Happy Campers Rulebook

Table of Contents

Setup
Advanced Set Up
Start of the Game
Noisy Neighbours
End of the Game
Scoring
Solo Mode
Challenge Cards

Setup

Each player takes a camping map, pencil, and reference card.
Give your camping a name!
Make sure the dice are in reach and view for all players.

Advanced Set Up

Draw 1 or 2 challenge cards, place them visible to all players.
The rules on the challenge card apply to all players.
We advise to play without challenge cards in your first game.

Start of the Game

In this game all players play simultaneously.

Any player starts rolling the two dice. All players use that result in that turn. So whoever enjoys rolling the dice the most can roll!

The two numbers that are rolled determine the shape and element to be drawn. Each player can choose which shape to draw and which element to fill this shape with.

The reference card shows six shapes and six elements, one for each die value:

Trees — add some nature to your campsite
Toilets — people need to pee somewhere
Water — create a place for your guests to cool down
Tents — what would a camping be without campers?
Entertainment area — kids occupied = happy parents!
? — choose any of the elements

For example, when 4 and 2 are rolled, each player can choose from the following options:

Either draw shape 2 and fill it with element 4
Or draw shape 4 and fill it with element 2

The first shape can be drawn anywhere. Every subsequent shape should be adjacent to an already drawn shape. Each shape can be mirrored, and turned. Not connecting placement is not allowed — every shape should be adjacent to another shape.

Note: Diagonally never counts as adjacent in Happy Campers.

Once everyone has drawn their shape and element, the dice are thrown again. Then each player chooses what to draw based on the outcome of the dice. This process is repeated until the end of the game.

Noisy Neighbours

When there is a double dice roll (1/1, 2/2, etc), each player draws the shape and element on their neighbor's map.

If the roll is 1, 2 or 3 you draw it on your left neighbours map. If the roll is 4, 5 or 6 you draw it on your right neighbours map.

This shape must still be adjacent to at least one already drawn shape. After drawing return the map to the original owner.

End of the Game

The game ends when one or more players don't have space to draw one of the rolled shapes. The game is over for them.

The other players can still draw one of the rolled shapes. The players who were able to draw the rolled shape get one more bonus turn. After that the game is over, and the points are counted.

If the players are not able to draw the shapes rolled in this bonus turn, they don't draw anything.

Scoring

To be able to start scoring your campsite, you need all 5 elements! Missing one? Your score will be 0.
Do you have all the elements? You will get points for your largest cluster of each element. Count the number of squares for these clusters. Each filled square within these clusters counts for 1 point.
Each empty square counts as one minus point (-1)
If you played with one or more of the challenges you can add those points to your total score.

Example: if you have a cluster of 6 trees and a cluster of 11 trees, you get 11 points for trees. Be aware that elements have to be adjacent to form a cluster. Diagonally never counts as adjacent in Happy Campers.

Solo Mode

In the solo mode the goal is to get the highest score on two different campings. You start the game with two maps.

You will draw 1 mission for both maps. Each turn you roll the dice and draw the results on the maps. You draw one of the results on one of the maps and the other result on the other map.

For example, when you roll a 4 and 2:

On one map: Draw shape 2 and fill it with element 4
On the other map: Draw shape 4 and fill it with element 2

If you roll double you draw the shape and elements of the result on both maps with the following rule: You can place the shape anywhere on the sheet adjacent to the already drawn shapes as long as you create gap of at least 1 or 2 squares.

If you can't draw either of the shapes on one of the maps you can draw one of the shapes on the other map. You then get 1 more turn to draw one shape on the remaining map before the game is over.

At the end of the game you score both maps with their respective challenge. The lowest score of both campsites is your final score.

Challenge Cards

Each challenge card shows a difficulty rating (camper icons) and the maximum points achievable.

Privacy (difficulty 2, max. 24)

Some trees separating you from the rest of the world would be nice!

You get 1 point for every tree space at the edge of the map. These trees do not have to be connected but could be.

Quick Pee (difficulty 2, max. 14)

You need to pee! No worries, a toilet should be nearby.

You get 1 point for every row and/or column with a toilet space in it. These do not have to be connected to your largest cluster but could be.

Tent Together (difficulty 3, max. 24)

Camping, like playing games, is best when you do it with friends!

You get 3 points per 2x2 square filled with the tents spaces. Every space can only count once per 2x2 space.

Nature Reserve (difficulty 3, max. — treasure untouched nature)

You will get 2 points per single empty space instead of -1 point. Areas larger than 1 space still count as empty spaces and will give you a minus point per square.

River Town (difficulty 3, max. 20)

Nice idea, a camping next to a river... if only we knew how to build a bridge...

5 points every time you connect the left border to the right border with water spaces. Each square can only be part of one river. This does not have to be in a straight line, but can be. The spaces don't have to be part of your largest cluster but can be. Multiple rivers can exist in one cluster.

Noisy Neighbours (difficulty 2, max. — not for solo mode)

The scariest thing on every camping trip: noisy neighbours! Hopefully they don't interfere with your plans too much...

Every double roll your neighbor can decide any of the 5 shapes. They still have to fill the shape with the rolled element. If double 6 is rolled they can draw any of the shapes filled with any of the elements.

The Great Divide (difficulty 3, max. —)

Some campings are so big they feel like two completely different campings...

Before the game starts, draw a line in the middle of the map, top to bottom. You need all 5 elements at least once on both sides. If you don't have all 5 elements on both sides your camping is incomplete. Your total score will be 0 points. Shapes can cross the line and count for an element on both sides.

Dangerous Animals (difficulty 3, max. -24)

Who knows what's lurking in the woods around the campsite? Better not risk it.

You get -1 point for every tent space at the edge of the map. These do not have to be connected to your largest cluster but could be.

Festival (difficulty 3, max. 5)

What do you mean you can't call it a camping if more than half of it is music stages? I beg the differ.

5 points if your entertainment cluster is the biggest of all players. At the end of the game, compare scoring on the podium cluster to determine who gets the 5 points. If multiple players have the largest podium cluster all of them get 5 points.