Power Hungry Pets Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• What Is This?
• Setup
• Taking Your Turn
• An Example
• Elimination
• Ending the Round
• Ties
• Winning the Game
• Card Reference
• Field Guide
  • 10 — King Cat (1 Card)
  • 9 — Not A Pet! (1 Card)
  • 8 — Hermit Home Swap (1 Card)
  • 7 — Jittery Juggler (1 Card)
  • 6 — Doggy Grave Digger (1 Card)
  • 5 — Snake Sorcerer (2 Cards)
  • 4 — Shell Shield (2 Cards)
  • 3 — Battle Bunny (3 Cards)
  • 2 — Mouse Trapper (3 Cards)
  • 1 — Crystal Bowl (5 Cards)
  • 0 — Royal Robovac (1 Card)

What Is This?

In this game, you'll have just 1 card in your hand. Each card has a number and a special action on it, and at the end of the round, the player holding the card with the highest number wins!

On your turn, you'll draw a new card and compare it to the card you already have. You'll probably want to keep the card with the higher number and play the lower one. When you play a card, you get to perform the special action written on the card.

Some cards will let you eliminate a player so that they don't even make it to the end of the round. Some will let you steal another player's card, and some protect you when another player tries to do any of those things to you.

You'll have to decide which card to keep, which to play, and ultimately how to get all the way to the end of the round with a card that beats everyone else.

Setup

1. Put all 7 Tokens in a pile in the middle of the table.
2. Shuffle all the cards and deal 1 card to each player. (You can look at your card, but keep it secret.)
3. Randomly remove 1 card from the deck and put it aside, face down, without looking at it.

This is so you won't always know precisely which cards are in the game.

2-Player Game: Remove 3 cards from the deck — set them aside with 2 of them face up and 1 face down.

4. Place the remaining cards face down in the center of the table to form a Draw Pile.
5. Pick a player to go first. Some example criteria: most closely resembles their pet, least fit to be a pet owner, most likely to show you a picture of their pet without being asked.

Taking Your Turn

1. Draw the top card from the Draw Pile into your hand (now you have 2 cards).
2. Choose 1 card to keep in your hand and 1 card to play by putting it FACE UP in front of you.

NOTE: There is NOT a shared discard pile — keep all the cards you've played visible in front of you so that everyone can see them!

3. Immediately take the action on the card you played.
4. Your turn is over. Continue clockwise around the table.

Yep, that's all there is to it!

An Example

Let's say you have an 8 (Hermit Home Swap) in your hand. Each of your opponents is also holding a card, but you don't know what any of them are.

On your turn, you draw a card and get a 1 (Crystal Bowl). You know that at the end of the round, the person with the highest card will win, so you keep your 8 and play the 1 face up in front of you. Since you played a Crystal Bowl, you get to read the text on the card and perform the action:

Guess the number of another player's card (other than 1). If you're correct, they're eliminated. If you're wrong, they don't reveal their card.

This is great because you're getting rid of a lower card, AND by playing it, you have the chance to eliminate another player! You pick a player and take a guess at what card they might have. If you're lucky (and you've been paying attention to the cards already played) you might be able to guess their card, eliminate them, and get one step closer to winning!

You'll do this each turn — draw a card, usually keep the higher one, and play the lower one until the Draw Pile runs out. When there are no cards left in the Draw Pile, everyone will reveal the card in their hand, and the player with the highest card wins.

Elimination

If someone plays a card that eliminates you, put the card in your hand face up in front of you without taking the action on the card. Don't take any turns for the rest of the round.

If all but one player has been eliminated, the remaining player wins the round and takes a Token. Then, shuffle all the cards and begin a new round.

Ending the Round

The round is over when you can't draw a card because there are no cards left in the Draw Pile. When that happens, everyone who has not been eliminated reveals the card in their hand. The player with the highest card wins the round and takes a Token. Then, shuffle all the cards and begin a new round.

Ties

If two or more players have the same highest card at the end of the round, look at the collection of cards face up in front of each tied player. The player who has the highest card in front of them wins the round and takes a Token.

Winning the Game

The game is over when one player has enough Tokens to win the game. The number of Tokens needed to win the game is based on the number of players:

• 2-3 Players: 3 Tokens Needed to Win
• 4-6 Players: 2 Tokens Needed to Win

That's it! Go play!

Everything you need to play a card is written on the actual card. If you have any questions, please read the Field Guide.

Tips: Sometimes it's to your advantage to play a higher card and keep the lower one in your hand, if taking the action on the higher card could enable you to win.

If you'd like to know how many of each kind of card is in the game, we've put a list on the back panel of these instructions, so just leave them visible on the table while playing.

Card Reference

Leave this list face up in the middle of the table while you play so that everyone knows how many of each card is in the game.

• 10 King Cat (1 Card)
• 9 Not A Pet! (1 Card)
• 8 Hermit Home Swap (1 Card)
• 7 Jittery Juggler (1 Card)
• 6 Doggy Grave Digger (1 Card)
• 5 Snake Sorcerer (2 Cards)
• 4 Shell Shield (2 Cards)
• 3 Battle Bunny (3 Cards)
• 2 Mouse Trapper (3 Cards)
• 1 Crystal Bowl (5 Cards)
• 0 Royal Robovac (1 Card)

Field Guide

(You don't need to read this! It's only here in case you have questions about the way particular cards interact.)

10 — King Cat (1 Card)

You are immediately eliminated if you put this card face up in front of you for any reason.

9 — Not A Pet! (1 Card)

Any player with the King Cat in their hand must swap the card in their hand (the King Cat) with the card in your hand.

This card does nothing if no one is holding the King Cat, or if you are holding the King Cat.

8 — Hermit Home Swap (1 Card)

Pick a non-eliminated player and force them to trade the card in their hand with the card in your hand.

7 — Jittery Juggler (1 Card)

All non-eliminated players (including you) put their card into the Draw Pile. Then, shuffle the Draw Pile, and deal all non-eliminated players a new card.

6 — Doggy Grave Digger (1 Card)

Secretly look at the face down card that was set aside at the beginning of the round. You may choose to swap it with the card in your hand. Don't let anyone see either of the cards!

5 — Snake Sorcerer (2 Cards)

Pick a non-eliminated player and force them to play the card in their hand face up in front of them without performing the action on the card. Then, they immediately draw a new card.

If the other player puts down the King Cat, they are eliminated.

If there are no cards left in the deck, they should draw the face down card that was set aside at the beginning of the round.

4 — Shell Shield (2 Cards)

After playing this card, shield the card in your hand. No one can take it, look at it, or force you into any action until your next turn.

If someone plays the Crystal Bowl (1), Battle Bunny (3), Snake Sorcerer (5), Jittery Juggler (7), Hermit Home Swap (8), or Not A Pet! (9) and you've played the Shell Shield (4), the card in your hand is shielded and cannot be affected by the actions triggered by those cards.

3 — Battle Bunny (3 Cards)

Pick a non-eliminated player, then secretly compare the number of the card in your hand to the card in their hand. The player with the lower card is eliminated. If both of you have the same card, nothing happens.

Take both cards and look at them under the table in secret. Give the higher card back to the player who owns it without letting anyone see it. Reveal the lowest card and announce who has been eliminated.

2 — Mouse Trapper (3 Cards)

Draw the top card from the Draw Pile and look at it. Then, put it back into the Draw Pile anywhere you'd like in secret. Do not look at or change the order of any of the other cards. You can hold the cards under the table so no one can see where you put it. If there is only 1 card in the Draw Pile, look at it in secret and return it. If there are no cards in the Draw Pile, do nothing.

1 — Crystal Bowl (5 Cards)

Pick a non-eliminated player and guess the number of their card (other than 1). If you're correct, they're eliminated. If you're wrong, they'll tell you so, and they don't have to reveal their card.

0 — Royal Robovac (1 Card)

If this card is in your hand at the end of the round, this card wins against the King Cat (10). It does not win against any other card.