Camel Up: The Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Overview
• Setup
• Round Setup
• Round Sequence
  • Track Actions
  • Betting Actions
• End of a Round
• End of the Game
• Credits

Components

• 80 Egyptian Pound coins: 50 of value 1, 30 of value 5
• 1 First Player marker
• 5 Round cards
• 20 Betting cards - First Place of the Round: 4 of each color
  • 2 of value 2 Egyptian Pounds
  • 1 of value 3 Egyptian Pounds
  • 1 of value 5 Egyptian Pounds
• 5 Betting cards - Third Place of the Round: 1 of each camel color
• 5 Betting cards - Race Winner: 1 of each camel color
• 5 Betting cards - Race Loser: 1 of each camel color
• 1 Fennec marker, 1 Fennec card, and 6 Fennec tokens
• 1 Shortcut marker, 1 Shortcut card, and 6 Shortcut tokens
• 5 Racing Camels
• 30 Racing cards: 6 of each color
  • 5 of value 1
  • 1 of value 2
• 1 Crazy Camel
• 5 Crazy Camel cards
  • 2 of value 0
  • 2 of value 1
  • 1 of value 2
• 12 Track cards (the back of each Track card is a sandstorm side — see page 7)
• 1 Finish Line card

Overview

Five camels race against each other over several rounds. Each player's goal is to earn the most money by betting on the camels' positions throughout the race. But watch out! A Crazy Camel running in the opposite direction, a fennec, and a shortcut could change the outcome of the race. As soon as a camel crosses the finish line, the race ends and the player with the most money wins the game.

Setup

1. Take the Round card matching the number of players and put the other Round cards back in the box.

2. Create the track by placing the Track cards, numbered side up, in the middle of the table.

   Place first the card with the starting banner. Add the remaining cards to form a continuous line to the right of this card, continuing in ascending order.

   Continue until you place the Track card with the same number shown at the bottom of the Round card. Then take the Finish Line card and place it after that space (cover the extra space if needed). Unused Track cards go back in the box.

   Note: To save space, the shape of the track can be changed on the table.

3. Lay out the 5 Betting cards - Race Winner and the 5 Betting cards - Race Loser above the track.

4. Give each player 3 Egyptian Pounds, 1 Fennec token, and 1 Shortcut token, which they place in front of them.

5. Give the First Player marker to the youngest player.

6. Place the 5 Racing Camels in front of the first Track card with their heads pointing toward the Finish Line. Shuffle the 30 Racing cards and determine the camels' starting positions by revealing a Racing card. Move the camel of that color forward the number of spaces shown on the card (1 or 2 spaces). Continue until you have revealed exactly 5 cards (some camels may therefore remain in front of the starting banner).

   After determining the camels' starting positions, place the Crazy Camel (the black camel) on space 7. Unlike the Racing Camels, the Crazy Camel runs in the opposite direction. Place the Crazy Camel with its head pointing toward the starting banner.

Camel Stack: Camels on the same space always form a camel stack (except those in front of the starting banner). If a camel that is part of a stack must move, it carries with it all the camels on top of it. Camels underneath it remain in place.

Camel Group: A camel can move alone or as part of a stack of camels; this entity is called a camel group. If a camel group ends its movement on a space occupied by another camel group, it is placed on top of that other group.

Crazy Camel: These rules also apply to the Crazy Camel. However, camels riding on its back risk being carried in the opposite direction. The Crazy Camel is disqualified and cannot win the race.

Round Setup

1. Sort the 20 Betting cards - First Place of the Round by color and form 4 piles of cards like this: place the two 2-Egyptian-Pound cards on the bottom, then the 3-Egyptian-Pound card on top of those, and finally the 5-Egyptian-Pound card on top of the pile.

   Place these 5 piles next to each other, below the track.

2. Below each of these 5 piles, place the Betting card - Third Place of the Round of the same color.

3. Place the Fennec card and the Shortcut card near the track. Place the Fennec marker and the Shortcut marker on their matching cards.

4. If the Crazy Camel is behind the camel in fourth position (whether in a stack or not), take the Crazy Camel and place it 3 spaces in front of the camel in first position, keeping its orientation. Racing Camels riding on the Crazy Camel's back are not carried along during this step.

   Important: Near the end of the race, if there are fewer than 3 spaces in front of the camel in first position, place the Crazy Camel on the finish line. A Racing Camel that crosses the finish line and ends its movement on the Crazy Camel still triggers the end of the game. (See the "End of the Game" section on page 12.)

5. Set aside the 5 Crazy Camel cards and shuffle the 30 Racing cards. Then follow the instructions on your Round card to create the racing deck:

   A) Deal each player the number of Racing cards shown, face down. The remaining cards are placed in a discard pile, face down.

   B) Then players discard the number of cards shown, face down, into the discard pile.

   C) Finally, players choose the number of cards shown and place them into a shared pile to form the racing deck. The racing deck is then shuffled.

   Note: In a 5-player game, randomly take 2 Racing cards from the discard pile and add them to the racing deck. In a 6-player game, add 3 Racing cards.

   D) Each player's one remaining card is placed face up in front of them (see "Playing Your Racing Card" on page 9 for more details).

6. Take the 5 set-aside Crazy Camel cards and shuffle 2 of them at random into the racing deck. Discard the remaining Crazy Camel cards, face down, into the discard pile.

Sandstorm: Once round setup is complete, check whether there are any empty Track cards between the camel in first position and the camel in last position. If so, a sandstorm occurs. Flip those cards to their sandstorm side. This merges the 2 spaces on the affected cards into a single space (this space then works exactly like any other space on the track).

Round Sequence

The player with the First Player marker begins the round by taking the first turn. Then each player takes their turn successively, in clockwise order.

On your turn, you must perform exactly one TRACK ACTION. You may also perform exactly one BETTING ACTION. Your betting action can be performed before or after your track action.

Track Actions

A) Place the Fennec or the Shortcut on the track

Discard your Fennec token OR your Shortcut token and take the matching marker (Fennec or Shortcut). Place this marker on any empty space of the track and place the matching card in front of you.

• This track action can only be performed if there is at least 1 marker available AND you have the matching token.
• The Fennec and the Shortcut cannot be placed on the finish line or on a space between space 1 and the camel in last position.

B) Reveal the top card of the racing deck

Draw the top card of the racing deck and place it face up next to the deck, on the pile of revealed cards. Then move the camel of the matching color forward the number of spaces shown on the card (1 or 2). Racing Camels move forward, toward the finish line.

When you reveal a Crazy Camel card, the Crazy Camel (the black camel) moves the number of spaces shown on the card toward the starting banner. It cannot move farther than the starting banner — ignore any movement beyond that space. The Crazy Camel does not move if the card shows 0.

Exception when you reveal a Crazy Camel card: if there is a camel group riding on the Crazy Camel's back, add +1 (camel icon) to the movement shown on the revealed Crazy Camel card. For example, the Crazy Camel card illustrated at right would move the Crazy Camel 1 space instead of 0.

If a camel ends its movement on a space occupied by the Fennec or the Shortcut, refer to this section:

If a camel group ends its movement on a space occupied by the Shortcut, that group must advance 1 additional space. If it thereby lands on a space occupied by another camel group, it is placed on top as usual. Then immediately remove the marker from the track, place it on the Shortcut card, and put them back beside the track.

If a camel group ends its movement on a space occupied by the Fennec, that group must move back 1 space. If it thereby lands on a space occupied by another camel group, it is placed underneath, not on top as usual. Then immediately remove the marker from the track, place it on the Fennec card, and put them back beside the track.

If all the Racing Camels have passed the Shortcut and/or the Fennec, immediately return them to beside the track on their card.

If the Crazy Camel moves onto the Shortcut or the Fennec, its movement is affected the same way, but in the opposite direction.

Important: The head of a Racing Camel always points toward the next card. The Crazy Camel's head points toward the previous card. Camels always keep their orientation, even when moving backward.

C) Play your Racing card (or another player's)

Instead of revealing a card from the racing deck, you may play the card in front of you and move the matching camel. Then discard that card onto the pile of revealed cards.

You may also play another player's Racing card. To do so, you must pay that player 1 Egyptian Pound. Then discard that card onto the pile of revealed cards.

Note: You may look through the pile of revealed cards at any time, but you are not allowed to do this for the racing deck or the discard pile.

Betting Actions

A) Take an available Round betting card

Choose one of the available Round betting cards (First Place of the Round or Third Place of the Round) and place it in front of you. If you take a First Place of the Round card, take the top card of the pile. You are thereby betting on the camel of that color, hoping it will finish the round in that position. There is no limit to the number of Round betting cards a player may collect this way.

B) Take an available Race betting card

Choose one of the available Race betting cards and place it in front of you. If you choose a Winner card, you are betting on the camel of that color, hoping it will finish the race in the lead. If you choose a Loser card, you are betting on the camel of that color, hoping it will be last at the end of the race.

Important: Each player may have only one Betting card - Race Winner AND only one Betting card - Race Loser in front of them at a time. If you take a Race Winner betting card while you already have one in front of you, you must put your old card back above the track. The same applies to Race Loser betting cards.

These rules apply to each of your Betting cards - First Place of the Round:

• If the camel of the indicated color is first, you gain the number of Egyptian Pounds shown (5, 3, or 2).
• If it is second, gain 1 Pound.
• If it is third, fourth, or fifth, lose 1 Pound.

These rules apply to each of your Betting cards - Third Place of the Round:

• If the camel of the indicated color is third, gain 2 Egyptian Pounds.
• If it is second or fourth, gain 1 Pound.
• If it is first or fifth, lose 1 Pound.

In addition, the Fennec and Shortcut cards reduce your income: lose 1 Pound for each of those cards still in front of you at the end of the round.

End of a Round

When a player reveals the last card of the racing deck, that player moves the affected camel as usual, gives the First Player marker to the player on their left, and the round ends immediately. This means that if the active player had not performed their betting action before revealing the last card, they may no longer do so. A Racing card still in front of a player is discarded without effect.

A round scoring now begins. Each player calculates how many Egyptian Pounds they gain (or lose). To do this, add up the income shown on the Round betting cards in front of you. Ignore the Race betting cards — those are scored at the end of the race.

Important: A Racing Camel positioned higher in a camel stack is always considered ahead of those positioned below it. Ignore the Crazy Camel when ranking camels, since it is disqualified.

Once players have calculated their gain or loss (you can never have less than 0 Pounds), discard all the cards in front of the players (except the Race betting cards). Players take back their Fennec and/or Shortcut token used during the round. Start a new round by following the instructions in "Round Setup" on pages 6 and 7.

Before starting a new round: If there are fewer than 3 spaces between the camel in first position and the finish line, you must extend the track until there are exactly 3 spaces between that camel and the finish line. Add spaces using the Track cards remaining in the box. If there are no more Track cards, start the new round as usual.

Example of round scoring: The purple camel is in the lead. The yellow camel is second. The Crazy Camel is ignored, so the green camel is third. The red camel is fourth and the blue camel is fifth. Based on his cards, Olivier gains a total of 6 Egyptian Pounds: a First Place of the Round card for the leading (purple) camel pays +5; a Third Place of the Round card pays +1 and another Round betting card pays +1; a betting card for a camel that placed badly costs -1; another card pays +1; and his Fennec card, still in front of him, costs -1. (5 + 1 + 1 − 1 + 1 − 1 = 6.)

Important: During round scoring, camels still in front of the starting banner are all considered fifth (so it is possible for some positions to be unoccupied).

End of the Game

As soon as the first camel group crosses the finish line (by reaching or passing it), the race ends immediately. No betting action may be performed, and the players carry out one last round scoring.

First calculate the gains and/or losses from your Round betting cards as explained previously (not forgetting the Fennec and the Shortcut, if applicable). Each player then calculates the gains from their Race betting cards.

These rules apply to your Betting card - Race Winner:

• If the camel of the indicated color is the winner, gain 7 Egyptian Pounds.
• If it is second, gain 3 Pounds.
• If it is third, fourth, or fifth, lose 1 Pound.

These rules apply to your Betting card - Race Loser:

• If the camel of the indicated color is last, gain 7 Egyptian Pounds.
• If it is fourth, gain 3 Pounds.
• If it is first, second, or third, lose 1 Pound.

The player with the most money wins the game. In case of a tie, victory is shared.

Credits

Author: Steffen Bogen Illustrations: Chris Quilliams Realization: Sophie Gravel Editing and development: Pierre-Olivier Gravel Graphic design: Emeline D'Aoust & Martin Roy

© 2022 Plan B Games Inc., 19 rue de la Coopérative, Rigaud QC J0P 1P0, Canada. All rights reserved.