Good Puppers!
Good Puppers! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
100 Pup Cards 5 Reference Cards
Setup
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Give each player a Reference Card.
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Shuffle all 100 pup cards together.
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Based on the number of players (see below), set some cards aside in the box.
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Deal a starting hand of 3 cards to each player.
| Players | Cards in Deck | Cards in Box |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 45 | 55 |
| 3 | 60 | 40 |
| 4 | 75 | 25 |
| 5 | 90 | 10 |
Table Layout
Dog Park (Center of Table)
The Dog Park holds the Available Pups and the Deck. New Pups arrive each round!
Yard (Player Area)
Each player's Yard holds their Pup Cards, organized in groups by breed, their Buried Bones (kept face-down), and their Reference Card.
Pup Cards
Number & Name
Each pup card has a unique number from 00-99. The tens digit is its Breed, the ones digit is its Trick.
Example: 80-89 are Aussies. 04, 14, 24, etc are Crafty.
Trick
Each pup has a special Trick it performs after it's played. Most Tricks have a symbol, like the paw print here, meaning the number of pups in its group. Tricks get better with friends around to help!
Example: If you had 4 Aussies in play, then this Trick would become: "Each group with less than 4 bones buries a bone."
Game-End Bonus
Each group has a unique rule that upgrades its buried bones at the end of the game, increasing their value!
Gameplay
Good Puppers is played over a series of rounds. Each round is split up into five steps. Game Round and Player Turn steps are summarized on each Reference Card.
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Fill the Dog Park: Reveal one card per player, plus one extra card (ex: 3 players, 4 cards) from the deck, and place them all face-up in an area called the Dog Park.
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Choose a Pupper: Each player picks one of the three cards in their hand, and places it face-down on their Reference Card.
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Reveal Puppers: Each player flips over the card they chose to play, leaving it face-up on their Reference card.
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Player Turns: Every pup card has a number from 0 to 99. In order from highest to lowest, each player takes their turn (see next page).
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Extra Pup: The last player to take a turn (whomever played the lowest # card) takes the remaining pup from the Dog Park and adds it to their Yard, but does not perform its Trick.
Once all players have taken a turn, a new round begins.
Player Turn
During each round, every player will take one turn. A player's turn is split up into three steps.
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Add Pup to Yard: Place your new pup face-up in your Yard. If you've already got pups of that breed, add it to their group.
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Use Trick: Each pup has a special Trick that it performs when you play it. Tricks will let you bury, move, and upgrade bones.
Tricks are described in detail on the next pages.
- Draw Pup: Choose one of the pups in the Dog Park and add it to your hand.
Tricks
All these puppers have Tricks they want to perform to impress you! Tricks always only affect your own groups.
Bury a Bone: To bury a bone, take the top card of the deck and tuck it under the pup's group, with the value 1 side showing.
Example: Card 48, Proud Corgi — "Bury one bone here."
Upgrade a Bone (upgrade symbol): To upgrade a bone, rotate it 90 degrees clockwise. An upgraded 1 becomes a 2, a 2 becomes a 5, and a 5 becomes a 10.
Example: Card 50, Loyal Shepherd — "Upgrade one bone here. Bury a bone here." Upgrading the bone under a group rotates it 90 degrees clockwise to raise its value.
Move a Bone: Some Tricks allow you to move one or more bones between your groups. If you move a bone, preserve its value (a 5 stays a 5, for example).
Draw Pups: Playful (07, 17, 27, etc) pups let you draw and play pups, ignoring their Tricks. Draw and play the specified number of pups into your Yard, adding them to groups as appropriate.
Tricks are Optional: You can always choose to ignore a Trick or only perform part of its effect.
Symbols Become Numbers: Most Tricks' text includes a colored symbol matching the pup's breed. When you read it, replace that symbol with the number of pups in that group, including the new pup.
Example: Cards 33 Clever Pit Bull, 31 Noble Pit Bull, 38 Proud Pit Bull — "Bury [breed symbol] bones here." After playing the Proud Pit Bull, the breed symbol = 3 because there are 3 pups in the group. The Trick becomes "Bury 3 bones here."
Game End
If there are not enough cards in the deck to complete step 1 of a round (ex: 3 cards in deck, in a 4-player game), do not put any cards into the Dog Park. Instead, this round will be the Final Round.
The rest of the Final Round proceeds as normal, except that players skip the Draw Pup part of their turn.
After the Final Round, each group gains its End-Game Bonus once. These bonuses will allow you to upgrade bones based on certain conditions.
After applying all your bonuses, count up the value of all your groups' bones. Highest total wins! In case of a tie, the player who can bark the best is the winner.
Empty Deck: During the Final Round (and sometimes during the round before it), the deck may not have enough cards to complete a Trick.
If performing a Trick requires cards (buried bones or drawing pups) and there are no cards in the deck, take cards from those set aside during Setup. If there are no cards remaining there, you must ignore the rest of that part of the Trick. Plan accordingly!
End-Game Bonuses
Over the course of the game, your pup groups will have buried bones, and even upgraded some of them. Each breed has its own unique bonus that it applies at the end of the game. If you cleverly build your Yard, these bonuses will increase your score dramatically!
Each End-Game Bonus is only applied once, regardless of how many pups you have in the group.
If a Special Doggo is the last card played in a group, move it to the back so you can read the End-Game Bonus for that group. Special Doggos count as pups of their group's breed for bonuses.
Some bonuses will allow you to upgrade a bone multiple times (ex: upgrade twice a bone here). If this would cause you to upgrade beyond 10, stop at 10.
A group's bonus can only affect each bone at that group one time.
Example: The Huskies' bonus says "For each Aussie you have, upgrade twice a bone here." If you have five Aussies, and your group of Huskies have two bones, upgrade twice each of those two bones and then stop.
Special Doggos
Cards 90-99, which you will notice are definitely pups and not at all meows in disguise, have special rules.
When you play a Special Doggo, you can choose any group in your Yard to add it to. For the rest of the game, it counts as a pup of that type!
This applies both to Tricks and to End-Game Bonuses.
Playing a Doggo First: If you play a Special Doggo before you have any groups in play, it starts its own group (additional Doggos played will also join that group). The first non-Doggo pup you play must be added to that group.
Special Doggo Tricks: Special Doggos have their own Tricks, and their names are not the same as their pup counterparts. For example, the Best Doggo (card 92) is not "Brave" like 82, 72, 62, etc.
Example: Card 92, Best Doggo — "Bury one bone here. Move a bone at another group." Its footer reads: "Sneaky Doggo is totally a pup. Joins any group, and counts as that type of pup."
Optional Rules
Extended Game: If you'd like a longer 2-4 player game, pretend you have one extra player during setup (ex: 60 cards for a 2-player game). If you'd like a longer 5-player game, bark lots between turns.
2-Player Strategic Adventure: Deal five cards instead of three to each player during setup, and five cards instead of three into the Dog Park at the start of each round.
Each player will choose two pups instead of one to play each round. Once all four pups are revealed, the players will take four total turns (two each), based on the order of the pups they chose.
This mode can be combined with the Extended Game described above.
FAQ
Q: Can I upgrade a bone that's already a 10? A: Nope! If any Trick or End-Game Bonus would upgrade a bone beyond 10, upgrade it to 10 instead.
Q: Do Special Doggos have End-Game Bonuses? A: No. If the game ends and you have a group with a Special Doggo on top, move it to the back of the group so you can read the correct Bonus. It still counts as that type of pup for End-Game Bonuses though!
Q: Can I do multiple parts of a Trick in any order? A: No, you must do them in the order that they're written on the card.
For more information, visit us at AsmadiGames.com, or check the BoardGameGeek Forums for Good Puppers.
Credits
Game Design by Chris Cieslik Illustrated by Cari Corene & Amanda Coronado Graphic Design by Robert Simmons & Cari Corene Core Playtesters: Johnpaul Adams, Rob Seater
©2020 Asmadi Games