Old Men of the Forest
Old Men of the Forest Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
50 player cards: five suits, each suit goes from 1 to 10.
16 Orangutan cards.
You will also need pencil and paper to keep a record of scores.
Starting the Game
You will need to decide who will be the first player. The best way to do this is to shuffle the player cards and deal one to each player. The player who receives the highest card becomes the first player. If there is a tie then deal out one more card to each of the tied players. Whoever becomes the first player now shuffles all of the player cards (including those used to determine who went first) and deals ten cards to each player.
Shuffle the Orangutan cards and place face down on the table, to one side. Draw a number of cards equal to the number of players plus one to create a display. The example below shows the display for four players.
[Example display for four players: three 3VPs baby Orangutan cards, one 7VPs Orangutan card and one 12VPs Orangutan card.]
Playing the Game
The first player plays one card from his hand, face up. Then, going clockwise, each player must also play one card face up. Players place cards in front of their position so that it is clear that they have played that card.
You do not have to follow suit. You can play any card from your hand. The player who played the highest value card MUST now select one card played to claim. Then the player who played the second highest value card claims one of the remaining cards. You cannot claim the card you played. In the case of a tie the player who played his or her card first takes precedence. When you claim a card you place it to one side, so that it can be clearly seen as belonging to you. The card does not go back into your hand. All unclaimed cards are discarded.
[Example: players are Abby (top), Ben (right), Hannah (bottom) and George (left) of the table. Cards played: Abby a red '3', George a blue '5', Ben a yellow '8', Hannah a red '5'.]
Abby leads with a red '3' the remaining players then follow as shown to the right. Ben wins and decides to take the blue '5' card. Hannah is second, as she played her card before George. She decides to take the yellow '8' card.
You can cash in all of the player cards that you have won so far to take one of the Orangutan cards, but only at the point where you claim a player card. Each Orangutan card tells you which player cards you need to cash in to take it. The cards required to take the points card are placed onto the discard pile. Any remaining player cards that you have are placed under the Orangutan card and will count as negative points at the end of the game. You cannot use any player card under an Orangutan card to cash in for another Orangutan card.
If you did not win a player card this turn then you cannot cash any cards in.
Following from the last example, Ben has only won a blue player card so far, and so cannot cash it in. Hannah already has won a green player card from an earlier round plus the yellow player card she just claimed. She decides to cash them in for a three point baby Orangutan card, one which needs a yellow card.
She discards the yellow card but must place the green card under the Orangutan card, which is now effectively worth one less point.
After both players have had the chance to take Orangutan cards then new cards are drawn and placed on display if necessary.
The player who claimed the first card starts the next round of play.
Ending the Game
When players have played all ten of their cards you score points. Players score the points on the Orangutan cards they have taken, less one point for each surplus player card in their pile (including ones not cashed in). You also lose two points for each deforestation card you have had to take. In the case of a tie the player with the single highest Orangutan card wins. If there is still a tie then check the values of the second highest cards won, and so on, until the tie is broken. It is recommended that you play two games in all and carry over the score from the first hand, with all player and Orangutan cards being shuffled back into their respective decks.