Badgers Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Badger Card
  • Forest Card
• Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Play a Badger
  • Resolve Combat
  • Draw Back to 3 Cards
• End of the Game
• Scoring
• Clan Abilities
• Solo Mode
  • Solo Setup
  • Playing the Game (Solo)
  • End of the Game (Solo)
  • Scoring (Solo)
• Tournament Mode (3-5 players)
  • Tournament Setup
  • Rounds
  • End of the Round
  • End of the Tournament
• Badgers In Short

Components

• 24 Forest Cards
• 88 Badger Cards (11 cards for each of 8 Badger Clans)
• 16 player aids (2 for each of 8 Badger Clans)
• 1 Rulebook

Badger Card

Each Badger Card shows:

• Base Strength
• Face-Up Attack bonus
• Face-Down Defense bonus
• Face-Down Attack bonus
• Face-Up Defense bonus
• Food icon(s)
• Ability
• Clan logo
• Total Face-Down Attack (Base Strength + Face-Down Attack bonus)

Forest Card

Forest Cards come with an obstacle or clear (no obstacles). Each Forest Card shows:

• Game mode (Standard, Solo or Tournament)
• Food icon
• Obstacle (if any)

All obstacles (stones and trees) work exactly the same.

Setup

1. Shuffle 12 Forest Cards marked STANDARD and place them in a 3x4 grid in the center of the table, so that 3 Paths (3 columns) are formed between the players.

Both players do the following steps:

2. Choose a Badger Clan. It's a good idea to look at the cards and familiarize yourself with the clan abilities. If any cards have a During setup ability, apply it now. Shuffle the Badger Clan deck and place it face-down in your player area. Leave space for a discard pile.
3. Draw 3 cards from your deck into your hand.

The player who has more Clear Forest Cards in their half of the Forest will be the starting player. (Example: Mihaela will be the starting player, because she has 2 Clear Forest Cards in her half of the Forest, while Damir has just one.)

Playing the Game

During the game, players take turns playing Badgers from their hands into the Forest until all players have no cards left in their decks. At the end of the game, each Forest Card may contain only one Badger. The player whose Badgers have collected the most food wins!

On your turn do these steps:

1. Play a Badger
   1. Put a Badger from the hand on the Forest Card
   2. Resolve combat (if it occurred)
2. Draw back to 3 cards

Play a Badger

You must play a Badger from your hand, either face-up or face-down, on a Forest Card that you can reach.

Choose a Path (a column) that you want to play on, and check which Forest Cards you can reach:

1. You can always reach the Forest Card closest to you.
2. If the Forest Card you can reach is not blocked (by an obstacle or a face-up Opponent), you can reach the next card above it, too.
3. Check step 2 again to see if you can reach the next card.

(Example: In the first column, Mihaela can play on the Forest Card closest to her. In the second column, Mihaela can play on both of the first two cards, because the Path is not blocked on the first. In the third column, Mihaela can play on the first three cards because the Path is not blocked until the fourth. Paths are blocked on face-up Opponents and obstacles: Mihaela cannot play beyond those Forest Cards.)

Your own Badgers, as well as all face-down Badgers, do not block your Path.

You may play a Badger on a Forest Card occupied by another Badger.

• If that Badger is an Ally (one of your Badgers), the Ally gets discarded to your discard pile.
• If that Badger is an Opponent (one of the other player's Badgers), combat occurs.

Resolve Combat

Combat occurs when you play a Badger (Attacker) on the other player's Badger (Defender).

To resolve combat, follow these steps:

1. Calculate total Attack Value
   • Attacker is face-up: Base Strength + Face-Up Attack Bonus
   • Attacker is face-down: Attack Value is written on the card back (it is equal to Base Strength + Face-Down Attack Bonus). The Attacker stays face-down.
2. Calculate total Defense Value
   • Defender is face-up: Base Strength + Face-Up Defense Bonus
   • Defender is face-down: Base Strength + Face-Down Defense Bonus. The Defender is turned over face-up.
3. Determine the combat winner
   • Attack Value is greater than the Defense Value: the Attacker stays on the Forest Card (remaining face-down if it was face-down); the Defender is discarded to its owner's discard pile.
   • Attack Value is lower than or equal to the Defense Value: the Attacker is discarded to its owner's discard pile; the Defender stays face-up on the Forest Card.

(Example: Mihaela plays a Honey Badger face-up against Damir's Racoon, which was face-down. The Defender is turned face-up. Attack Value is 15 (Base Strength 10 + Face-Up Attack Bonus 5), and the Defense Value is 5 (only the Base Strength without the Face-Up Defense Bonus because the Defender was originally face-down). Mihaela wins, and the Racoon is discarded.)

Legend used on the cards: Base Strength, Attack (Face-Up Attack / Face-Down Attack), Defense (Face-Up Defense / Face-Down Defense), Face-Up, Face-Down, Food - Bugs, Food - Eggs, Food - Snakes.

Draw Back to 3 Cards

If you have less than 3 cards in your hand, draw cards from the top of your deck until you have 3 cards again.

Once your deck is empty, you cannot draw anymore. Do not reshuffle the discard pile to create a new deck.

End of the Game

When you have played a card from your hand and cannot draw back to 3 cards, the game ends for you. Discard the remaining cards from your hand. When both players have played their last turn, the game ends and scoring takes place. It is possible that players will not have the same number of turns.

Scoring

To score, do these steps:

1. If there are still any Badgers face-down in the Forest, turn them face-up.
2. For each Food Icon on your Badgers, score 1 Food if the icon matches the Food Icon on the Forest Card the Badger is on.

The player who has collected the most Food wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most Badgers in the Forest wins. If there's still a tie, the starting player wins.

(Example: At the end of the game Mihaela has 5 Badgers in the Forest. Of these, one has collected 2 Snakes, one hasn't collected any Food, one has collected 1 Egg, one hasn't collected any Food, and one has collected 1 Egg. Mihaela scores a total of 4 Food.)

Clan Abilities

Every Badger Clan has 2 unique abilities. In most decks, only 6 or 7 cards will have an ability. Each ability is explained in detail on its player aid, but here are some general rules.

• Ability is active only when the card is face-up. When a face-down Defender is turned face-up, its Ongoing and After combat loss abilities become active.
• When an Ongoing ability grants you an Attack/Defense/Attack and Defense bonus, it applies while that card is in play. If another ability grants you an Attack/Defense/Attack and Defense bonus, it applies for all combats until the end of your turn (for example, the ability General).
• A bonus applies to both face-up and face-down attacks/defenses/attacks and defenses.
• In ability text, "self" refers to that very Badger. "Ally" refers to any other Badger played by you. "Opponent" refers to any Badger played by the other player. "Badger" refers to any Badger in play. "Play" refers to putting a Badger on a Forest Card and potentially resolving Combat.
• The abilities with the word "may" are optional. All other abilities must be applied.

Solo Mode

Badgers can be played solo against an automated player (bot). In solo play, the goal is to collect a set amount of Food, determined by which Badger Clans are used in the game.

Solo Setup

1. Take all 24 Forest Cards and turn them over to the side marked SOLO. Find the 2 Burrow Cards among them. Choose one and place it in the center of the table. Return the other Burrow Card to the box.
2. Shuffle the 22 remaining Forest Cards and draw one by one, placing the cards (with the SOLO side face-up) around the Burrow Card, so that you form a 4x4 grid of cards in which the Burrow Card is in one of the 4 inner spaces. Return the rest of the Forest Cards to the box.
3. Choose a Badger Clan deck for the bot. Shuffle it and place it face-down in the bot's player area.
4. Choose a Badger Clan deck for yourself. Shuffle it and place it face-down in your player area.
5. Draw 3 cards from your deck into your hand.

Playing the Game (Solo)

Each turn consists of these steps:

1. Play a Badger
2. Bot's response
3. Combat
4. Draw back to 3 cards

Play a Badger. You must play a Badger (face-up or face-down) on either:

• a Forest Card adjacent to the Burrow Card
• a Forest Card adjacent to your last played Badger (it can not be the Burrow Forest Card)
• a Forest Card with an Ally (in which case that Ally is discarded)

If you have lost combat on the previous turn, the last card you have played has been discarded, so you may only play adjacent to the Burrow Card or on an Ally.

(Example: The last card you've played is in the top row. You can play your next card adjacent to the Burrow Card, adjacent to your last card, or on any of your Badgers, replacing them.)

Bot's Response. If the Forest Card already has a Badger on it, or if the bot's deck is empty, this step is skipped.

The bot draws a Badger from the top of its deck and plays it next to the Badger you have just played (on the same Forest Card). The bot plays its Badger face-up or face-down, depending on the icon on the Forest Card.

Combat. If the bot responded by playing a Badger, depending on the icon on the Forest Card, either the bot is the Attacker and you are the Defender, or the bot is the Defender and you are the Attacker.

The modifier depicted on the Forest Card is applied to the bot's combat bonus:

• min bonus +5: If bonus value would be lower than 5, add 5 instead.
• use any bonus (attack): Add bonus Attack value regardless of how the bot has played (face-up or face-down).
• use any bonus (defense): Add bonus Defense value regardless of how the bot has played (face-up or face-down).

All clan abilities on the bot's cards are ignored.

After applying the modifier, combat is resolved same as in the standard game. The winner card stays on the Forest Card and the loser card is discarded.

If the Forest Card already had a bot's Badger Card on it, you are the Attacker and the bot is the Defender. The combat modifier on the Forest Card does not apply.

(Example: You play a Hog Badger face-up on the Forest Card. The bot responds by drawing a card from its deck and playing it as a face-down attack on the Forest Card, making you a Defender. The bot's card is turned face-up to resolve combat. Your Defense is 9 (7 + 2). Bot's Attack would be just 3, but the "use any bonus" modifier adds its Face-Up Attack Bonus to its Base Strength and the bot's total Attack is 10 (3 + 7). Your card is discarded, and the bot's card stays on the Forest Card, turned back face-down. The Idol ability on the bot's card is ignored.)

Draw Back to 3 Cards. Draw cards from the top of your deck until you have 3 cards, same as in the standard game.

End of the Game (Solo)

The game ends when you can't draw a card at the end of your turn.

Scoring (Solo)

Score the same as in the standard game, except for the Forest Cards with the "any Badger scores 1 Food" icon: any Badger (even without a Food icon) gains exactly 1 Food.

To win, you must collect at least the amount of Food equal to your deck's PLAY WITH value plus the bot's deck PLAY AGAINST value (+2 Food if you play Burrow Hard).

Badger Clan	PLAY WITH	PLAY AGAINST
American	3	4
Siberian	3	4
Chinese Ferret	3	4
Honey	3	3
Hog	3	3
Japanese	2	3
European	3	3
Burmese Ferret	3	2

For instance, to win with American Badgers against the bot playing with Siberian Badgers, you must score at least 7 Food (3+4).

Tournament Mode (3-5 players)

Goal of the tournament is to be the player who has collected the most Food at the end.

Tournament Setup

3 Players. Choose 2 Badger Decks. Setup is the same as in the standard game, with the two decks assigned to Seat A and Seat B.

4-5 Players. Set up 2 separate Forests so that 2 games can be played simultaneously.

1. Set up the first Forest using the 12 STANDARD Forest Cards.
2. Set up the second Forest using the 12 TOURNAMENT Forest Cards.
3. Choose 4 Badger Clan decks and assign each deck to one of the 4 player seats (Seat A and Seat B at the first Forest, Seat C and Seat D at the second Forest).

Rounds

Tournament consists of multiple rounds. Each player gets to play with each deck.

3 Players. 3 rounds are played. In each round, 2 players will play and 1 player will take a pause.

Round	Seat A	Seat B	Pausing
I	Player 1	vs Player 2	Player 3
II	Player 3	vs Player 1	Player 2
III	Player 2	vs Player 3	Player 1

4 Players. 4 rounds with 2 simultaneous games are played. There is no pausing, everyone plays at the same time.

Round	Seat A vs Seat B	Seat C vs Seat D
I	Player 1 vs Player 2	Player 3 vs Player 4
II	Player 2 vs Player 3	Player 4 vs Player 1
III	Player 3 vs Player 4	Player 1 vs Player 2
IV	Player 4 vs Player 1	Player 2 vs Player 3

5 Players. 5 rounds are played. In each round, 4 players will play and 1 player will take a pause.

Round	Seat A vs Seat B	Seat C vs Seat D	Pausing
I	Player 1 vs Player 2	Player 3 vs Player 4	Player 5
II	Player 5 vs Player 3	Player 4 vs Player 1	Player 2
III	Player 2 vs Player 4	Player 1 vs Player 5	Player 3
IV	Player 3 vs Player 1	Player 5 vs Player 2	Player 4
V	Player 4 vs Player 5	Player 2 vs Player 3	Player 1

End of the Round

If 2 simultaneous games are being played, the round ends when both games are finished.

After each round, note the amount of Food each player has collected and who has won the game. Reshuffle each Badger Deck and return it to the same player seat. The players will move to the player seat on their left (except the player who pauses), but the Badger Decks stay in place. The Forest Cards also stay in place.

End of the Tournament

After all rounds have been played, the winner is the player who has collected the most Food. In case of a tie, the winner is the player who has won more matches.

Badgers In Short

Setup

• Shuffle 12 Forest Cards and place them in a 3x4 grid in the center of the table, so that 3 Paths are formed between the players.
• Both Players choose a Clan, shuffle Badger Clan decks and place them face-down in player areas.
• Each player draws 3 cards from their deck into their hand.

Playing the Game

• Play a Badger
  • Put a Badger from the hand on the Forest Card
  • Resolve combat (if it occurred)
• Draw back to 3 cards

End of the Game

When you have played a card and cannot draw to 3 cards, the game ends for you. Discard the remaining cards. When both players have played their last turn, the game ends.

Scoring

Turn all Badgers face-up. For each Food Icon on your Badgers, score 1 Food if the icon matches the Food Icon on the Forest Card the Badger is on. The player who has collected the most Food wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most Badgers in the Forest wins. If there's still a tie, the starting player wins.