Stew
Stew Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 12 Ingredient Cards
- 6 Vermin Cards
Setup
Separate the Ingredients from the Vermin.
Display all 6 Vermin Cards, face-up in a row, where all players have access.
Shuffle all Ingredient Cards and form a face-down deck near the Vermin Cards.
The last player to eat Stew goes first. After the first round, the player that called "Stew!" in the previous round goes first.
Overview
Players are farmers gathering ingredients to make a winter stew. When a player has an ingredient in hand, they must either throw it into the common pot or feed it to one of the vermin. When a farmer thinks the pot has a 12 or more points, they may yell "Stew!".
Objective
Be the first player to reach 5 VP (Victory Points).
Gameplay
Players will take turns drawing a card from the ingredients pile, secretly examining it, and taking one of the following three actions:
Place it into the Pot
The Pot is a facedown pile of cards that is created when the first ingredient is placed into it.
Feed it to an unfed Vermin
Place an ingredient card face-down on that vermin. This vermin is now fed.
Vermin are animals that if unfed, will eat ingredients from the pot when a player calls "Stew!".
Example Vermin cards: Gopher — eats one leek before it reaches the stew. Rabbit — eats one carrot before it reaches the stew. Each of the 6 Vermin cards names the one ingredient it eats.
Vagabond
The Vagabond is a special type of Vermin. If he is unfed when "Stew!" is called, he may remove points like all of the other vermin OR he may provide a bonus.
Call "Stew!"
When a player calls "Stew!", the game immediately ends.
Calling "Stew!" in between turns
After another player has played their ingredient card, but before the next player draws their ingredient card, any player may call "Stew!". This will also end the game.
How Do You Like Your Stew?
Easy version: If you call "Stew!" during your turn, you will still play your card before the game ends. (You have some extra information that you can play to your benefit.)
Advanced version: If you call "Stew!" during your turn, your card in hand is removed from play, then the game ends. (In this version you cannot play the last card to your benefit. Players may be more likely to call "Stew!" when it is not their turn.)
End of the Round
The player that calls "Stew!" must gather up all of the ingredient cards from the pot and reveal them.
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The Animals eat: Any remaining unfed animal Vermin eat their preferred ingredient.
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The Vagabond assesses the pot: If the Vagabond is unfed, he will assess the Pot.
A Pot with chicken will lose 3 points, as you need to share with the Vagabond.
A Pot without chicken will gain 3 points, as the Vagabond will pass on it.
Scoring
Add up the value of the remaining ingredients in the pot to see which player or players will gain VP.
If the total is 12 or more points: The player that called "Stew!" wins the round and gains 2 VP.
If the total is 11 or fewer points: The player that called "Stew!" loses the round and all other players gain 1 VP.
(Track VP with pen and paper or any creative method you might come up with.)
End of the Game
The first player to 5 VP wins the game!
If nobody is at 5 VP yet, play another round.
Notes
If no player calls "Stew!" before the deck runs out, the round ends and player with the most points loses 1 VP. If the case of a tie, nobody loses points.
Potatoes - One potato is worth 1 point. Two potatoes are with 2 points each, for a total of 4 points Three potatoes are worth 3 points each, for a total of 9 points.
Garlic - A single garlic is worth 6 points, but if both are in the pot, their sum is only 1 point.
Stone - The stone can be added to the pot to lower its points. You can also place the stone on a vermin to scare them off (same effect as feeding).
Quick Reference
On your turn: Draw a card and do one of the following:
- Place it into the Pot
- Feed it to an unfed Vermin
- Call "Stew!" (can call off turn too)
After calling "Stew!", feed the animals and check the Vagabond.
Then count the Pot. The sum of all ingredients must be greater than or equal to: 12 points.
If correct, they get 2 VP. If incorrect, everyone else gets 1 VP. Play to 5 VP.
Credits
Design: Jason Glover Art: Jason Glover 2018 Button Shy Games
Rules questions? Visit buttonshygames.com