Dogs With Jobs Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Objective
• Set Up
• Game Play
  • Recruit Dogs
  • Complete a Job
  • Draw New Jobs
  • Use a Dog's Ability
• Round Tracker
• End Game Scoring
• Clarifications
  • Team Leader
  • Recruiting
  • Building Your Team
  • Types of Dogs
  • Completing Jobs
  • Guard Dog
  • Most Experienced Units
• Quick Reference

Components

• 60 Dog Cards (6 of each type)
• 54 Job Cards (9 of each category)
• 1 Team Leader card
• 1 Round Tracker
• 1 Round Marker

2-5 players, ages 7+, 15-30 minutes.

Objective

Finish the game with the MOST REWARD POINTS by recruiting a team of Dogs and collecting Jobs they can complete!

Set Up

1. Shuffle together a total of 6 JOB CARDS per player, ensuring one of them is THE TEAM LEADER CARD. Deal those cards out between players. Then shuffle together the remaining Job cards and place them in a face down draw pile, leaving room for a separate discard pile.
2. Shuffle all Dog cards together and DEAL 5 INTO A CENTRAL ROW. This is called THE DRAFT. Place the remaining Dog cards in a draw pile next to the Job cards, leaving room for a separate discard pile.
3. Place the Round Tracker in clear view of all players and place the Round Marker on top of SPACE NUMBER 1. Now, you're ready to begin!

Game Play

To start, the player with the Team Leader card reveals it, REMOVES it from their hand, and sets it aside. THEY DECIDE which player goes first. Turns will then proceed clockwise starting with that player.

On your turn, take UP TO 2 of the following actions. These can be in any order or combination, including taking the same action twice. PLAYERS MUST ALWAYS TAKE AT LEAST 1 ACTION.

There is no minimum or maximum hand size and players' hand sizes are always public knowledge.

1. Recruit Dogs
2. Complete a Job
3. Draw New Jobs
4. Use a Dog's Ability

Recruit Dogs

Recruiting is how you will build your Team! Do this by discarding UP TO ANY 2 JOB CARDS from your hand, whose total Reward Points are GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO the total Experience Level of the Dog(s) you wish to Recruit.

Example: the player can choose to take both the Hunting and Mountain Dogs (total of 9) using their 9 point Job card.

You can only spend UP TO 2 cards from your hand PER ACTION, but you may recruit AS MANY DOGS as you can afford with those cards. Keep in mind that when spending points, the colors and symbols on the Job cards are IGNORED and overspent points are FORFEITED.

Place any spent Jobs FACE UP in the discard pile and move your recruited Dogs into your play area to begin forming your own TEAM. Always wait until the END OF YOUR ENTIRE TURN to refill The Draft back to 5.

When recruiting, UP TO 3 OF THE SAME TYPE OF DOG (e.g., Hunting) may be combined into a single UNIT. There is no minimum number of Units you must have, but players can only hold A MAXIMUM OF 4 UNITS EACH, and each Unit must be a DIFFERENT TYPE of Dog.

Example: so far, the player has created a Team of 3 Units: 3 Hunting Dogs, 1 Mountain Rescue Dog, and 2 Police K9s.

Any of your Units that do not have AT LEAST 1 completed Job by the end of the game will lose you 10 POINTS EACH (see Complete a Job).

Complete a Job

In order to complete a Job from your hand, 1 of your Units must match the Job's category and that Unit must have a TOTAL amount of Experience that is GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO the Job's Reward Points. Complete the Job by laying it FACE DOWN below that Unit. Each Unit can complete UP TO 3 JOBS EACH.

Example: the Unit matches the Job's Defense category and has a total Experience of 5. Wild cards can be completed using any Unit!

If a Job's SPECIAL CONDITION is met at the end of the game, you'll receive the Reward Points listed at the bottom of the card INSTEAD of the points shown at the top! These points cannot be used for recruiting.

Draw New Jobs

Draw 2 NEW JOBS from the Job draw pile. But be prepared! The points AT THE TOP of any Job cards left in your hand at the end of the game will be SUBTRACTED from your score!

Use a Dog's Ability

Each Dog has a UNIQUE ABILITY that helps you take better actions, so build your Team with their skills in mind! Any of your Dog's abilities may be used as an action while they're on your team.

Fire (Rescue): Draw the last 2 discarded Jobs. These can be Jobs the active player just discarded during the same turn.

Mountain (Rescue): Upgrade by Trading 1 Dog on your Team for 1 of the same Type from The Draft (with a higher Experience Level). Place the traded Dog from your Team back into The Draft. Reward Points are not spent with this action.

Herding (Agriculture): Recruit 1 Dog and also take any Dogs in the same category of equal or lesser Experience. No Reward Points are spent for the additional Dogs that have been taken.

Sled (Agriculture): Discard all Dogs currently in The Draft and replace them with 5 new ones. Then you may Recruit. You may choose not to Recruit after seeing the refreshed Draft, however this is still considered an action.

Hunting (Detection): Draw 4 Jobs, choose 2 of those to keep. Place the others in the discard pile. The 2 Jobs you discard must be from the ones just drawn.

Search (Detection): Recruit 1 Dog from the discard pile, spending Reward Points as normal. You may look through the discard pile before deciding whether or not to use this action.

Guard (Defense): Guard: Complete 1 Job then turn that Unit sideways to protect it from other players, or... Un-Guard: Turn a Unit upright then Complete 1 Job with it. Guarded Units may still use their ability, but no new Dogs or Jobs may be added to it.

Police (Defense): Recruit Dogs from another player's Unit that has not yet completed any Jobs. Reward Points must still be spent in order to Recruit, as usual.

Guide (Support): Draw 1 Job into your hand from another player's completed Jobs. The player taking this action cannot look at the Jobs first, but may select any face down Job they wish.

Therapy (Support): Privately look at another player's hand and select 1 Job to take from them. You are required to take 1 Job if you choose to view the other player's hand.

Round Tracker

Each time the LAST PLAYER in turn order finishes their turn, the Team Leader discards the remaining Draft (this could be all 5 Dogs). Then, to begin the next round, they move the Round Tracker to the next space and flip over 5 NEW DOGS. Repeat this for all 8 ROUNDS.

If the Dog or Job piles ever run out, shuffle their discard piles and place them face down to create new draw piles.

End Game Scoring

1. Reveal and add up Reward Points from your completed Jobs. Jobs that meet their Special Condition are worth the Reward Points at the bottom of the card INSTEAD.
2. Subtract 10 POINTS per Unit that does not have any completed Jobs. You do not lose points for having less than 4 Units.
3. Subtract the Reward Points on any Jobs left in your hand. Special Condition Reward Points do not count against you.

THE PLAYER WITH THE MOST REWARD POINTS WINS!

For more competition, use the Score Pad to calculate a winner after 3 games!

If a Job is revealed from a Unit without enough Experience, it is subtracted from the player's score. In the case of a tie, the player with the highest total Experience in their Team wins! If there is still a tie, the victory is shared!

Clarifications

Team Leader

The player who receives the Team Leader card starts with 1 less Job in their hand. They do not draw back up to a starting hand of 6.

Recruiting

You must add Dogs onto your Team if using the Recruit action. You may not discard from your hand otherwise.

Building Your Team

You may only combine Dogs of the same "Type" into a Unit. Ex: You cannot combine Herding and Sled Dogs into the same unit.

Types of Dogs

Types of Dogs are defined by the title in the top left corner of their cards (e.g., Sled, Guide, Therapy).

Completing Jobs

A Unit can complete a Job as long as the combined Experience of the Unit is greater than or equal to the Job's individual point value. Ex: If the combined Experience of your Unit is 5, it can complete 3 Jobs each worth up to 5 Reward Points.

Guard Dog

The Guard Dog's ability may be used on any Unit on your Team, but may not be used on another player's Unit. Both the Dogs and Jobs in a Guarded Unit are protected from other players' actions.

You must be able to complete a Job with the Unit in order to Guard or Un-Guard the Unit.

Most Experienced Units

Special Conditions noting "Most Experienced Unit" check all players' Teams, including yours. If tied, the Condition is not met.

Quick Reference

Quick Setup

1. Shuffle together 6 Job cards per player including the Team Leader card and deal all cards. Create a draw pile from those remaining.
2. Shuffle and create a draw pile of all Dog cards then flip over the first 5 to create The Draft.
3. Set the Round Marker to space number 1 on the Round Tracker.

Reminders

• Up to 2 ACTIONS per turn
• Spending limit of 2 JOBS per recruit action
• Limit of 4 UNITS per player
• Limit of 3 DOGS and 3 JOBS per Unit
• END GAME: Subtract points left in hand and -10 points per Unit with no completed Jobs

Categories: Agriculture, Defense, Detection, Rescue, Support, Wild