It Happens.. Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Components
Setup
Playing the Game
Special Actions
Evaluation of Termite Mounds
End of the Game
Rules for Two Anteaters

Game Components

12 termite mounds – large cards with 5 columns each used for foraging. Each card also shows a worm space and the victory points gained by the best player (Queen) and second best player (General).
24 worm tiles
32 lost and found tiles – showing all kinds of artifacts which the anteater finds in the termite mounds.
24 victory point tiles – values ranging from 2-9.
25 dice – 5 each colored yellow, red, green, blue, and white.
1 rules leaflet

Each termite mound card shows: the worm space, the victory points for General, the victory points for Queen, and the column used for foraging.

Setup

Place the worm, the lost and found and the victory point tiles face up on one side of the playing area, sorted by type.

Shuffle the termite mounds and stack them face down next to the tiles.

Each player takes 5 dice of a color of their choice and 2 worm tiles from the common supply.

The hungriest player starts the game.

Playing the Game

The game lasts for 4 rounds.

The top three termite mounds are revealed and placed face up in the middle of the playing area at the beginning of each round. The corresponding victory tiles are placed beside each mound.

A player performing their turn rolls one of their dice and places it on a free space on one of the three mounds, keeping the same number just rolled face up in position on the mound.

Follow these rules when placing your die:

No more than one die is allowed on any space.
A player's first die on a mound must be placed in the leftmost free column.
The die must be placed in the lowest free space of the column.
Each player is restricted to one column only on each mound. No other player is allowed to place their dice in this column.

Example: It's Green's turn and she must place her die. She cannot place it on any occupied spaces, because only 1 die is allowed on each single space. She may not place in the first two columns because these are claimed by other players. She must place her die on the lowest space of the third column because she has to place it on the lowest space of the leftmost free column.

If a player is placing their die on a space depicting an item or a worm, then the player takes either the matching item tile or a worm tile from the common supply. The players keep any such tiles acquired face up in front of them. These tiles are worth victory points at the end of the game.

Worm tiles may be exchanged for performing a bonus special action during a player's own turn. In order to perform one special action, the player must return one of their worm tiles to the common supply.

Special Actions

These are the two special actions:

The player may reroll their die. They may do this as often as they want, but have to return one of their worm tiles for each reroll. If the player does not want to spend another worm tile or cannot do so they must accept their last roll.
The player may pass.

After a player has ended their turn the next player in clockwise direction performs their turn.

Example: Yellow had rolled "1". Because that is not sufficient to reach the highest total on this mound he decides to discard one worm and roll again. This time he rolls "3" and places his die on the mound.

Please note: If a player cannot place any more dice without breaking the rules their turn is skipped for the remainder of this round.

Evaluation of Termite Mounds

When all dice have been placed or no more dice can be placed according to the rules the round ends and each termite mound is evaluated separately.

The player with the highest total of their dice numbers on a single mound receives the victory point tile for best player (Queen).

The player with the second highest total of their dice numbers on a single mound receives the victory point tile for second best player (General).

In case of a tie, the victory point tile is awarded to that one of the players concerned whose dice are the furthest left on this mound being scored.

The players keep their victory point tiles face down in front of themselves.

If any player's total exactly matches the number given in the worm space of a single mound, they receive 1 worm tile.

Evaluation example of a mound: Blue does not gain anything! Red matches the number of the worm space so he takes a worm tile from the supply. Green's total is second best on this mound so he takes the General's tile (2 victory points). Yellow has reached the highest total (7) so she gains the Queen's tile (5 victory points).

After all three termite mounds have been evaluated all players retrieve their dice. The three termite mounds are removed from the game and the next three are revealed. The next player in clockwise direction becomes the new start player.

You are now ready to play the next round.

End of the Game

The game ends after four rounds have been completed. The final scoring is done now.

Each player counts their victory points:

Each type of item of which the player owns more than one is worth 5 victory points.
Each worm tile is worth 1 victory point.
Each victory point tile is worth its imprinted value.

Additionally, the player owning the most different types of items gains 10 victory points. In case of a tie for the most different types of items all players concerned gain 10 victory points each.

The player with the most victory points is the best anteater and winner of the game.

If there is a tie for the most victory points then that player of those concerned is the winner who owns the most Queens. If there is still a tie between those players, that player of those concerned is the winner who owns the most Generals. If there is still no winner, that player of those concerned wins the game who owns the most worms.

Example: Yellow has collected the following tiles: 2 maps, 2 sneakers: 5 victory points per type; 2x5 = 10 VP's. 1 bone, 1 eyeglasses, 1 speaker: zero points; 0 VP. 3 worm tiles: 3x1 = 3 VP's. Queen's tiles: 9+5+4 = 18 VP's. General's tiles: 3 VP's. Total: 34 VP's.

If no other player has collected more than 5 different items she gains 10 VP's additionally for having collected the most different types of items.

Rules for Two Anteaters

The following rules changes apply for two players:

Both players agree on a third color. Both players take 2 dice of this third color additionally. This color belongs to an imaginary third player. Each player is now playing with 7 dice total.

As long as a player is holding dice of both colors, they decide the color of the die they want to roll and place. The rules for placing dice remain unchanged!

No worm tiles may be used for the third color.

Victory points are awarded to the imaginary player as usual when evaluating the mounds and doing the final scoring - they may even win the game!