Scream! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Goal
• Game Turns
  • Drawing a Card
  • Playing a Card for Its Action
  • Using a Card to Replace Cards in Your Campsite
  • Steps to Replace Cards in Your Campsite
• Challenging
  • Successful Challenge
  • Unsuccessful Challenge
• Discarding a Card
• Scream
• Round End
• Next Round
• Game End
• Card Actions
  • Card 5
  • Card 6
  • Card 7
  • Card 8
  • Card 9
  • Card 10
  • Card 11
  • Card 12
  • Card 13
• Tips & Reminders

Components

• 1s, 2s, 3s and 4s: 5 of each
• 5s through 13s: 6 of each
• 5 Reference Cards

Setup

Scream! can be played with 2-5 campers. If playing with less than 5, remove one full set of cards (1-13).

Grab a pencil and paper to keep track of each camper's score.

Give each camper a reference card.

Deal cards: Determine a random start camper. The camper to their right should shuffle the draw deck and deal 5 cards face down and 1 card face up in front of each camper.

Each camper may look at all their face down cards and then place them next to their face up card in any order, forming their campsite.

Draw deck: Place the rest of the draw deck in the center of the table face down, then flip the top card face up next to it to start the discard pile.

Goal

The numbers on the face up and face down cards in front of you represent the fright factor of the creatures that have invaded your campsite. The combined value of all cards in your campsite is your score. The lower your score, the safer your campsite.

Your goal is to have a safer campsite (lower score) than any of your opponents. That means you need to discard high-numbered cards from your campsites to clear them as much as possible before the round ends.

Each round ends when either the draw deck runs out or a camper chooses to Scream (giving each other camper 1 more turn). After 3 rounds, the camper with the lowest cumulative score wins!

Game Turns

Campers take turns in clockwise order, beginning with the start camper. On your turn, choose 1 of the following 3 actions to take:

• Draw the top card from the draw deck
• Draw the top card from the discard pile
• Scream

Drawing a Card

On most turns, you will draw 1 card and immediately play it. You can choose to draw from either the draw deck or the discard pile.

If you draw from the draw deck, you must secretly look at your card, then decide how to use it. You can either play it for its action, use it to replace cards in your campsite, or simply discard it. You may not show or tell the other campers what you drew, unless you use an action to place it face up or discard it.

If you draw the top card of the discard pile, you may only use it to replace cards in your campsite (you may not use its action). You may choose a face down card from the discard pile, but you may not look at it when you draw it.

Sometimes a camper will have no cards in their campsite. When it is their turn, they may only draw from the draw deck (and either use the card's action or discard the card) or Scream; they may not draw from the discard pile.

Anatomy of a face up Scream! card: the card's value (points at round end), and the Card Action, which is only available when the card is drawn from the deck and immediately played.

Playing a Card for Its Action

Cards with the numbers 5 to 13 have actions on them. When you draw a card with an action on it from the draw deck, you may take that action instead of replacing cards in your campsite. Play the card for its action by discarding it to the discard pile and then perform the action completely.

Card actions may allow you to secretly view face down cards, discard cards, or exchange cards between campsites (and even the draw deck). Unless an action states otherwise, you can use that action on any campsite, OR you can use that action on the top card(s) from the draw deck...or both!

See Card Actions below for details on specific cards and their actions.

Using a Card to Replace Cards in Your Campsite

Regardless of whether you drew from the draw deck or discard pile, you can replace 1 or more cards in your campsite by placing the cards onto the discard pile and placing the newly drawn card in your campsite. You can use this to get rid of cards in your campsite to lower your score for that round.

You cannot use the action of a card you drew if you are going to keep it and discard 1 or more cards from your campsite in its place.

You can always discard any single card in your campsite and replace it with your new card. However, in order to replace more than 1 face up card at a time, the face up discards must all have the same value. (This can be any value, regardless of the value on the card you drew.)

You can also discard any number of face down cards, with or without matching face up cards. But when you do this, other campers have a chance to challenge what it is you are discarding.

Face up discards must always match each other. Face up discards are placed on top of any face down discards when discarding.

Face down discards do not have to match each other or the face up discards, but if they don't and you are challenged, you will have to take back those cards and take 1 penalty card from the top of the deck.

Steps to Replace Cards in Your Campsite

1. Draw a card from the draw deck or the discard pile that you would like to keep in your campsite.
2. Slide forward any number of other cards in your campsite. You may not look at any face down cards while you are choosing them.
3. If you slid any face down cards, other campers may now challenge your discard. Ask each camper starting from your left if they wish to challenge you because they think the face down cards do not match.
4. Follow the results under Challenging to determine what happens after a challenge.
5. If there was no challenge, or it was an unsuccessful challenge, place all of the slid cards onto the discard pile, with any face up cards on top.
6. Add your new card to your campsite into one of the spaces where the discarded cards came from, in the same orientation as you drew your new card—face up if drawn face up, face down if drawn face down.
7. Push all cards in your campsite together, closing any remaining gaps.

Challenging

Anytime a camper discards face down cards (or the 7's ability is used), that camper must ask each camper if they would like to challenge, starting at the camper to their left.

A challenge occurs when a camper states they believe another camper is bluffing (about what is being discarded or what power is being claimed by the 7 card).

Successful Challenge

If a camper decides to challenge and they are correct (the camper is bluffing):

1. The Successful Challenger may discard 1 of their cards (keeping it face up or face down) to the bottom of the discard pile.
2. The camper who is caught bluffing:
   • Moves any slid cards back and turns them face up into their campsite.
   • If discarding to exchange from a drawn card, keeps the drawn card in its original face up or face down orientation and adds it to either end of their campsite.
   • If taking a discard action on a card or claiming an ability using the 7 card, takes 1 face down card from the top of the draw deck, views it, and adds it to either end of their campsite face down.

Unsuccessful Challenge

If the Challenger is incorrect (the camper is not bluffing):

1. The Challenger must take a face down card from the deck, view it, and add it to their campsite.
2. The camper who was not bluffing may discard 1 of their cards (keeping it face up or face down) to the bottom of the discard pile.

Discarding a Card

Sometimes the card you drew isn't one you'd like to keep or to use its ability. In that case, you may simply discard the card face up to the top of the discard pile, ending your turn.

Scream

If you have 2 or fewer cards in your campsite at the start of your turn, you can choose to Scream and trigger the end of the round. You would only do this if you think you have the lowest sum of cards, because if you end up with the lowest total, you'll get 0 points for the round!

When you Scream, your turn ends immediately (you may not draw or play any cards before or after you Scream). Each other camper then has 1 final turn before the round ends and scores are tallied. Once a camper has Screamed, no other campers may Scream during their final turn. The camper who Screamed may challenge other campers after they have Screamed.

Careful! If you Scream and don't end up with the lowest score that round, you will score the sum of your card values + 10 penalty points!

Round End

The end of a round can be triggered in 1 of 2 ways:

• If a camper Screams, each other camper gets 1 final turn before the round ends. Not all campers may get a final turn if the deck runs out after the camper Screams.
• If the draw deck is empty at the start of any camper's turn, the round ends immediately.

After the round ends, each camper reveals any remaining face down cards in their campsite, then adds up the values on all of their cards to determine their score for the round.

If the round ended because the draw deck was empty and no player Screamed, each camper records their score and adds it to their scores from previous rounds. However, if a camper Screams to end the round, scores are modified as follows:

• If the camper that Screamed has the lowest score or is tied for the lowest score, they score 0 for the round.
• If the camper that Screamed does not have the lowest (or is not tied for the lowest) score, they add +10 to the sum of their cards for the round.
• Campers who didn't Scream score by adding the value of all cards in their campsite.

When gathering the cards for the next round, keep face down cards from the discard pile face down until they are all placed into the deck, then shuffle them (no one should be able to see who was bluffing the previous round).

Next Round

The camper with the lowest score on that round goes first on the next round. In case of ties, the lowest scoring camper to the left of the previous start camper goes first.

Gameplay consists of 3 rounds.

Game End

At the end of the 3rd round, the camper with the lowest cumulative score wins!

If there is a tie, the camper with the lowest score in the final round wins.

If there is still a tie, the camper with the lower score in the previous round wins, and so on.

If there was a tie in all rounds, play another round and add that score to your total to determine the winner, which can be any camper, not just the campers who tied for the lowest score.

Card Actions

Card 5

View any card, including a card from a campsite, the top of the draw deck, or the top of the discard pile.

Card 6

View any 2 cards, including cards from a campsite, 1 or 2 cards from the top of the draw deck, or 1 or 2 cards from the top of the discard pile. You may view cards from different places, such as a card from another camper's campsite and the top card of the draw deck.

Card 7

To use the ability of the 7 card, push one of your face down cards forward and claim what card it is and its ability. You may not pick up that card to look at it. Use your reference card if you forget the details of the card.

All other campers, in turn order, then have the ability to challenge to see if you are bluffing. If no campers challenge, or if you are challenged and you are not bluffing, you may do the ability you claimed for that card. If you are challenged and the card you indicated is not what you said it was, keep that card face up and take a face down card from the draw deck (you may view it before you add it to your campsite).

Campers may challenge your use of the card you have pushed forward and claimed after it has been verified or not challenged, if the card involves discarding a face down card (the 8, 9, or 10). For instance, if you push forward a card claiming it is an 8 (and are not challenged) you then discard a card claiming the discard is lower than 8. Players can challenge that discard.

Card 8

Discard 1 card with a value lower than 8 to the discard pile. This card can come from anywhere, and should keep the same face up or face down orientation from where it was selected.

If you take a card from another camper's campsite, are challenged, and it turns out you are wrong, the card is kept face up in the other camper's campsite and you take a face down card from the draw deck (you may view it before you add it to your campsite).

Card 9

Secretly select 1 number from the face up cards, including the 9 you've placed on the discard pile to activate this action. Maintaining the card's face up or face down orientation, slide it forward claiming that this card matches a face up card, asking the other campers if they wish to challenge your claim.

If challenged, follow challenge resolution steps. Then, discard the card that has the chosen number.

If you use a 7 card to activate a face down 9 card, another 7 card may be matched to the 7 card on the discard pile.

Card 10

A camper may discard any combinations of 2 cards (face up or face down) from their own campsite, other campers' campsites, or the draw deck.

Card 11

"Exchange" means to switch the position of 1 card for another card. If you exchange 1 card for another, you may choose cards that are face up and/or face down. Each card a camper receives must be placed in the same location as the card it is replacing. Face down cards remain face down after being exchanged. You may exchange a card from any campsite, the top of the draw deck, or the top of the discard pile. You may also exchange the top 2 cards on the deck or the discard pile.

Card 12

You may choose to view 1 face up or 1 face down card in order to exchange it. The exchange rules for the 11 card (above) are in place for this card as well.

You can use the 12 card to view the top card on the draw deck and possibly exchange it for the 2nd card on the draw deck!

Card 13

You may take the top card from the draw deck and give it to any camper, maintaining the new card's orientation of being face down or face up.

Tips & Reminders

• You can bluff about any face down card(s) you are discarding, as well as a face down card that you are claiming when using the ability of the 7 card.
• One of the best ways to remember face down cards you've seen is to silently repeat the cards you know from left to right. For example, if you've seen that your first 3 cards are 1, 8, and 1, repeat "one eight one" to yourself a few times.
• Cards always maintain their face up/face down orientation, unless face down cards are challenged, or if a card drawn from the deck is discarded or has its ability used.
• It can be a good strategy to take a card that matches one of your existing cards so you can discard them as a pair (or larger set) on a future turn.
• Many cards (5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12) may interact with the draw deck or discard pile as well as cards from campers' campsites.
• Screaming is safer when fewer 11, 12, and 13 cards remain in the draw deck.
• You may not discard the card you just drew with any other cards.
• All face down discards remain face down in the discard pile unless they are challenged.
• If you view a face down card, always look at it secretly.
• If a card is face up, it remains face up for the rest of the round.
• If you place a card in a campsite (from challenges or the 13 card), place it at either end of the campsite instead of discarding it, keeping it in the same orientation (face up or face down).