Claw Machine
Claw Machine Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
At the end of the game, whoever has the most valuable collection of plush toys will be the winner.
Components
- 8 Choice cards (one for each animal)
- 63 Plush cards:
- 48 Animal Plush cards: 6 Bears, 6 Capybaras, 6 Cats, 6 Dogs, 6 Rabbits, 6 Raccoons, 6 Sheep, and 6 Zebras
- 6 Mythic Plush cards: 3 Dragons and 3 Unicorns
- 9 Defective Plush cards: 2 Pink, 2 Blue, 2 Yellow, 1 Blue/Pink, 1 Yellow/Pink and 1 Yellow/Blue
- 4 sets of controls, each made up of 1 PUSH button and 4 double-sided arrows (available / not available)
- 1 Claw piece
- 1 Scoring notepad
- 1 Rules book
Setting Up the Game
- Take out the Choice cards, shuffle them, and randomly draw 5 cards.
- Separate all of the Animal Plush cards that match the 5 plush animals on the Choice cards that you have drawn. These Animal Plush cards will be the cards you use in the game. Put all the Choice cards back in the box, along with the cards from the 3 kinds of animals that were not selected. Those Animal Plush cards will not be used in this match.
- Put the rest of the cards (all the Defective Plush cards, Mythic Plush cards, and the remaining Animal Plush cards that were not removed from the game) into a single deck. Shuffle this deck and split it into 9 stacks of five cards each.
- Make a 3x3 square grid in the center of the table using these stacks, placed face-down. Turn over the top card on each stack so that the 9 plush toys available at the start of the game can be seen.
- Place the arrows in front of each player as shown in the picture in the rulebook, with the "available" side face-up. It is important that the arrows are aligned with the grid made of cards in the center of the table.
- Whoever has the greatest number of plush toys in their room in real life is the player who starts the game. Give them the red PUSH button, and the other players will use green buttons.
- Finally, whoever is playing the last turn takes the Claw piece, which they will place on top of one of the 9 stacks of the square in the center of the table.
Playing the Game
The Claw Machine is played by each player taking their turn going clockwise around the table. During your turn, you have to choose between moving the Claw using your available arrows or recharging arrows. Also, at some point during your turn, you must press your PUSH button to grab the plush toy that is below the Claw.
Move the Claw or Recharge Arrows
When it is your turn, you have to choose between:
- Move the Claw: Use the arrows that you have available in front of you on the table. Every time you use an arrow, you must turn it over so the "not available" side is face-up and then move the Claw piece one space in the same direction as the arrow (see the examples). If you choose this option, you must use at least one arrow and you are able to use as many as you like, so long as you have them available. You can press the PUSH button before or after you move the Claw piece or between one move and another.
- Recharge arrows: Turn over 1 or 2 arrows so that the available side is face-up. You can do this before or after pressing the PUSH button.
If you have all of your arrows available at the beginning of your turn, you must choose to move the Claw. On the other hand, if you start your turn without any available arrows, you must choose to recharge arrows, and will be forced to press the PUSH button without being able to move the Claw.
Note: it is allowed to press the PUSH button at the start of your turn and then decide whether to move the Claw or recharge the arrows. That way you will find out which is the new plush toy that is then revealed below the one you have collected.
When you have finished your turn, tell the next person in the clockwise direction that it is their turn.
Press the PUSH Button
You must also remember that you have to use the PUSH button once during your turn, while the Claw is above a card. That is how you acquire plush toys for your collection. (The only exception, in which you do not get a Plush toy, is if the Claw is over an empty space and you choose the recharge arrows option.) Gesture with your fist as if you are going to hit the button to let everyone else know that you are performing the PUSH action. Then, take the plush toy that is below the Claw and put it face-up in front of you on the table, and then turn over and reveal the new plush toy that is now available in the stack.
Example 1: Barbie uses her up and right arrows to move the Claw and then presses the PUSH button and gets a Raccoon for her collection. Then she turns over the card to reveal the new plush toy and decides to use a down arrow to make the game more difficult for the next player.
Example 2: Stacey does not have any available arrows at the start of her turn. For this reason, she is forced to use the PUSH button where the Claw is already located and then recharges the up and right arrows.
Empty Stacks
If you take the last Plush card in a stack, you must then take the top card from each of the edge-adjacent stacks (on the two sides, the top and the bottom, but not diagonally) in order to create a new stack. You can choose the order of the cards, which are then placed face-up. There will be cases when you cannot replace an empty stack, and that may lead to the end of the game.
Example 3: Winnie takes the last plush toy from the stack in the middle. He then creates a new stack by taking the cards from the four adjacent stacks: first the Rabbit, then a Sheep, then a Raccoon, and last a Cat.
Example 4: Elmo takes the last Plush card in the stack in the top left corner. Since the adjacent stacks (specifically the one on the bottom) only have a single card, he must use just the single available card to create the new stack.
It is possible that a player may choose the recharge arrows option when the Claw is above an empty space, and therefore that player would not receive any Plush toy that turn. However, in any turn you choose the move the Claw option, you are required to press the PUSH button when the Claw is above a card.
End of the Game
When there are 3 empty spaces in the grid of cards in the center of the table (and it is impossible to replace those stacks), it means that it is the final round.
When the final round is triggered, those players who have not yet had their turns play as usual. Once the round is completed and everyone playing has had the same number of turns, each player must count up the points that their collection of plush toys has scored. Write down the scores on the notepad. Whoever has the most points wins.
If there is a tie, the victory goes to whichever of the tied players has the most plush toys in their collection. If there is still a tie, the tied players then share the win.
Note: in 2-player games, the last round is triggered with just 1 empty space in the grid.
List of Plush Toys
There are 3 kinds of Plush Toys: Animals, Mythic and Defective. In this list you can find the details of each of them.
Animals
Animals grant Victory Points (VP) in different ways at the end of the game. Pay attention to the animals available during the game to plan out the best combination.
- Bear: each pair of Bears gives you 5 VP. We all want to find our bear to hug.
- Capybara: you get 2 VP for each Capybara in your collection. Sometimes the most humble is also the bravest.
- Cat: each Cat gives you as many VP as the total number of repeated Animal Plush toys you have in your collection (not counting the Cats themselves). Cats only want to hang out with popular Plush toys.
- Dog: each Dog gives you 1 VP for each kind of Animal Plush toy you have in your collection (that are not Dogs). Dogs love having all kinds of friends.
- Rabbit: your group of Rabbits grants you 5 VP if there is no other player who has the same number of Rabbits that you do. Otherwise, they do not give you any VP. Rabbits want to stand out and be special.
- Raccoon: each Raccoon gives you as many VP as the sum of the numbers on the trash cans shown on your opponents' Raccoon cards. It's always better when someone else takes out the trash.
- Sheep: during the game, place each Sheep you get on top of those you have already received. At the end of the game, if the Sheep you have received are arranged in alternating colors (White/Black/White/Black, etc.), then you earn as many VP as the number of Sheep squared. Otherwise, you just get 1 VP per Sheep. They look so cute when they are all in order!
- Zebra: you earn 1 VP for each Mythic Plush toy in your collection. These Zebras' stripes seem brighter next to the Mythic plush toys.
Mythic Plush Toys
Mythic Plush toys are special plush toys that have powers that can help you during the game. At any time during your turn you can activate up to 1 Mythic Plush toy that you have achieved in an earlier turn in order to use its power. The power can only be used once in the entire game. After using it, turn it over to remind yourself that its power has already been used.
- Dragon: 1 VP at the end of the game. Power: switch the positions of 2 Plush toy cards in the top row of the grid. You may even switch the cards that are below the Claw. Spread your wings and make the plush toys fly!
- Unicorn: 1 VP at the end of the game. Power: press the PUSH button a second time during your turn, so that you get 2 plush toy cards this turn. The button worked twice... Maybe magic is real.
Defective Plush Toys
Each Defective Plush toy takes away -2 VP from whoever has it in their collection at the end of the game. This penalty is only canceled if you are able to get 3 Defective Plush toys that share the same color. In that case, the trio of Defective Plush toys grants you 10 VP. Defective Plush toys with 2 different colors can only be used in a single trio (not one color for one trio and the other for a second trio).
Finding 1 or 2 is rare, but 3 Defective Plush toys makes for a truly unique collection.
Summary of the Rules
Turn: you must perform these two actions, in any order you choose:
- Move the Claw OR Recharge up to 2 arrows
- Press the PUSH button: take the card that is under the Claw
Scoring:
- Bear: 5 VP for each pair of Bears
- Capybara: 2 VP for each Capybara
- Cat: as many VP as your most repeated Animal (except Cats)
- Dog: as many VP as the different kinds of Animals (except Dogs)
- Rabbit: 5 VP if it is a unique group (no other player has the same number of Rabbits)
- Raccoon: the sum of the numbers on your opponents' Raccoon cards
- Sheep: if alternating (✓), as many VP as there are Sheep squared; otherwise (✗) 1 VP for each Sheep
- Zebra: 1 VP for each Mythic Plush toy
- Dragon: 1 VP. Power: switch 2 top cards on the grid
- Unicorn: 1 VP. Power: press the PUSH button twice that turn
- Defective: a trio with the same color (✓) grants 10 VP; otherwise (✗) -2 VP for each one
Scoring Example
Elmo achieves the following collection of Plush toys (see the illustration in the rulebook):
- Rabbits: since he is the only person with 1 Rabbit, the group of Rabbits gives him 5 VP.
- Cats: his most repeated Animal is Sheep (2). Each Cat gives him 2 VP. 3 x 2 = 6 VP.
- Raccoons: the numbers on the trash cans shown on his opponents' Raccoon cards add up to 4. Each Raccoon gives him 4 VP. 1 x 4 = 4 VP.
- Sheep: since the Sheep are in alternating (White/Black) order, the group of Sheep grants him 2² = 4 VP.
- Dogs: he has 4 different kinds of Animals. Each Dog gives him 4 VP. 1 x 4 = 4 VP.
- Mythic Plush toy: each Mythic Plush toy gives him 1 VP. 1 x 1 = 1 VP.
- Defective Plush toys: since he was unable to get a trio of the same color, each card takes away -2 VP. 2 x -2 = -4 VP.
In total Elmo has scored: 5 + 6 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 1 - 4 = 20 VP.