Candy, Spiders, Leopards Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Set Up
• Gameplay
  • A. Round Overview
  • 1. Preparation
  • 2. Dealing
  • 3. Good Weather Declaration
  • 4. Trick Sequence
    • Trick Phase (Must Follow and Trump Cards)
    • Weather Rule
    • Checking Good Weather Declarations
  • B) End of the Game
• Scoring
  • Candy (Side A)
  • Candy (Side B)
  • Spider (Side A)
  • Spider (Side B)
  • Leopard (Side A)
  • Leopard (Side B)
  • Shooting Star (Side A)
  • Shooting Star (Side B)
  • Good Weather Cards
  • Face-down FAFROTSKIES Cards
• Determining the Winner
• Additional Rules for 2, 3, and 5 Players
  • 2 Players
  • 3 Players
  • 5 Players

Components

• 36 FAFROTSKIES cards
• 36 Rain cards (12 blue, 12 red, and 12 green, numbered from 1 to 12)
• 6 Good weather cards
• 5 Scoring cards, each with an A-side and a B-side
• 1 First player card

Scoring card notes. Each Scoring card shows an associated illustration (1 or 2 candies, spiders, leopards or shooting stars), a points calculation, and a number showing how many times the indicated element appears on the FAFROTSKIES cards.

Set Up

The following setup applies to 4-player games. Please refer to the additional rules for 2, 3, or 5-player games.

1. Preparing the FAFROTSKIES deck. Shuffle the FAFROTSKIES cards, then form a face-down deck, called the "FAFROTSKIES deck".
2. Preparing the Good weather pile. Shuffle the Good weather cards and place them in a pile within reach of all players.
3. Preparing the Rain deck. Shuffle the Rain cards, then form a face-down deck.
4. Choosing the Scoring cards. Each Scoring card has an A-side and a B-side. Decide together which side to use for each type of FAFROTSKIES (candy, spider, leopard, and shooting star). For your first games, we recommend using the A-sides. After a few games, you can mix both A- and B-sides for more variety.
5. Determining the first player. The last player to see a spider becomes the first player and receives the First player card.

Gameplay

A. Round Overview

Each game of 4 players is played over 4 rounds. Each round consists of 4 phases:

1. Preparation
2. Dealing
3. Good weather declaration
4. Trick sequence
   • First set
   • Second set
   • Third set

1. Preparation

During this phase, you prepare for the upcoming round.

1. Draw 9 FAFROTSKIES cards and place them in a line next to the deck. The card closest to the deck is the 1st, and the farthest is the 9th. Divide the cards into 3 groups of 3, leaving space between each group.

This line is called the "FAFROTSKIES line" and contains the FAFROTSKIES cards that players will try to collect during the round.

2. Shuffle all the Rain cards and deal 9 face-down cards to each player. This forms their hand for the round. Players look at their cards without revealing them to the other players.

2. Dealing

During this phase, players decide how to divide their Rain cards for the three groups on the FAFROTSKIES line.

1. Each player divides their 9 Rain cards into 3 piles of 3 cards, corresponding to the 3 groups on the FAFROTSKIES line.
2. Players assign one pile of Rain cards to each group on the FAFROTSKIES line. They place each of their piles face down in front of them, in the order of the groups they correspond to. Once placed, a pile cannot be modified. These are the piles players will use to try to collect FAFROTSKIES cards.

3. Good Weather Declaration

During this phase, players can bet on good weather, if they think they will collect no FAFROTSKIES cards during the round.

After making their decision silently, players extend the fist, palm-down, over the table. Then, those who wish to declare good weather simultaneously give a thumbs-up. These players take a Good weather card and place it in front of them, with its Sun side visible. If the Good weather pile is empty, use substitutes of your choice.

4. Trick Sequence

Start with the first group on the FAFROTSKIES line. Each player takes their pile of Rain cards associated with this group (placed during Phase 2: Dealing) and plays three times to try to collect FAFROTSKIES cards.

• The first trick sequence concerns the first group, which is composed of cards 1 to 3 in the FAFROTSKIES line.
• The second trick sequence concerns the second group, which is composed of cards 4 to 6 in the FAFROTSKIES line.
• The third trick sequence concerns the third group, which is composed of cards 7 to 9 in the FAFROTSKIES line.

Trick Phase (Must Follow and Trump Cards)

The player with the First player card begins by playing a Rain card from their hand, face up, in front of them.

Then, the other players play a card one after the other in clockwise order. They must follow the colour of the first card if possible (Must Follow). If they don't have a card of that colour, they may play any card. Once each player has played a card, the winner is determined according to the "weather rule".

Weather Rule

The player who played the highest-numbered Rain card of the requested colour wins. However, if one or more blue Rain cards have been played, the player who played the highest-numbered blue card wins. Blue cards are trump cards.

Example 1: Cards A (green 6), B (red 12), C (green 2) and D (green 7) are played, with green requested. Player D wins with the highest green card (7). The red 12 is not of the requested colour and does not count.

Example 2: Cards A (green 1), B (blue 4), C (blue 7) and D (green 10) are played, with green requested. Player C wins, because blue cards are trump cards and the highest-numbered blue card (7) beats the green 10.

The winner takes the closest FAFROTSKIES card from the deck and places it face up in front of them. The played Rain cards are then discarded face down. The winner becomes the first player for the next trick (the next card in the group). Players repeat this process for each remaining card in the first group. After all the tricks for the first group have been played, all players take their pile of Rain cards for the second group and play for each of the 3 cards in that group. Then, players do the same for the third and final group.

Once this is done, players check their Good weather declarations.

Checking Good Weather Declarations

Players who declared good weather check if they collected any FAFROTSKIES cards.

• If a player did not win any FAFROTSKIES cards, they have honoured their declaration. They place their Good weather card with the other cards they have collected during the game. The Good weather card is worth 7 points.
• If a player won at least one FAFROTSKIES card, they have not honoured their declaration. They return their Good weather card to the Good weather pile. Then, they place the FAFROTSKIES cards they collected during the round face down next to them. They will lose 2 points per face-down FAFROTSKIES card they possess at the end of the game.

After this, the First player card is passed to the player on the left, and the next round begins.

B) End of the Game

At the end of the fourth round, players score or lose points based on the conditions of the Scoring cards, as well as the Good weather cards and the face-down FAFROTSKIES cards they possess.

Scoring

Players count their points according to the side of the Scoring cards being used.

FAFROTSKIES cards featuring two candies, two spiders, or two leopards count as two elements.

Candy (Side A)

Compare the number of candies each player has collected. For each player who has fewer candies than you, gain 1 point per candy they possess.

Example: Rio, Haru, Etsuko, and Yoshi collected 8, 4, 3, and 1 candies respectively. As a result, they score 8 (4 + 3 + 1), 4 (3 + 1), 1, and 0 points respectively.

Candy (Side B)

The player with the most candies is ranked first. Points are awarded according to the table below. Players with the same number of candies share the same rank, and the next player is ranked just below them.

1st	2nd	3rd	4th
3	10	6	0

Example: Rio, Haru, Etsuko, and Yoshi collected 6, 6, 3, and 2 candies respectively. As a result, they score 3, 3, 10, and 6 points respectively.

Spider (Side A)

You gain more or less points based on the number of spiders on your cards as indicated on the card.

Spiders	1	2	3	4	5	6+
Points	3	10	4	2	10	1

Example: Rio, Haru, Etsuko, and Yoshi collected 1, 2, 3, and 4 spiders respectively. As a result, they scored 3, 10, 4, and 2 points respectively.

Spider (Side B)

You gain more or less points based on the number of spiders on your cards as indicated on the card.

Spiders	1	2	3	4	5	6+
Points	10	3	2	1	10	1

Example: Rio, Haru, Etsuko, and Yoshi collected 1, 2, 3, and 4 spiders respectively. As a result, they scored 10, 3, 2, and 1 points respectively.

Leopard (Side A)

You gain more or less points based on the number of leopards on your cards as indicated on the card.

Leopards	1	2	3	4	5	6	7+
Points	0	10	0	20	0	30	0

Example: Rio, Haru, Etsuko, and Yoshi collected 1, 2, 2, and 4 leopards respectively. As a result, they scored 0, 10, 10, and 20 points respectively.

Leopard (Side B)

You gain more or less points based on the number of leopards on your cards as indicated on the card.

Leopards	1	2	3	4	5	6	7+
Points	0	0	15	0	0	30	0

Example: Rio, Haru, Etsuko, and Yoshi collected 0, 2, 3, and 4 leopards respectively. As a result, they scored 0, 0, 15, and 0 points respectively.

Shooting Star (Side A)

You gain more or less points based on your current score and the number of Shooting star cards in your possession as indicated on the card.

Shooting stars	1	2	3
Effect	0	-5	x2

Example: Rio scored 3 points for candies, 4 points for spiders, and 10 points for leopards, for a total of 17 points. Since he has 3 Shooting star cards, he multiplies his score by 2 and gains 34 additional points (17 × 2).

Shooting Star (Side B)

You gain more or less points based on the number of cards you collected as indicated on the card. Additionally, you immediately win the game if you possess all 3 Shooting star cards.

Shooting stars	1	2	3
Effect	0	-10	WIN

Good Weather Cards

7 points per Good weather card.

Face-down FAFROTSKIES Cards

-2 points per face-down FAFROTSKIES card.

Example: Rio made two good weather declarations. He honoured the first one, earning 7 points, but did not honour the second one, as he won 2 FAFROTSKIES cards, each costing him 2 points. In total, he scored 3 points (7 - 4).

Determining the Winner

The player with the most points wins the game. In case of a tie, the player with the fewest FAFROTSKIES cards wins. If the tie persists, the player with the most Good weather cards wins. If the tie still persists, the player who throws their shoe the farthest outside wins.

Additional Rules for 2, 3, and 5 Players

In addition to the basic rules, please consider the following adjustments based on the number of players.

2 Players

• Only use the Rain cards numbered 1 to 6 in each colour (18 cards total). Return the Rain cards numbered 7 to 12 to the box.

• In each round, only 6 FAFROTSKIES cards are placed in the FAFROTSKIES line (instead of 9 cards). Form 2 groups of 3 FAFROTSKIES cards, numbered 1 to 3 and 4 to 6.

• Each player receives 6 Rain cards, which they divide into 2 piles of 3 cards.

• After playing 6 rounds (instead of 4), the game ends, and you proceed to the scoring phase (each player has had the First player card twice).

• No other changes from the basic rules.

3 Players

• Only use the Rain cards numbered 1 to 6 in each colour (18 cards total). Return the Rain cards numbered 7 to 12 to the box.

5 Players

• Remove 1 Candy card from the FAFROTSKIES cards and return it to the box. Then, form a deck with the remaining 35 FAFROTSKIES cards.
• In each round, only 7 FAFROTSKIES cards are placed (instead of 9 cards). Form 2 groups of 3 cards, numbered 1 to 3 and 4 to 7.
• Each player receives 7 Rain cards, which they divide into 2 piles of 3 and 4 cards. The remaining cards are set aside, face down.
• After playing 5 rounds (instead of 4), the game ends, and you proceed to the scoring phase.
• During scoring, if the B-side of the Candy Scoring card is used, the player in 5th place also receives 0 points.