Croak! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Goal
• Setup
• Playing a Turn
• Priority Rules
• "Memory" Option
• Tile Effects
  • Lily Pad
  • Mosquito
  • Mud
  • Pike
  • Reeds
  • Males
  • Log
• Tile Backs
• Credits

Contents

• 1 rulebook
• 64 tiles that form the pond
• For each color:
  • 1 Queen frog
  • 6 Servant frogs
  • 6 Male pawns

Players: 2-4 Age: 6+ Playing time: 20 minutes

Goal

To win at Croak!, you must be the last player to keep your Queen in play.

Setup

Shuffle the tiles and form an 8-by-8 square of tiles, face down.

Each player chooses a color and takes their "Queen" and "Servant" frogs, as well as the "Male" pawns of their color, and places their Queen and 2 of their Servants according to the number of players.

The player who jumps the farthest starts.

Note: when the rules refer to a Frog, this means the Queen as well as a Servant.

Playing a Turn

On your turn, move one of your frogs to an adjacent tile. Turn it face up if it is still face down, and apply its "effect."

When you have finished playing, it is the player to your left's turn.

Priority Rules

• If there is a Servant on the same tile as your Queen, you must move one of the two.
• You are not allowed to move onto a tile occupied by one of your own frogs (except a Log).
• If you arrive on a tile occupied by one or more rival Frogs, you eliminate them before applying the tile's effect.
• If you arrive on a tile occupied by a rival Queen, that player is eliminated. Remove all of their frogs from the pond and gain a Servant (if you do not already have 6) that you place on the same tile as your Queen.
• If you move your Queen onto a Pike, you are eliminated; remove all of your frogs from the pond.

The winner is the last player who still has their Queen.

"Memory" Option

For more experienced players: when a frog leaves a face-up tile, turn the tile back face down if no frog remains on it. It is up to you to remember the effect of the tiles that have been turned back over!

Tile Effects

Lily Pad

Your frog must bounce onto an adjacent tile of your choice, and you apply the effect of the new tile. You may not go back onto the tile you just left, unless every adjacent tile is already occupied by your own frogs. You can never stay on a Lily Pad.

Mosquito

You may move another of your frogs, applying the effects of the tile it lands on. If you decide not to move another frog, it is the next player's turn.

Mud

Your frog cannot be moved on the following turn. Lay your frog on its back; you will stand it back up at the end of your next turn. It is then the next player's turn.

Pike

Your frog is eaten. Remove it from the pond (if it is your Queen, you have lost). It is then the next player's turn.

Reeds

Nothing happens; it is the next player's turn.

Males

When your Queen arrives on a Male tile whose matching Male pawn you still hold, she makes a baby, provided you have at least one Servant left in your reserve. Place a Servant of your color on this tile, and discard the matching Male pawn. You may no longer breed your Queen with this Male or its twin.

Note: there are six different Males, each represented twice.

On the following turn, you are obliged to move your new Servant or your Queen. If your Queen has already made a baby with this Male or its double, or if only a Servant arrives on this tile, nothing happens; it is the next player's turn.

Log

Up to two Servants may be on a Log at the same time (even belonging to different players), or a single Queen.

• If a third Servant arrives on the Log, it eliminates the Servant of its choice.
• A Queen who arrives on a Log eliminates all the Servants found there.
• A Queen is always eliminated by a rival frog that arrives on the Log she occupies.

It is then the next player's turn.

Note: your Queen occupies the entire Log, so you cannot move your Queen onto a Log that already holds one of your own Servants.

Tile Backs

In this new Croak!, you have three different tile backs. They let you make choices by weighing risk in advance.

One back represents the shallow waters of the pond. You run no risk of being eaten by a Pike, since there are none there. On the other hand, that is where all the Mud tiles are, and there are more Reeds.

The other two backs represent the deep waters of the pond, where Pikes may be found, but also more Lily Pads and no Mud at all. Faster, but riskier. The distribution of tile types between these two backs is identical.

To help you, here is the breakdown of each tile type by back, starting with the shallow waters, followed by the two deep-water backs:

Tile	Shallow waters	Deep waters (back A)	Deep waters (back B)
Lily Pad	6	4	4
Mosquito	4	2	2
Mud	4	0	0
Pike	0	2	2
Reeds	10	3	3
Males	6	3	3
Log	2	2	2

Credits

• Publisher: Origames
• Coordination: Guillaume Gille-Naves
• Author: Igor Polouchine
• Illustrations: Claire Wendling and David Cochard
• Worldwide distribution: Iello