Squirrel Away
Squirrel Away Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 100 Acorn Gems: 25 Ruby Red, 25 Glittering Green, 25 Big Blue, 25 Crystal Clear
- 36 Acorn cards
- 6 Nut Stash screens
- 18 Scoundrel tokens
Setup
- Create the Loot Pile by putting all the Acorns in the center of the table within easy reach of all players.
- Shuffle all the Acorn cards and deal 5 to each player.
- Give each player a Nut Stash (A) and 3 Scoundrel tokens (B).
Put all extra tokens and cards in the box. You won't need them.
The last player to eat a nut (or whoever's nuttiest ...) will take the first turn.
How to Play
On your turn, attempt to get your share of the Acorns (or more, if you can get away with it) by following these steps in order:
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Play an Acorn Card. Your Acorn cards represent the number and color of the Acorns in the pile that are rightfully yours. Choose any card from your hand and place it face-down in front of you.
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Grab Acorns. Using only one hand, reach into the Loot Pile and take the Acorns shown on your Acorn Card ... or different acorns, more acorns, or whatever you can sneak out of the Loot Pile. You must keep your hand in full view the whole time.
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Say what you took. Without looking at the acorns you took, hold your closed fist above the table and announce what's on the Acorn Card in front of you.
IMPORTANT: You can announce whatever card you want (all 12 of them are pictured on your Nut Stash). To announce a Wild card (which lets you take any acorns), say "2 Wilds" or "3 Wilds," NOT what Acorns you took.
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Receive your judgement. In counter-clockwise order, the other players take turns announcing their verdict:
- "You're good!" Waving their hand in front of them, palm down.
- "You Scoundrel!" Pointing to either your fist or card.
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Reveal! Show the contents of your fist and the card you played (whether you were called out or not). At this point, lots can happen. See The Reveal for details.
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Stash your sets. If you have any complete sets of all four Acorn colors (Red, Blue, Green, Clear), squirrel them away inside your Nut Stash. Leave any additional acorns in the front of your Nut Stash, in full view.
This Next Part Is Extra Sneaky and Important!
Once either your card or fist have been revealed, the next player (clockwise) may immediately begin their turn (ideally, while nobody is paying attention).
The first time you play, make sure everybody understands the rules before trying these shenanigans.
The Callout
You're good!
If players indicate you're good they believe your Acorn card and the Acorns in your fist both match what you announced.
If all players tell you you're good, reveal both the card and the contents of your fist, and keep all the Acorns you took.
You Scoundrel!
If a player believes that either the Acorn card or the contents of your fist do not match what you announced, it immediately ends step 4. No other player may call a player either "good" or a "scoundrel."
If you are calling out another player:
- Discard one of your Scoundrel tokens. If you don't have a Scoundrel token, you can't call someone out.
- Point to either their Acorn Card or fist (whichever you think doesn't match what was announced).
The Reveal
If you are being called out:
- Reveal either your Acorn card or the contents of your fist, whichever the calling-out player pointed to.
- Determine if it's a Match:
Match. If the Acorn card or the contents of your fist (whichever the calling-out player pointed to) is the same as what you announced: keep all Acorns from your fist, and take one extra Acorn of your choice from the Loot Pile.
No Match. If it's not the same as what you announced: keep just one Acorn from your fist and put the rest back in the Loot Pile. The calling-out player takes an Acorn of their choice from the Loot Pile (if it gives them a set of all four Acorn colors, they can stash it now).
NOTE: Announcing "2 Wild" or "3 Wild" counts as a match for any colors of Acorns in your fist, but the number of Acorns taken must match the number you announced (if the player pointed at your fist).
Turn Order Is Sneaky!
You can sneakily start your turn as soon as the player before you reveals their card or fist even if their turn isn't completely finished.
But remember, you have to play an Acorn card face-down before reaching into the Loot Pile. If you reach first, you have to return the Acorns you took to the pile and start over.
Game End
Once all Acorn cards have been played by all players or no players have any Scoundrel tokens left to call out the current player, the game is over!
Scoring
Each player scores ONE POINT per complete set of Acorns (1 Red, 1 Blue, 1 Green, 1 Clear) in their Nut Stash.
The player with the most points wins! If there's still a tie, the player with the most Acorns in front of their Nut Stash wins. If there's still a tie, the youngest player is the winner!
Revealing a Card Too Early
If you ever reveal a card from your hand to another player (except when the rules allow), intentionally or not, you must discard it and continue gameplay. It might mean you won't have any cards left on a future turn (before game end), so keep your cards a secret until the reveal!
Effective Sleight of Paw
Crafty hands and underhanded moves are critical to getting away with more (and better) Acorns than you're supposed to.
- Don't be too greedy! If you've got 8 Acorns in your fist, it's going to be hard to convince people you're only holding 3.
- Grab Acorns quickly, while people are still talking about the last turn. Don't give them a chance to see what you're doing.
- Look for easy-to-grab Acorns that are close together and near the edge of the Loot Pile. Feel free to shift Acorns in the pile around a bit before grabbing.
- Grab them slowly while pushing a bunch of Acorns around on the table. All that extra movement might throw people off.
- Grab a bunch of Acorns and drop a few back into the pile.
- Distract people by directing their attention to the other side of the table or something else in the room.
- Be honest! Act sneaky while taking exactly what you're owed. If they call you a Scoundrel, you could get an extra Acorn.