Gopher It!
Gopher It! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
39 food cards. Each food card shows what the hamster finds on its search: apples, carrots or nuts. The number of apples, carrots or nuts on a card ranges from 1 to 3, shown in the upper part of the card.
11 Hamster Trophy cards. Each time a player has gathered exactly six apples, six carrots or six nuts and placed them in front of them, that player receives a Hamster Trophy card.
Game Idea
Each player builds up a winter store. The aim of every player is to collect exactly six apples, or exactly six carrots, or exactly six nuts, and place them in front of them in their storage (Vorratskammer). A player who succeeds receives a Hamster Trophy card for it.
When searching (turning over cards in the middle of the table), a player should not be too greedy. A player who turns over the same kind of food twice in immediate succession (for example, two apple cards one after the other) loses all the cards they have turned over in the middle during that turn. The first player to own three Hamster Trophies is the winner.
Setup
The 39 food cards are placed face down in the middle of the table, shuffled well, and left there as a messy face-down pile. The 11 Hamster Trophy cards are placed face up as an open stack at the edge of the table, within easy reach. Each player keeps enough space in front of them to place the cards they collect later in the game. This space is called the storage (Vorratskammer).
Playing the Game
The youngest player begins, and play then continues clockwise. For simplicity, the player whose turn it is is called the active player (Zugspieler).
Turning over cards. The active player takes any card from the face-down pile in the middle of the table and turns it face up there. They then decide whether to stop turning cards or to continue. If they continue, they take another card from the pile and turn it face up in the middle. Important: the turned-over cards always stay in the middle until the turn ends. Again the player must decide whether to stop or continue. A player may turn over at most four cards; after the fourth card they must stop.
A player may stop earlier, even after the first card. Each additional card turned over is a risk. If a player turns over the same kind of food twice in immediate succession, then all the cards they have turned over in the middle during this turn are lost and are set aside on a discard pile. The active player's action then ends.
Stopping. If the active player decides to stop (as said above: after the fourth card at the latest, the active player must stop), they must take all the cards they turned over from the middle and place them face up in front of them in their storage, sorted by kind of food. The active player's action then ends.
Examples:
- Leon first turns over three nuts. He continues and turns over an apple. Leon does not want to take a risk and stops. He takes the two face-up cards from the middle and places them in his storage, sorted by kind of food. The next player is up.
- Simone first turns over a carrot. She continues and turns over a nut. She continues again and turns over three nuts. Because Simone turned over the same kind of food (nuts) twice in immediate succession, all three cards she turned over from the middle are lost and set aside on the discard pile. The next player is up.
- Hanna first turns over two carrots. She continues and turns over three apples. She continues and turns over two carrots. She continues and turns over one apple. Because Hanna has turned over four cards, she must now stop. She places all four cards she has won in her storage, sorted by kind of food.
The turns continue in this way. The active player keeps turning over cards until they either decide to stop (after the fourth card at the latest) and place all the face-up cards in front of them, or turn over the same kind of food twice in immediate succession and thereby lose all the cards turned over in the middle. The next player clockwise then becomes the new active player.
Note: within one turn a player may turn over the same kind of food twice, as long as the two cards are not turned over in immediate succession.
Very important: if the active player turns over the same kind of food twice in immediate succession in the middle, they lose only the cards they have just turned over in the middle. Any cards they already have in their storage from earlier rounds may be kept.
If the cards in the middle run out, all the cards that have been placed on the discard pile are shuffled and placed face down in the middle as a new pile.
The Storage Fills Up
As the game progresses, each player collects more and more cards of the three kinds of food, which they place face up in their storage. The cards are stacked so that every individual number is clearly visible.
Example: Leon has three apples, two carrots and five nuts in his storage.
Storage Exactly Full (Hamster Trophy)
Each storage holds exactly six of each kind of food. If, after deciding to stop and taking all the face-up cards from the middle, the active player has exactly six of one kind of food in their storage, they receive one Hamster Trophy, which they place beside them. Important: the player must then empty their entire storage (all three kinds of food) and set those cards aside on the discard pile. In the next round the player starts collecting again with an empty storage.
Example: Simone has exactly six carrots in her storage. She must remove all the cards from her storage and may take one Hamster Trophy.
Storage Overfilled
If, after deciding to stop and placing all the face-up cards from the middle into their storage, the active player has more than six of one kind of food, they must remove all the cards of that kind of food and set them on the discard pile. They keep the cards of the other two kinds of food. They do not receive a trophy.
Example: Hanna has 8 apples in her storage. She must set all the apples on the discard pile. She may keep her carrots and nuts. She does not receive a trophy.
End of the Game
The first player to own three Hamster Trophies is the winner.
Special Situation
If, after deciding to stop and placing all the face-up cards from the middle into their storage, the active player has exactly six of several kinds of food, they still receive only one trophy, and they must remove all the cards from their storage and set them on the discard pile.
Example: Leon has exactly six nuts and exactly six carrots. He receives only one Hamster Trophy and must set all the cards in his storage on the discard pile.