Oh My Brain Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Setup
• How to Play?
  • A. Play One or Several Card(s) from Your Hand
    • If the Player Plays Several Cards of an Identical Number
  • B. Complete Your Hand
  • If the Player Cannot or Does Not Want to Play a Card onto the Horde
• Special Cards
• End of the Round
• End of the Game

Goal of the Game

Discard all of your cards as fast as possible so you don't get your brain nibbled away by the Horde of zomb'animals.

Setup

To be done at the start of each Round.

1. Shuffle the 50 cards.

2. Deal 1 batch of 3 cards to each player.

   When a player receives a batch of 3 cards, they choose 2 to keep in hand, and 1 to place on their easel. This is their Graveyard.

   Do this distribution 3 times. By the start of the game, each player has a hand of 6 cards and a Graveyard of 3 cards. The Graveyard cards are placed on the easel facing the player, so that they are visible only to them.

3. Place the remaining cards face down in the center of the table to form a draw pile. This is the Reserve. Any Hordes discarded during play are set aside to form the Discard pile.

4. Each player receives 9 Brain tokens (only at the start of the game).

How to Play?

Players take turns, one after another, clockwise. On their turn, the player MUST:

• A. Play one or several card(s) of the same number.
• B. Complete their hand back to 3 cards from their Graveyard, if necessary.

A. Play One or Several Card(s) from Your Hand

On their turn, the player MUST add one or several cards from their hand onto the Horde (the pile of face-up cards in the center of the table, next to the Reserve).

• They can play a single card, or SEVERAL IDENTICAL CARDS!
• The card(s) played MUST be of a value strictly higher than the card on top of the Horde. If the Horde is still empty, the player can start it with a value of their choice.

Example: The card on top of the Horde is a 7. The player can add to it, from their hand, any single card or group of identical cards with a value from 8 to 19.

If the Player Plays Several Cards of an Identical Number

They leave one of the cards on top of the Horde. They place the other cards in their opponents' Graveyards (they can split the cards between the Graveyards of several players as they wish, or give them all to a single player!).

B. Complete Your Hand

After finishing step A, if the player has fewer than 3 cards in hand, they complete their hand back to 3 cards by choosing the appropriate number of cards from their Graveyard.

If they don't have enough cards in their Graveyard, they take as many as possible, or none at all if their Graveyard is empty. If they already have 3 cards or more, they skip this phase of play.

IMPORTANT: if a player forgets to complete their hand and the next player has already started their turn... too bad. They will play with the cards they have in hand and will only complete their hand at the end of their next turn.

If the Player Cannot or Does Not Want to Play a Card onto the Horde

1. They discard all the cards in the Horde.
2. They lose 1 Brain. If it's their last one, the game ends immediately.
3. They draw 2 cards from the Reserve, keep 1 in hand, and place the other in their Graveyard. If the Reserve is empty, the player shuffles all the cards in the Discard pile to form a new Reserve.
4. They then play their turn normally, starting a new Horde.

Special Cards

The "Cheeky Zomb'animal" cards have a special effect:

You are allowed to play several special cards of an identical number at once. In that case, the power is only applied once. Leave one of the cards on top of the Horde and distribute the others as you choose into your opponents' Graveyards.

• Mosquito (0): You can always play the 0. Whatever the value of the card on top of the Horde.
• Mouse (11): By playing the 11, the player discards the Horde, then plays a new turn. If they have fewer than 3 cards in hand, they complete their hand from their Graveyard.
• Spider (8): The next player must play a card strictly lower than 8.

The "Marshmallow" cards with a die icon: roll the die and apply the result!

In this order: 1 - roll the die. 2 - apply the consequences (if applicable). 3 - complete your hand back to 3 cards if necessary. 4 - your turn ends.

• Place a card from your hand into an opponent's Graveyard.
• Each player adds 1 card from the Reserve to their Graveyard. Including yourself.
• Steal a Brain from an opposing player.
• Gain a Brain from the Reserve.
• Exchange your Graveyard OR your hand with an opponent's. You cannot exchange your Graveyard for an empty hand.
• Play again. If you cannot, you are in the case of a player who "cannot or does not want to play a card..." Oops!

End of the Round

A round ends as soon as one of the players has no more cards left at the end of their turn, neither in their Graveyard, nor in their hand. This means that if your last card forces a die roll, you must first apply the result. Uh oh...

Each opponent immediately loses 1 Brain per card in their hand AND their Graveyard.

Play a new round if necessary. The player with the fewest Brains starts the new round. In case of a tie, you can agree on a method of your choice... or play Rock-Paper-Scissors.

End of the Game

The game ends immediately* when a player loses their last Brain. They have lost. The player with the most Brains at that point wins. In case of a tie, it's a draw!

Note: if a player loses their last Brain during a round, the round does not finish.