Emboscados
Emboscados Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
A. Setup
- Shuffle the prey identity cards and the predator identity cards separately and give one random card of each to every player.
- Shuffle the special cards and deal 3 to each player.
- Place the 5 predator cards side by side in the center of the table.
- Shuffle the prey cards and reveal 3 above the predator cards. The rest of the cards form a draw pile.
- Place the cub tokens (filhote markers) near the play area.
- The starting player is the one who best imitates the sound of an animal.
B. Objective
Each player is the secret guardian of a predator and of a prey species. Your objective is to protect the prey of your species so that they survive, and to feed your predator with prey of other species. During the game your score will rise and fall, but as soon as someone has 9 points on the table during their turn, the game ends and that player is declared the winner.
- Each prey or cub being hunted by your predator: 1 point
- Each prey or cub of your species that is surviving: 1 point
The Grove
The game table has 5 vertical columns, each belonging to a different predator. During the game, prey will be played into the columns, forming horizontal rows. The predator at the top of each column is trying to hunt the prey below it.
C. Predators
Predators are always hunting the prey in their column, as far as their hunger allows. Every predator is hunting up to 4 meat icons worth of the prey directly below it. If a predator does not have enough hunger to hunt a whole prey, that prey is surviving, as are all the prey below it.
Prey are never actually devoured by the predator; their status changes depending on their position: hunted or surviving (giving points to the predator's guardian or to the prey's guardian).
Example (illustration): below the predator, a squirrel with 3 meat, a hedgehog with 2 meat and a rabbit with 1 meat. The squirrel (3 meat) is hunted; the hedgehog (2 meat) and the rabbit (1 meat) below it are surviving.
Prey
Prey come in 5 species and can be of two genders (male or female) and have from 1 to 3 meat icons.
Specials
Unlike prey, these cards are played directly from the hand and have various effects.
D. Turn
Turns are played clockwise. During their turn, the player performs one of the actions below:
- Take a revealed prey card or the top card of the draw pile and play it into a column.
- OR: Play one of their special cards, activating its effect.
When using a revealed prey card, place a new one from the draw pile in its place.
Interaction
When a prey enters the table adjacent (orthogonally) to another of the same species, they interact. Every possible interaction is mandatory. The active player chooses the order in which they occur.
There are 2 types of interaction: Mating and Fight.
Note: The columns at the edges of the table are adjacent to each other.
E. Mating
When 2 prey of the same species and different genders become adjacent, they mate. Place a cub token on one of the 2 cards.
Cubs have 0 meat.
Fight
When 2 prey of the same species and same gender become adjacent, they fight. When this occurs, the prey that was already in the column is discarded along with any cubs on it. Whenever a card is discarded, the cards below it move up to fill the empty space.
Chain Reactions
Whenever an interaction becomes possible, it occurs, even if it is caused by a previous interaction or by the effect of a special card.
Example: A territorial fight discards a male squirrel, leaving the new squirrel adjacent to a female squirrel, which triggers a mating.
F. End of the Game
At all times players are adding up the points of their prey that are surviving and of those hunted by their predator. As soon as a player has 9 points during their turn, they win the game! If all the prey have been played, the game ends immediately and the player with the highest score wins! In case of a tie, the next player after the one who played the last turn wins the game.