Run Animals, Run!
Run Animals, Run! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object
Players play as different kinds of Taiwanese indigenous animals. Endangered by the environmental threat of humankind, each animal tries to survive while competing with each other in the forests. The first player who completes the survival tasks and gets 20 points wins the game; or, if the animal graveyard is filled up, the game immediately ends and while the player with the highest score technically wins, all of the animals have lost to the humans.
Components
- Map tiles: 16
- Survival Goal Cards: 20
- Animal Action Cards: 36
- Wooden Animal Meeples: 21
- Resource Cubes: 58 (food 22, nests 18, water 18)
- Cement Cubes: 10
- Resource Dice: 2 (one 16-sided die, one 6-sided die)
- Starting Player Marker: 1
- Rule book, with the Animal Graveyard printed on the back cover: 1
Setup
- Set up the Map tiles as the example illustration. Place the Animal graveyard next to the map.
- Shuffle the Survival goal cards, deal one to each player by placing the card in front of them face-up. Place the remaining cards next to the map to form a deck. Then, draw two cards and place them face-up next to the deck.
- Each player chooses to play as an animal and puts all of the corresponding Animal action cards into their hand and the Animal meeples in front of them. The number of the Animal meeples and Animal action cards for each species is listed in the following chart:
| Species | Number of Animal Meeples | Number of Animal Action Cards |
|---|---|---|
| Leopard Cat | 3 | 5 |
| Formosa Black Bear | 2 | 6 |
| Farmland Tree Frog | 4 | 4 |
| Fairy Pitta | 3 | 5 |
| Chinese Pangolin | 3 | 6 |
| Black Kite | 2 | 5 |
| Yellow-margined Box Turtle | 4 | 5 |
- The person who has most recently been to a zoo gets the Starting player marker, and the game proceeds clockwise. (Once a player finishes their turn, the person on their left starts their turn.)
- Starting with the Starting player, players take turns placing one of their Animal meeples on any map tile until all players' meeples are placed. ※Each tile may contain any number of the Animal meeples and any number of the species.
Set up map tiles
Arrange the Map tiles according to the number on each tile as in the left-most illustration, with the side of "Forest" pictures face-up, as a 4×4 map. For a 2- or 3-player game, flip the specified tiles to the side of "Cleared forest" face-up.
Place the Resource cubes on each tile according to the colored squares on each tile. The unused cubes are placed next to the map as a general supply.
Game Play
- Starting with the Starting player, each player takes turns playing an Action card from their hand, choosing one of their Animal meeples on the map, and taking an action(s) according to the descriptions on that card. Then, put the used card into their discard pile and proceed to the next player.
- Once every player finishes their turn, pass the Starting player marker to the left. The next player rolls the Resource dice, carries out Production and/or Development, and then starts a new round until the end of the game.
Action Cards
Every Action card contains one or two actions. If there is a "↓" between two actions, those actions must be done in that exact order; if there is an "or," only one of the two actions can be done. Players may choose not to take any actions, but they are not allowed to change the order of the actions. Take the card on the left for example, when a player plays this card, they may choose from Moving then Expelling, not Moving but Expelling, or neither Moving nor Expelling. However, they cannot Expel then Move.
Acquire (icons: water / food / nests, shown as cube colours on the card) Choose one of your Animal meeples on the map and take one of the Resource cubes on the tile where that meeple is located. Place the cube on your own Survival goal card. ※You can only take the Resource cube listed on your Survival goal card. Taking a cube that you do not need, or one that exceeds your goal is not allowed. ※For example, a food/nest action means a player can take either Food or Nest, but not Water.
Move Move one of your meeples on the map to an adjacent tile. ※You can only move up, down, left or right. Moving diagonally is not allowed. ※You can move your meeple to a tile that contains other Animal meeples. Each tile may contain any number of Animal meeples and any number of species.
Expel Choose one of your meeples on the map and expel the rest of the animals on the same tile to adjacent tiles. You can choose which tile that each animal goes to. ※Your other meeples on the same tile will be expelled, too.
Steal Take one Resource cube of any kind from the supply. Then, place the Steal card into the game box. This card will not be used again for the rest of the game.
Warm Up Choose one of your Action cards, except for "Warm Up," from the discard pile to your hand.
Complete Goals
After a player plays an Action card, if they meet the requirement of their Survival goal card, they must complete the goal in the following steps:
- Return the Resource cubes on the Survival goal card back to the supply. Then, flip the card face down and place it in front of themselves. The number on the bottom right of the card is the points that the player gains by completing the goal.
- Choose one of the two face-up Survival goal cards next to the deck and place it in front of themselves. That card becomes the ongoing goal for the player. Then, draw a new Survival goal card from the deck and place it face-up next to the deck.
- Recycle all the Action cards from your discard pile back to your hand.
Recycle Action Cards
- Except for completing the Survival goal card mentioned in the previous section, players may also recycle their Action cards by removing any one of their Animal meeples on the map before playing an Action card during their turn.
- After a player plays their Action card, if they have no Action card in their hand nor can they complete the Survival goal card in that turn, they MUST immediately remove one of their Animal meeples on the map and then recycle their Action cards from the discard pile.
- The removed Animal meeples will be sent into an empty spot with the lowest penalty in the Animal graveyard, and will not be used again in this game. As the player's meeples on the map become less and less (population decline), they may have to move their meeples longer distances in order to obtain resources, which means surviving will become more difficult. Therefore, think wisely before you make your move!
Production & Development
At the beginning of each round, the new starting player rolls two Resource dice (one 20-sided die and one special 6-sided die) and carries out the resource production and/or development of humankind, according to the rolling result of the 6-sided die, and on the tile that matches the rolling result of the 20-sided die. (Map tiles is only 1-16, if the rolling result of 20-sided die is 17-20, you have to roll it again.)
※Translator's note on components: the component list on the components page prints "16-sided die 1" and "6-sided die 1", while this section describes a 20-sided die. Both are transcribed as printed.
1 Production + Reroll Add one Resource cube onto the left-most empty resource slot on the corresponding tile. Then, reroll the two Resource dice and continue the Production & Development process.
2 Production + Reroll Add two Resource cubes onto two of the left-most empty resource slots on the corresponding tile. Then, reroll the two Resource dice and continue the Production & Development process.
Full Production Fill the Resource cubes onto all of the empty resource slots on the corresponding tile.
Development + Full Production a. If the corresponding tile is on the side of "Forest," flip the tile over and fill the Resource cubes onto all of the empty resource slots. (The Resource cubes that are on the previous side of the tile will be returned to the supply.) b. If the corresponding tile has already been flipped to the side of "Cleared forest," place a Cement cube onto the left-most resource slot (and return the Resource cube on that slot, if any, to the supply). That Cement cube will not be removed for the rest of the game. Then, fill the Resource cubes into all of the empty resource slots on the right of the Cement cube.
※Once all resource slots on a tile are occupied by the Cement cubes, that tile will no longer produce any resources. When more and more tiles become unproductive, animals will have to move longer distances in order to get the resources needed to survive.
Game End & Outcome
The game immediately ends when one of the following requirements is met:
- A player completes a goal that lets them have 20 or more than 20 points in total.
- The Animal graveyard is filled up. (For a 2-player game, the 4th slot is filled up; for a 3-player, the 5th slot is filled up; for a 4-player, the 6th slot is filled up.)
- All of a player's Animal meeples are removed (i.e., that species is extinct). The player whose animal species is extinct, if any, will be eliminated from the game. The rest of the players calculate their points (Points gained from the Survival goal cards minus points according to the slots in the graveyard that contain their Animal meeples). The person who owns the highest points wins the game!
Animal Graveyard
The Animal graveyard is printed on the back cover of the rule book, with six slots. Each slot shows a penalty; the penalties printed on the graveyard are -1, -2, -3, -3, -4 and -5. Removed Animal meeples are sent into an empty spot with the lowest penalty (see Recycle Action Cards). The slot counts for ending the game are listed under Game End & Outcome.