Hunters of the Lost Creatures
Hunters of the Lost Creatures Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Material
- 20 Hunters
- 56 Creatures
- 4 Trolls
- 8 Thieves
- 2 Cat-a-pults
- 2 Turnados
- 15 Park closed cards
- 4 Hunting areas
- 5 Player guides
- 4 Creature creator cards (blank cards)
Setup
Each player chooses 1 hunter per area. The areas are: forest, sea, plains, air. In addition, each player takes 3 "Park closed" cards and if it makes you happy, a player guide as well. (These form the starting hand.)
Split the creature cards according to their area (color) in 4 piles including the matching thieves and trolls. Randomly add 1 Cat-a-pult or Turnado to each of the four piles. Don't mind the different backside.
Shuffle each pile and place them on the hunting area cards (no border). Reveal 1 card from each pile. Leave space for a discard pile and the player's parks. You can use the lid as the discard pile too.
Gameplay
The goal of the game is to create the best wildlife park and get the most points. To do this, you collect creatures from the different areas. Special cards such as Thieves, Cat-a-pults or Turnados can be hidden here, too.
The game is played simultaneously.
In each round, you secretly choose a hunter or another card from your hand and place it face down in front of you. Hunters catch face up cards in their matching area (creatures or special cards).
The areas are:
- Forest (Green)
- Sea (Blue)
- Plains (Yellow)
- Air (Pink)
Reveal your hunters at the same time. If you are alone in the area, you get the face up card.
If there are several hunters in the same area, they make too much noise and no one gets the card of the area.
If you catch a creature, you place it face up in any open park (usually your own). To learn how to close parks, see Cards.
If all hunters are in the same area, the card is discarded. Like any card in the discard pile, it is out of the game.
At the end of each round, the hunters return to your hand. In the empty areas, new cards are revealed so that there is a card to catch in each area.
Cards
Special cards have a white border and the same back side as your hunters. They are collected in the same way as creatures, but go in your hand. You already have "Park closed" cards in your starting hand.
- Special cards are played face down from your hand instead of hunters.
- Special cards can be played only once, after that they go to the discard pile, even if their effect could not be used.
Simplified game without special cards
If you want to familiarize yourself with the game principle or play with young children, remove all special cards with the white border from the game and continue reading at End of Game & Scoring. If you like to do annoying things to other players, please keep reading.
Cat-a-pult
Permanently discard a creature from any player's open park from the game.
Turnado
Exchange any two creatures from any player's open parks (including yours).
Thieves
With a thief, you can steal a creature from another player's open park and place it in yours. The creature has to match the area of the thief (e.g. Pink for Air).
Park closed
Your park is closed for this round. Nothing gets in or out. The special cards above can't be used against you. If you don't play this card, your park is considered an open park.
Trolls
Trolls are creatures. You catch them in the same way as creatures. They must also be immediately placed in any open park (usually from another player).
End of Game & Scoring
The game ends when only 1 hunting area has cards left. Short version: End when only 2 areas have cards left.
- Every complete combo of these exact numbers of the same area scores: 0 1 2 3 10 = 30 points; 1 2 3 = 10 points.
- Every remaining creature counts according to the points indicated on the card.
- At least 1 creature from each area in your park: 10 extra points, only once.
The player with the most points has built the greatest wildlife park and wins the game and the eternal admiration of the other players.
Clarifications
Order of card effects
Resolve played cards in the following order: Cat-a-pult > Turnado > Thief > Hunter
This order is also indicated on the cards. In the rare case of two players playing the same special card at the same time, both actions are performed simultaneously. The player who last petted a pet chooses first.
Stuck & stubborn?
If you keep choosing the same hunters and no one gets anything, you can vote to discard all the face up cards from the areas and reveal a new round. If only 1 player votes against it, the cards remain, but that player must choose another hunter.
If I catch a troll and all other players close their parks, do I have to place the troll in my own park?
Yes. Muhahaha.
Two Player Rules
If not mentioned otherwise in the rules below, the rules above apply.
Setup
Instead of choosing 1 hunter both players choose 2 hunters per area (color).
Gameplay
Instead of choosing 1 card per round both players secretly choose 2 cards from their hand before revealing. Any combination is possible. For example, 2 hunters from the same area will hunt together. The player with more hunters in an area catches the creature or special card, even if the other player also has a hunter in that area.
If both players send 1 hunter to the same area the card stays where it is.
If all 4 chosen cards are hunters from the same area the creature gets scared away and must be put on the discard pile. This applies also to other cards.
If you play a "Park closed" card, your park is only closed for your opponent. You can still put creatures in your park, or remove them but your opponent can't steal, swap or catapult them out of the game. If you both close your parks, but a troll is catched in the same round it must go to the discard pile.
Make your own creatures!
With the blank cards you can create your own creatures and add them to your game.