Rooster Rush
Rooster Rush Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 5 Vehicle chips. Front (vehicle side): Fire Truck, Ambulance, Police Car, Taxi, and Grandma (5 types). Back (crosswalk side): all five show a crosswalk.
- 1 Push-button card. Both sides are the push button.
- 40 Road cards. Front: a crosswalk, with points of 2 to 4 printed on the card. Back: a red light or one of the 5 vehicle types.
Before playing for the first time, stick a sticker on both sides of each chip, as shown in the printed diagram.
Setup
- Place the push-button card in the center of the table.
- Shuffle the road cards well and place them face down beside the push-button card as a draw pile.
- Place the 5 vehicle chips vehicle-side up near the draw pile.
(Refer to the play scene on the back of the box.)
Game Flow
The game is played in rounds until a player meets a win condition. Each round consists of the following steps, in order:
- Placing the road cards
- Receiving vehicle chips
- Revealing the road cards
- Spinning the vehicle chips
- Securing cards
- Checking and scoring
- Preparing for the next round
If no winner has been decided after step 7, return to step 1 and begin the next round.
Step 1. Placing the Road Cards
Any player draws from the road card draw pile, according to the number of players, and places the cards face down, in a position where every player's hand can reach them:
- 3 players: 3 cards
- 4 to 6 players: 4 cards
In this game a player may drop out during play. Even then, the number of cards drawn from the draw pile does not change until the game ends.
Step 2. Receiving Vehicle Chips
Find the vehicle chips that match the vehicles shown on the backs of the face-down road cards placed in step 1, and give each player one chip.
The number of vehicle chips used varies from 1 to 4, depending on the types of vehicle shown on the road cards laid out. If there are fewer vehicle chips in use than there are players, the players decide among themselves who receives a vehicle chip.
Vehicle chips that do not match are not used until the next round.
Example: the four road cards laid out show Fire Truck, Police Car, Taxi and Fire Truck. That is 3 vehicle types, so the chips handed out are Fire Truck, Police Car and Taxi (3 chips). The remaining 2 vehicle chips are not used this round.
Step 3. Revealing the Road Cards
Any player turns over all the face-down road cards so that they are face up.
Step 4. Spinning the Vehicle Chips
One of the players says "Go" and makes a gesture. On that signal, every player who received a vehicle chip flicks it with a finger and spins it, all at the same time.
If a spinning vehicle chip falls off the table before it finishes spinning and stops, then, if even one chip has fallen, collect all the vehicle chips that were spun and repeat the spin.
In this game, you may use both hands only when spinning chips in step 4. In every other step you must play with one hand only. Resting your other hand on your knee or similar makes it easier to avoid using both hands.
Step 5. Securing Cards
Once all the vehicle chips have started spinning, each player may secure either 1 face-up road card or the push-button card. Cards are secured by pressing them down with the hand, quickly, like the card game karuta. The first player to press takes the card.
It is also fine to choose not to secure anything.
A card that another player has already secured cannot be secured afterwards.
You may wait until the vehicle chips have stopped spinning before deciding whether to secure a road card or the push-button card. However, waiting too long makes it hard to win the game.
The hand that has secured a road card or the push-button card must not be lifted before step 6.
Step 6. Checking and Scoring
After every player has either secured a road card or push-button card, or chosen not to, check whether each secured road card was a successful crossing.
Successful crossing
If none of the vehicles drawn on the secured road card matches any of the vehicles on the face-up stopped vehicle chips, the crossing is successful. You have crossed the road safely. Keep the road card face up in front of you and gain the points printed on it (2 to 4 points).
The vehicles drawn on road cards (Fire Truck, Ambulance, Police Car, Taxi, Grandma) are all judged, even if their colour differs or part of the drawing is missing.
Failed crossing
If even one of the vehicles drawn on the secured road card matches one of the face-up stopped vehicle chips, the crossing has failed. Turn the secured road card face down and place it near your hand. It becomes a Violation Ticket and you do not gain any points.
Push-button card
If all the road cards that were turned face up were failed crossings (check the road cards that no player secured as well), the player who secured the push-button card may discard one Violation Ticket from their hand, if they have one. If they have no Violation Ticket, nothing happens.
If even one road card is a successful crossing, nothing happens for the player who secured the push-button card. They gain no points and receive no Violation Ticket.
Step 7. Preparing for the Next Round
At this point, any player holding 3 Violation Tickets drops out of the game. A player who has dropped out can no longer take part in the game, but may still spin the vehicle chips.
Next, check whether all players except one have dropped out, or whether any player has more than 11 points.
- If all players except one have dropped out, the remaining player wins the game. The points they have gained do not matter; they crossed the road safely.
- If any player has more than 11 points, the player with the most points wins. If several players are tied for the most points, continue the game until a single player has the most points.
If the game continues, prepare as follows:
- Shuffle together the road cards that no player secured and any discarded Violation Ticket cards, and place them at the very bottom of the road card draw pile.
- Leave the push-button card on the table.
- Turn all the vehicle chips vehicle-side up and return them near the draw pile.
Then return to step 1, "Placing the Road Cards".