to your played pile and (later in the game) go home to score the points for the countries you have played. Different countries are worth different points, (the number in the top right corner of the card).
• Grey event cards: Cards with a grey background and black text. These are bad cards, which will prevent you from going home and scoring points. You must at some stage of the game get rid of these grey cards by playing them or preferably passing them on to another player by using another card.
• Blue event (Bonus) cards: These cards can be played on to your pile when the country card on top of it contains the same symbol as the Bonus card (e.g. elephant for Wildlife bonus). The Bonus card scores the same number of points as that country (e.g. India scores 80 points, therefore a Bonus card played on top of it scores 80 extra points).

The player to the dealer's left takes the first go.

Taking a go

A player takes a go by taking the top card from the Future pile, so that they now have 6 cards in their hand. They now have 3 options:-

• Play a country card face up in front of them, on their played pile to visit and photograph that country.
• Play an event card, and follow the instructions on the bottom of the card.
• Discard a card onto the Past pile by placing it face up in the middle of the table next to the Future pile. Note: You cannot discard a grey event card. These cards must be played or passed to someone else.

In each case their hand should always contain 5 cards at the end of their go.

Play then passes to the left and the next player begins their go by drawing the card from the top of the Future pile. All country and bonus cards played by the same player in subsequent goes are stacked on top of one another in their pile, so that the tops of each card are clearly visible (see diagram overleaf).

You may eventually have countries in your hand from continents that you have already played. You can either discard them or keep them in case you lose a country, or use them on your next trip.

How to play a grey event card

If a player wants to go home to score points, they must first ensure that they have no grey event cards in their hand. Grey cards cannot be discarded and to play one of these cards a player must follow the instructions written on the bottom of the card and suffer the penalty.

For example: A player has 2 grey cards (Sickness and No Flight Available). They decide to play Sickness, therefore:

• The player places the Sickness card on their pile, (see symbol in bottom right corner).
• The player discards the country on top of their pile (plus any bonus attached to that country) into the Past pile.
• Then all players must pass a card from their hand, to the player on their left. (The player should use this opportunity to pass the No Flight Available card).
• The Sickness card remains on the player's pile until they have missed one go, after which it is placed on the Past pile.

How can I score points ?

Once you have a few countries played on your pile it may become difficult to play more, as new countries must be from continents that you have not yet photographed on this trip (core rule 5). Therefore you may want to go home, score the points for the pictures you have taken and start a new trip. See section 7 in Official rules about Going Home and Scoring Points.

What happens when the Future Pile runs out of cards?

The hand is over. ONLY players who are able to go home (i.e. those with no grey cards left in their hand), can score points (as above), for the country and bonus cards on their played pile. See section 8 in Official rules.

The hand you have just played above should only be played once. You should now realise that grey cards are BAD, but in the 3rd hand there will be new cards which will help you dispose of them.

RECOMMEND A REFRESH OF THE CORE RULES AT THIS STAGE.

The 2nd Hand To Learn the Game

It's now time to spice things up. Play as before but add in 6 red event cards (Bad Advice) and the 12 green event cards (Good Advice).

NOTE: The primary purpose of this second hand is to introduce new players to the following:

1. How red (Bad Advice) cards are used to stop another player from travelling.
2. How a stopped player can remove the Bad Advice card from their pile to continue travelling.

How to stop another player by playing a red Bad Advice card

If it's your go and you have no country to play, you may want to cause a problem for one of your opponents to stop them getting too far ahead.

If you have a red (Bad Advice) card in your hand, you can do this by placing it on top of their pile. The player is then prevented from travelling any further (i.e. playing any new country or Bonus cards), until this red (Bad Advice) card is removed from their pile.

How can a player stopped by Bad Advice start travelling again ?

There are 4 different ways that a player on their go can remove a red Bad Advice card from their played pile to the Past pile, and thus continue travelling.

These involve either playing a green Good Advice card or discarding the country on top of their played pile. See section 9.3 and 9.4 on the Official rules sheet.

The 3rd Hand To Learn the Game (Full Basic Game)

Now you are ready to play a hand of the full Basic game. Play as before, but add in the 13 orange event cards.

NOTE: The primary purpose of this 3rd hand is to introduce new players to the following:

1. How the Internet Café card is used to exchange cards with other players.
2. When and how to use the Paths Cross card.
3. How to use the other 6 orange event cards.

What if on my go I don't have the card in my hand that I need? (e.g. a country or Good Advice card).

Most of the orange event cards work to your advantage, either by allowing you to change cards in your hand or helping you to gain another country. They can be used to improve your position or to pass grey event cards to another player.

For example, if you have an Internet Café card then during your go (i.e. when you have 6 cards in your hand) you can ask the other players if any of them have the card you require in their hand. If a player says they have the card you want, then you can offer them a card from your hand in return. If both players agree to an exchange, you then take the following action:-

1. Play the Internet Café card on to the Past pile.
2. Draw a new card from the Future Pile.
3. If you still want to, you may then exchange one card with the other player as agreed.
4. Then finish your go by playing or discarding a card.

The text on the bottom of the other orange cards explains what each card does, but if you require clarification then please refer to section 9.5 in the Official rules.

You have now learnt all the rules for the Basic game and are ready to become a hardcore Backpacker.

Always consult the Official rules if you have any doubts, but you should soon be able to play without them as the bottom of each event card contains a brief description of what the card does. These descriptions along with Summary Rules cards for quick reference should allow you to master the game quickly. As soon as you feel confident with the Basic game you should start adding the yellow and pink cards from the Advanced game as this will make Backpacker considerably more fun and challenging, and increase the opportunities for strategic play.

Strategy Tips

• Try to pass grey cards to another player rather than play them.
• At some stage you may have to play a grey card, but choose the moment to minimise your loses. (e.g. Use Sickness to pass on another grey card or remove Bad Advice).
• You may often have no country to play, so play or discard an event card or think about going home to score points.
• As the Future pile becomes smaller, keep track of approximately how many cards are left, as the pile can diminish quickly before you have a chance to get rid of your grey cards and go home.
• Use the Paths Cross card later in your trip to get a continent you are struggling to visit. Try to take a country that has a bonus attached to it.
• Play Bad Advice on a player who nearly has all 5 continents or has a country with a bonus attached to it.
• Remove Bad Advice quickly if you have new countries to play. (ie: Lose the country with Bad Advice if have no Good Advice).
• Try not to let players go home with photos from 5 continents and thus collect the 200 point bonus.
• Try to remember the cards other players have in their hands.
• Remember what cards have been played already.

Example Hand: Scoring And Strategy

In the example (right), the Future pile has been exhausted and so the year is over. Everyone shows their hands and players with any grey event cards in their hand cannot score any more points. The other players calculate their scores from their played pile and add these points to their score from previous trips.

(* = cards in Advanced Game)

Player 1 Scores 380 : 40 for Argentina, 80 for Kenya, 80 for the Beach Bonus played on top of Kenya, 80 for India and 40 for Tahiti. They also score 60 (3x20) for the Video Camera* card as 3 Country and Bonus cards were played after this card. 40+80+80+80+40+60 = 380. Player 1 has just played the Sickness card on the last move of the year. Therefore they lost the country on top of their pile (Germany) into the Past pile plus any chance of the 5 continent bonus. However, more importantly, they managed to pass the No Flight Available card to Player 2, and thus ended up with no grey cards left in their hand and so are able to score points.

Player 2 scores 0 : Unfortunately Player 2 finished the year with a grey event card left in their hand and thus is unable to go home and score points. Player 2 has had disastrous luck being passed the No Flight available card on the last go of the year, and thus had no time to get rid of this card. They were not able to use their Near Miss* card as Sickness affects every player in the game rather than individuals. They score nothing, despite having photographed all 5 continents and perhaps should have gone home on their previous go to safely score their points.

Player 3 scores 540 : 100 for Mongolia, 100 for the Culture Bonus and 100 for the Wildlife Bonus (both played on Mongolia), 20 for UK, 80 for Peru, 80 for the Trekking Bonus played on Peru, and 60 for Turkey. 100+100+100+20+80+80+80+60 = 540. [Transcriber note: as printed. The listed terms above sum to 540 without the extra "+80" in this equation, which sums to 620; the total of 540 matches the listed terms.] Player 3 has achieved a big score using Bonus cards. The Credit Card* has allowed them to play an extra country (Turkey) on one continent.

Player 4 scores 200 : 20 for USA, 40 for Antarctica, 60 for Russia, and 80 for China. 20+40+60+80 = 200. Player 4 had played Antarctica and thus only had to return with photos from 4 of the other 5 continents to score the 5 continent bonus. However they finished the game with a Bad Advice card on their pile and hence Egypt does not count either as a score or towards getting the 200 point bonus having photographs from 5 continents.

Diagram for example hand: a diagram showing the four players' piles and hands around the Future pile (empty) and the Past pile (showing Germany on top). The diagram is an image with no further text rules and is not reproduced.