Surfosaurus MAX
Surfosaurus MAX Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 84 Surfosaurus cards — 7 kinds (suits), each with values 01 to 12 and with 12 to 02 victory points (VPs) on it. The higher the printed value, the fewer VPs the card is worth.
- 12 coconut cards
- 6x full coconut = full VPs
- 6x half coconut = half VPs
- 7 surfboards
- 1 Surfosaurus MAX (first player marker)
- 12 reminders (not pictured) — 2x for 2 players, 4x for 3-4 players, 6x for 5-6 players
- 7 blank Surfosaurus cards (1 of each kind) — The 7 blank Surfosaurus cards are spares. Write on them with a permanent marker to replace lost or damaged cards.
Setup
Shuffle all 84 Surfosaurus cards. Remove the right number (→) of cards from the game (without looking at them).
- 2 players: Remove 24 cards.
- 3 players: Remove 12 cards.
- 4 players: Remove 0 cards.
- 5 players: Remove 4 cards.
- 6 players: Remove 0 cards.
Deal 7 hand cards to each player. The remaining Surfosaurus cards are the draw pile.
Place both a full and a half coconut card as well as one surfboard in front of each player. Give everybody a reminder matching your player count. The most experienced paleontologist / surfer is the starting player and puts the Surfosaurus MAX meeple on their surfboard. Play one after the other in clockwise order.
One Round
If it is your turn, play 1 hand card face up in front of yourself and immediately draw a new hand card. Then it is the next player's turn.
If you ever forget to draw back to 7 hand cards, just do so once you notice.
Continue to play like this until each player has played the right number (→) of Surfosaurus cards.
- 2-3 players: Play 3 cards each.
- 4-6 players: Play 2 cards each.
Look at all the face up Surfosaurus cards on the table. The strongest possible combination of the right number (→) of these cards wins.
- 2-4 players: The best 4 card combination wins.
- 5-6 players: The best 5 card combination wins.
Each player who has contributed a card or cards to the winning combination scores that card or these cards.
Combinations
These are the possible combinations (of 4 or 5 cards), from ① strongest to ⑤ weakest:
- Same color sequence — example (2-4 players): 05, 06, 07, 08, all the same color
- Same number — example: 02, 02, 02, 02
- Same color — example: 01, 08, 09, 12, all the same color
- Sequence — example: 08, 09, 10, 11
- Highest values — example: 08, 09, 10, 12
You can also think of the combinations as poker hands:
- ① "straight flush"
- ② "4/5 of a kind"
- ③ "flush"
- ④ "straight"
- ⑤ "high cards"
Whenever possible, resolve ties in favor of the higher value card or cards.
Example A
A ③ "flush" is the strongest combination of 4 cards. However, 5 same color cards have been played. As a result, the lowest value card of that color is not scored.
- Player 1: 01 (black suit, not scored), 08 (black suit, scores full VPs)
- Player 2: 05 (orange suit, not part of the combination), 06 (blue suit, not part of the combination)
- Player 3: 03 (black suit, scores full VPs), 05 (black suit, scores full VPs)
- Player 4: 05 (pink suit, not part of the combination), 12 (black suit, scores full VPs)
Example B
A ④ "straight" is the strongest combination of 4 cards. However, 6 cards that are a sequence have been played. As a result, the 2 lowest value cards of the sequence are not scored.
- Player 1: 02 (not scored), 03 (scores full VPs)
- Player 2: 01 (not scored), 10 (not part of the combination)
- Player 3: 04 (scores full VPs), 06 (scores full VPs)
- Player 3 (again): 10 (not part of the combination), 05 (scores full VPs)
Sometimes cards are truly tied, i.e. tied in value within the winning combination. (Exceedingly rare: Two ① same color sequences or two ③ same color combinations with exactly the same values are also truly tied.) All truly tied cards score only half VPs.
Example C
A ④ "straight" is the strongest combination. However, multiple players have contributed cards of the same value to the sequence and score only half VPs for these.
- Player 1: 09 (scores full VPs), 07 (truly tied, scores half VPs)
- Player 2: 07 (truly tied, scores half VPs), 11 (not part of the combination)
- Player 3: 07 (truly tied, scores half VPs), 06 (scores full VPs)
- Player 4: 08 (scores full VPs), 04 (not part of the combination)
Example D
Instead of a "proper combination" the 4 ⑤ "high cards" win. Each of the cards with the highest values of which there are multiples scores only half VPs.
- Player 1: 12 (truly tied, scores half VPs), 08 (truly tied, scores half VPs)
- Player 2: 08 (truly tied, scores half VPs), 11 (scores full VPs)
- Player 3: 08 (truly tied, scores half VPs), 12 (truly tied, scores half VPs)
- Player 4: 03 (not part of the combination), 04 (scores full VPs)
Scoring and End of Round
Put your played Surfosaurus cards that score full VPs underneath your full coconut card. Put those that score half VPs (because they were truly tied) underneath your half coconut card.
Remove all played cards that nobody scored from the game. Then the left neighbor of the current starting player puts the Surfosaurus MAX on their surfboard and becomes the new starting player of the next round. Do not discard your hand cards between rounds.
The End
The game ends once everybody has been the starting player of the right number (→) of rounds.
- 2 players: Start 3 rounds each.
- 3-4 players: Start 2 rounds each.
- 5-6 players: Start 1 round each.
The draw pile is empty before the end of the game? Continue to play without a full hand of cards!
Add up the (full and half) VPs from all your scored Surfosaurus cards. If you have the most VPs, you win. In case of a tie, the tied player who has scored more cards total wins. In case of another tie, there are multiple winners.
Two Player Game
In a two player game, reveal 1 random Surfosaurus card from the draw pile after you have each played your first card. Repeat this after you have each played your second card (but not after the third).
At the end of the round, treat these 2 additional cards as if they had been played by a third player when you look for the strongest possible combination. After the round, remove both random cards from the game, independent of whether or not they scored.