Rambazamba
Rambazamba Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
98 cards: 24 earthworms (12 female and 12 male), 20 hens (10 female and 10 male), 16 foxes (8 female and 8 male), 14 dogs (7 female and 7 male), 11 hay bales, 10 pitchforks, 3 farmers.
Object of the Game
The first player to have 5 cards of one animal species (e.g. 5 earthworms) in front of them on the table wins the game.
Setup
Shuffle the cards well and place them face down on the table. This is the draw pile. Leave room for a discard pile next to the draw pile.
Each player draws 3 cards from the draw pile and takes them in hand so that the other players cannot see them.
The table in front of you represents your farms. This is where you place your cards. In your farms you collect earthworms, hens, foxes and dogs in separate rows and, where possible, try to protect them with hay bales. To keep an overview, make sure the earthworms are on the left, the hens right next to them, then the foxes, then the dogs at the far right. When you place a new card in a row, always place it slightly offset on the last card placed so that the symbols and the number of cards remain visible.
Course of the Game
The youngest player decides whether to start or to give priority to the oldest player. Play then proceeds clockwise.
When it is your turn, you play one card or one pair (= "male" and "female" of the same species). (In a two-player game there is an additional action, explained below under Two-Player Game.)
Then you draw as many cards as necessary to have three in hand again. If there are no more cards in the draw pile, shuffle the discard pile and use it as the new draw pile.
Playing Card(s)
Choose one of your 3 cards in hand. Then place it either in your farm or in the farm of another player. Depending on the card you played, the following actions occur:
Earthworms You must always place earthworms in your own farm. Nothing special happens when you place an earthworm.
Hens When you place a hen in a farm, the owner of the farm - that is, yourself or your neighbour - immediately removes 2 earthworms from their farm.
Foxes When you place a fox in a farm, the owner of the farm - that is, yourself or your neighbour - immediately removes 2 hens from their farm.
Dogs When you place a dog in a farm, the owner of the farm - that is, yourself or your neighbour - immediately removes 2 foxes from their farm.
Remarks:
- If there are not two animals of the same species in a farm, the owner removes only one, or none.
- Animals already placed in a farm cannot chase away newly placed animals.
All cards removed from a farm are placed on the discard pile.
Example: Rico places a fox in Barbara's farm (1). As there is a hen in Barbara's farm, she places it on the discard pile (2). It is now Barbara's turn. She places a fox in her own farm (3). Although there is a dog in her farm, she does not have to remove the fox from her farm!
Hay bale Hay bales protect the animals that lie beneath them in a row of cards. It is therefore obvious that you always place hay bales in your own farm! For example, if a hay bale lies on your hens, the fox cannot harm them.
But you may only place a hay bale on the animals shown on the hay bale card.
If other cards are placed in the row later, they are not protected and can be removed by other cards.
A hay bale cannot be placed on a hay bale.
Pitchfork Use the pitchfork to remove an unprotected top card of a row in a neighbouring player's farm. Then place this card on the discard pile together with the pitchfork card.
You can also remove a hay bale with a pitchfork. The animal cards thus freed are then no longer protected.
Farmer A farmer is always played onto the discard pile. Then each player - including you - must place up to 2 unprotected dogs (as far as there are any) from their farm onto the discard pile.
Playing a Pair
Normally you may place only a single card at a time in a farm. However, if you have a pair of animals in hand (light and dark symbol), you may place both cards together in the corresponding row in your farm or in a neighbouring farm. Then, for each of the two cards, remove (up to) 2 cards of the next lower species (earthworms for hens, hens for foxes, foxes for dogs).
Example: Rolf places a rooster and a hen in Lydia's farm (1). Lydia removes the 3 earthworms she has in her farm (2). If she had 4 earthworms, she would have to remove all 4.
End of the Game
The game ends immediately if there are 5 cards of the same animal species in a player's farm. That player has won the game!
Two-Player Game
The rules of the basic game apply with the following additional action: instead of playing a card or a pair, you may also remove 2 cards of an unprotected animal species of your choice from your farm, and you remove one unprotected animal card of your choice from your opponent's farm. You do not draw a card at the end of your turn.
Example: Lydia removes two earthworms from her farm (1) as well as a dog from Rolf's farm (2). She does not draw a card.