Murray the A**hole Frog
Murray the A**hole Frog Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Objective
Your objective is to maximize your score. At the end of the game, your score will be based on the swarms and tadpoles you own. The player with the highest score wins.
Game Overview
The game progresses in turns. On your turn, you'll have full access to the cards in your hand and limited access to a common deck and a small pool of revealed cards. Your main goal is to create swarms of insects. Insects include common flies, royal flies, and wasps.
Common flies are useful for building swarms and getting more cards. Royal flies and wasps are useful for building swarms and for their unique special abilities.
Your success will largely depend on how well you build your own swarms and how well you exploit opportunities to ruin other players' swarms. Players keep their swarms face up on the table in front of them. Higher value insects and insects of the same type form higher value swarms.
Card List and Counts for Games
| Card | Value | Color | 3 - 4 Players | 5 - 6 Players |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit Fly (common fly) | 1 | Gray | 9 | 12 |
| Midge (common fly) | 1 | Gray | 9 | 12 |
| House Fly (common fly) | 2 | Blue | 9 | 12 |
| Mayfly (common fly) | 2 | Blue | 9 | 12 |
| Crane Fly (common fly) | 3 | Green | 6 | 9 |
No common flies have abilities. All royal flies have abilities. Wasps have abilities and may form swarms. The Hawk, Murray, and Tadpoles do not have abilities. Tadpoles may not form swarms.
Anatomy of a Card
Each card shows its Type (e.g. Soldier), Value (e.g. 3), Icon, Class (Common, Royal), Color, and Ability (none for common flies).
- Example: Soldier Fly: value 3, icon circle, class Common Fly, color Green, ability None.
- Example: Robber Fly: value 5, icon diamond, class Royal Fly, color Purple, ability "Take any two flies from the same swarm or different swarms and put them on the discard pile."
Color also denotes value. Different fly types of the same value have different icon shapes (e.g. the Crane Fly, value 3, has a diamond-shaped icon while the Soldier Fly, value 3, has a circle).
Setup
- Set the Hawk, Murray, and Tadpole cards aside.
- Shuffle together all the insect cards* and deal each player six face down cards. These are their starting hands.
- Place three insect cards face up in the middle of the table. This is the starting pond.
- Shuffle the appropriate number of Murray cards in with the remaining insect cards and put them face down near the pond. This is the deck.
- Put the Hawk face up next to the deck. This is the starting discard pile.
- Keep the Tadpole cards in a separate pile near the discard pile.
- Choose a player to go first.
* Insects are common flies, royal flies, and wasps.
General Rules
- You must discard down to nine cards if you end your turn with more than nine cards in your hand.
- You must always have at least one card in your hand.
- Murray must be played immediately when drawn from the deck. If you draw multiple Murrays, play and resolve each one sequentially.
- When the deck is depleted, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.
- Swarms are placed face up on the table and stay in play even if they lose cards (a swarm reduced to a single card is still a swarm).
- You may not use the abilities of any cards that are in swarms.
- You may not remove cards from any swarm without using a Firefly or a Robber Fly.
Taking Your Turn
- Start your turn by drawing two cards*** from the deck. You must play all Murrays you draw immediately and sequentially.
- You may take these actions as many times as you want each turn:
- Create a new swarm for yourself (put down three insect cards of the same value).
- Add to one of your swarms (add one insect card of the same value to one of your swarms).
- Discard an insect card to use its ability.
- You may take these actions once each turn:
- Swap any insect card from your hand with any insect card from the pond.
- Discard a common fly from your hand and draw two cards from the deck.**
- End your turn by passing one card face down from your hand to the player on your left. If you haven't gone out and have the Hawk, you must pass the Hawk.
*** The 1st player draws three cards on their first turn only.
** If you draw a Murray you can't play using this action, discard the Murray and do not draw another card to replace it.
Starting the Game
The player chosen to go first takes their turn, then turns proceed clockwise.
Ending the Game
After the Hawk has been shuffled into the deck, the game ends instantly when either:
- a player discards the Hawk to go out,
- the Hawk enters the pond,
- there are no cards left in the deck when a card must be drawn.
Resetting the Pond
To reset the pond, discard the entire pond and draw three cards from the deck to form a new pond. If Murray is drawn, the current player chooses a swarm for Murray to target. (If there are no swarms for Murray to target, discard Murray.) After Murray resolves, continue forming the new pond.
Perfect Swarms
A swarm is perfect if it's comprised entirely of a single insect type (same value and icon shape).
Playing the Murray Card
Put Murray on any swarm and discard both Murray and that entire swarm. Murray must be placed on a swarm if possible (even if it's one of your own).
If you drew Murray from the deck at the start of your turn and played Murray on a swarm, reset the pond after playing Murray. If you drew Murray from the deck at the start of your turn and there are no swarms on which you can play Murray, discard Murray and draw another card.
Tadpoles
When Murray destroys a player's swarm, give that player a tadpole card. Tadpoles remain face up on the table and do not form swarms.
Going Out
You may only go out with the Hawk. To go out, discard the Hawk immediately after you draw your cards to start your turn. You may not go out if you play any cards on your turn (including Murray). You still pay the penalty for the cards in your hand if you go out.
Winning the Game
The player with the highest score wins (break ties by best frog impression). Your score is your swarm points plus your tadpole points plus your card points minus your penalty.
Swarm Points*
5 points for each swarm of 4 or more cards. 5 points for each perfect swarm.
* Swarm points are cumulative. A swarm of 4 Midges is worth 5 (4 or more cards) + 5 (perfect swarm) = 10 swarm points.
Tadpole Points
Each of your tadpoles is worth one more than the total number of tadpoles you have (e.g., if you have 3 tadpoles, each of your tadpoles is worth 4 points, for a total of 12 tadpole points).
Card Points
The total value of the cards in your swarms.
Penalty
The total value of the cards in your hand when the game ends.