LumberJerks
LumberJerks Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 35 Tree Cards
- 30 Wildlife Cards
- 24 Chop Again Cards
- 16 Grow Cards
- 10 Jerk Cards
- 2 Hippy Cards
- 1 Green Die
Setup
Each player starts with their own tree made up of 7 Tree cards. Arrange the tree so that the cards are all turned to the un-chopped side in order from 1-7 (going from the bottom to the top). Set aside the Hippy cards and the Hippy Repellent card from the deck; these cards are part of an optional Advanced ruleset (see page 7). Shuffle the remaining non-tree cards (Wildlife, Chop Again, Grow, and Jerk Cards) into the main deck. Deal 2 cards from the main deck to each player. Players should not reveal the cards in their hand.
The Turn
The player wearing the most plaid goes first. Ties are decided by rolling the die and the highest roll goes first. Turn order proceeds in a clockwise pattern throughout the game. Each player's turn is split into 2 phases: the Chopping phase and the LumberJerk phase.
The Chopping Phase
During this phase, the player must attempt to chop their tree with a single roll of the die. In order to chop their tree, the player must roll a 3 or higher. On a successful roll, the player turns the lowest un-chopped Tree card in their tree over to the chopped side. On a roll of a 6, it's a CRITICAL CHOP! so the player turns over their 2 lowest un-chopped Tree cards to the chopped side. The game immediately ends when any player has all 7 of their Tree cards turned to the chopped side. That player wins and is crowned the biggest LumberJerk!
The LumberJerk Phase
After the Chopping phase, the player draws from the main deck until they have three LumberJerk cards in their hand and then plays one of them.
There are 4 types of LumberJerk cards:
- Chop Again
- Grow
- Wildlife
- Jerk
Chop Again
The player makes another attempt to chop their tree by repeating the Chopping Phase. The Chop Again card is then discarded. The player does NOT repeat the LumberJerk Phase.
Grow
The player plays this type of card onto another player's tree. The target of the Grow card turns their highest Tree on the chopped side back over to the un-chopped side. The Grow card is then discarded.
Wildlife
The player plays this type of card onto another player's tree. Place the Wildlife card next to the target player's tree where it remains in play until that player removes it. Wildlife cards subtract from the target player's die rolls during their Chopping Phase. Wildlife cards are a guaranteed way to prevent another player from rolling a Critical Chop as it won't be possible to roll a 6 with any subtractions to their roll. There is no limit to the number of Wildlife cards a player can have placed on their tree. If the player ever has enough Wildlife cards on their tree that they can't roll a successful chop (Wildlife subtractions that total -4 or more) they are forced to skip their turn taking option #2 for removing wildlife.
Example: Player A places a fox wildlife card in Player B's tree. During Player B's next Chopping phase, they roll a 4. This would normally be enough to flip over an unchopped tree card but the fox wildlife card subtracts 2 from the roll, making the final result a 2 which is a failed roll to chop.
Removing Wildlife
There are only two ways a player can remove Wildlife cards from their tree:
Option #1: Attempting to chop during the Chopping phase. If the player is able to successfully roll a 3 or higher (don't forget to subtract the wildlife from the roll), they remove all wildlife from their tree and flip their lowest unchopped Tree card to the chopped side. At this time all Wildlife cards on their tree are discarded. If the the player does not successfully roll a 3 or higher, they move into the LumberJerk phase and all of the Wildlife cards remain on their tree.
Option #2: The player can choose to skip their entire turn (this includes the Chopping phase and the LumberJerk phase). This allows the player to immediately remove all Wildlife cards from their tree. The player does not draw a card during their skipped turn.
Player B could either choose to risk rolling the 5 or more they needed to chop successfully and not waste a turn, or just remove the fox card and end their turn with their tree free of wildlife for their next Chopping phase.
Jerk
There are only 9 Jerk cards (10 with advanced rules, see page 7) each with unique and powerful abilities. Any player can play this kind of card at any time during the game, even during another player's turn. Playing one of these cards during the LumberJerk phase does not prevent you from playing your card that turn.
Example: Before they roll the dice in their Chopping phase, the player plays a Super Axe Jerk card from their hand adding +2 dice to their die roll. The player than plays a Chop Again card in their LumberJerk phase and repeats the Chopping phase, still adding the +2 to their dice roll.
Example: Player A is about to start their Chopping phase, they only need to chop one more tree card to win the game. Player B plays the Rubber Axe Jerk card to cause Player A to fail all dice rolls in their Chopping phase this turn. What a Lumberjerk!
Rubber Axe card text: Choose a player, they automatically fail any rolls to chop this turn.
Advanced Rules (Optional)
There are 3 additional cards that can be added to the main deck if you want to change the standard LumberJerks gameplay (3+ players only): two Hippy cards and one Hippy Repellent Jerk card.
The Hippy Cards
Hippy cards are played on another player's tree similar to the Wildlife cards. Any player with a Hippy card in their tree must flip an additional tree card to the unchopped side when a Grow card or Jerk card with a grow effect is played against them. There can only be one Hippy in a player's tree at a time. If the second Hippy card is played it must be used against a player without a Hippy in their tree.
There are only two ways a player can remove a Hippy card from their tree: rolling a 6 during the Chopping phase (before subtracting or adding to the roll with Wildlife or Jerk cards) or playing the Hippy Repellent Jerk card. Either method allows the player to remove the Hippy from their tree and place it onto another player's tree.