The Golfing Dead Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Objective
• Scoring Rules
• Game Play
  • Stroke Phase
  • Action Phase
  • Ending the Game
• Rules for 5-6 Players
• Action Cards
• Contents

Setup

1. Shuffle the deck of Stroke cards and deal nine face down to each player. Each player should then arrange the Stroke cards into a 3 x 3 grid without looking at them.
2. Shuffle the Action cards and deal three to each player. Each player should look at their Action cards without showing them to their opponents.
3. Put the deck of Stroke cards in the center of the table, creating a draw pile. Flip over one card to start a discard pile.
4. Put the deck of Action cards in the center of the table, creating another draw pile.

Objective

1. Over the course of the game, players try to get the lowest score possible by flipping over face down cards and replacing higher-stroke cards with lower-stroke cards.
2. At the end of the game, the player with the lowest score wins.

Scoring Rules

1. Each player sums the total number of strokes in his or her grid. Each card is worth its stroke count, unless: a. If a player gets three-in-a-row of the same Stroke card (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal), they cancel each other out and are worth zero (even if the stroke count on the cards is negative). b. Wild cards are worth zero points. They may also be used to get a three-in-a-row, in which case they may act as the same count as the other two cards in that row to equal zero. A single wild card may be used to complete more than one three-in-a-row, even if they consist of different stroke counts. The player may decide when to count the wild (e.g. in one row the wild may zero out two +4s, but it wouldn't decide to zero out -1s going another direction). A wild cannot give you negative points. b. If a player is able to place three "Biff" cards in a row, every other player adds 10 points to their final score.

Game Play

1. The player to the left of the dealer goes first and the game moves in a clockwise direction.
2. No rearranging cards within your grid without using the correct Action card.
3. Each turn consists of a Stroke Phase and an Action Phase. May play in either order.

Stroke Phase

4. During the Stroke Phase of a player's turn, the player must do one of the following: a. Flip over one of the face down Stroke cards in his or her 3x3 grid. b. Draw the top card from the Stroke card draw pile and either replace it face up with one of the cards in his or her grid (can choose from face up or face down cards) or discard it by placing it on top of the discard pile. c. Select the top card of the Stroke card discard pile and replace it face up with one of the cards in his or her grid (face up or face down).

Action Phase

5. Although not required, during the Action Phase of a player's turn the player may play one Action card by placing it on top of the Action card discard pile.
6. After the Action Phase is over, all players replenish their hand to three cards; if applicable, do so in a clockwise direction (Sacrificial Caddy). If Draw Pile is gone, re-shufffle.

Ending the Game

1. Once a player has all 9 of their Stroke cards face up, the remaining players have one final turn before the round ends.
2. If a player flips over all 9 Stroke cards in their final turn, he or she is immune from attacks for the rest of the final turn.
3. Once the final turn ends, all players turn over any remaining face down Stroke cards and count their scores.
4. Play 2 rounds (9 cards x 2 rounds = 18 holes). The player with the lowest cumulative score wins.

Rules for 5-6 Players

1. When playing with 5-6 players, the setup, scoring, rules, and ending of the game are all the same except for two modifications: a. Instead of a 9-card 3x3 grid, each player has a 6-card 3x2 grid with 3 columns and 2 rows. (May play a 9-card grid with an additional deck.) b. To cancel cards out, each player must align two of the same card (or a wild) vertically. Points will not be canceled out for any other-row combination.

Action Cards

Toxic Waste Hazard: Player chooses any opponent to lose a turn. Two or more players cannot use the Toxic Waste Hazard on a single player in the same turn. In other words, no single player can get skipped two turns in a row.

Quicksand Trap: Player draws three cards from the Stroke card draw pile, and he or she picks one card and one opponent to attack. Player replaces one of the opponent's face down cards with the face down card of player's choice (face down cards only). Discard the two unused cards first, then put the replaced Stroke card on top of the discard pile.

Sacrificial Caddy: This card is used to block another player from using an Action card on you or any other player. Sacrificial Caddy can be used whenever an Action card is played (except to block yourself). If a player blocks an Action with a Sacrificial Caddy, any player can reverse the block by playing another Sacrificial Caddy. There's no limit to the number of Sacrificial Caddies that can be used to block or unblock a single Action. Players must wait until the end of the turn to draw more Action cards.

Zombie Urine: Makes a player immune from attacks until the start of his or her next turn. It's the only card that cannot be blocked by the Sacrificial Caddy.

Zombie Gophers: Rearrange any two cards within any player's Stroke card grid (face up or face down). You can use this to improve his or her own grid or sabotage an opponent's.

Night Vision Goggles: Take a look at any two Stroke cards that are face down on the table. They can be two of the player's own cards, two of an opponent's, or any combination.

Zombie Triple Bounce: Player draws three Stroke cards picks his or her favorite. Player replaces any of the 9 cards in his or her grid with the selected card, but the card must maintain the current face up or face down status. Discard the two unused cards first, then put the replaced Stroke card on top of the discard pile.

Zombie Horde: Player swaps any one of his or her face up cards with any one of the opponent's face up cards.

Contents

Stroke Cards: Hole in One (4), Eagle (5), Birdie (5), Par (6), Bogey (8), Double Bogey (9), Triple Bogey (8), Quadruple Bogey (7), Quintuple Bogey (6), The Biff (5), Wild (4)

Action Cards: Zombie Horde (4), Zombie Urine (6), Sacrificial Caddy (7), Zombie Triple Bounce (7), Zombie Gophers (5), Toxic Waste (6), Night Vision Goggles (7), Quicksand Trap (6)