Tobynstein
Tobynstein Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 18 Action Tokens
- 6 Dig Tokens
- 6 Sew Tokens
- 6 Steal Tokens
- 53 Grave Cards
- 13 Object Cards
- 1 Turn Marker (Moon)
Game Setup
- Each player gets one set of Action Tokens (Dig, Sew and Steal).
- Put apart the body part cards with a worm in it. Put them on the table around the grave pile, forming a circle.
- Put the objects pile on one side.
- The player who split up the cards takes the Turn Maker (the moon token) and starts the game.
Game Turn
Beginning of Turn
Each turn, the player that has the moon says the night falls and every player chooses secretly the action (dig, sew or steal) that he will carry out that night, and keeps the token in his hand or puts it facing down in front of him.
Resolve Actions
Once the actions are chosen, the player with the moon asks:
Anybody steals?
The players with the steal action show their action token, starting left from the player with the moon. If there is an odd number of thieves, only the last thief will succeed and will steal an unstitched body part from another player. (If there is an even number of thieves nobody steals.)
Steal actions cancel each other two by two, because if one thief sees another thief they stop stealing and their actions are cancelled. That way, if one player steals, and the next one also steals, their steal actions are cancelled. If a third one has a steal action as well, he can steal unless there is a fourth player with a steal action.
Those who steal can, if they manage, steal an unstitched body part from another player.
Anybody sews?
The players with the sew action can stitch together two compatible body parts. Sewed body parts cannot be stolen (unless the right tool card is used), but they can be affected by other cards such as Hungry Rats or Bottle of Worms.
To complete a body you need one head, one torso and back legs. To sew all the body parts together, they must be from the same animal (cat, dog or iguana) or have the same table color (blue, pink or yellow). The chameleon works with any animal and table color. Once sewed, the chameleon becomes the same type of animal and table color as the card attached to it.
A player can have in his laboratory as many body parts as he wants.
Anybody digs?
The players with the dig action, starting with the player that has the moon, can take a grave card and show it to the other players. From here, proceed clockwise with the other dig actions.
Everytime a player digs, the card shown must be replaced with another card from the grave pile. The used grave cards must be placed facing up on the common grave pile (discard pile). If the grave card pile runs out during the game, shuffle the common grave pile and use it as the grave card pile.
Grave Cards
On the grave cards you can find:
- Body parts: There are 4 different animal body parts: dog (Toby), cat (Garfield), iguana (Bernie) and chameleon (George). The player takes the card and puts it in his laboratory.
- Events: The events take place when the grave card is shown to the other players. Some of them are good and some are bad, either for oneself or for the rest of the players.
- Tools: Sometimes, the players find some objects during their walk around the cemetery. When this happens, draw a card from the tool pile without revealing it to the other players. This card can be played at any time. Every object can be played once and it must be placed on the discard tool pile after its use. A player can play any number of object cards on his turn.
- Lightning: Some cards have a lightning on them. When they are shown, the lightning can be used to revive a complete body. The lightning has no relation with the effect shown on the card, and it cannot be affected by objects that affect the card itself.
Card Piles
- Object Cards Deck
- Grave Cards Deck
- Objects Discard Pile
- Common Grave (Discard Pile)
End of Turn
Once all the actions are resolved, the players take back their action tokens, the moon is given to the next player clockwise and the next turn can start.
Reviving
When a player has a complete body and digs looking for a lightning, the player must say "Reviving." If the grave card has a lightning on it, his pet is brought back to life and the player wins.
The first player to revive 2 complete pets instead of one wins the game.
The body parts can be combined in any way they fit (i.e. 2 head cards; back legs + 2 torsos + back legs; 2 back legs).
Every time a player shows a lightning, he revives all the available bodies.
End of Game
The game finishes when the grave pile is empty, and the player with more points wins.
Every body is worth as many points as cards form it.
As the owner of this game, you can change the rules as you want. Every playing group is different: fit the game to your needs!
Game Variants
The official rulebook lists three variants. Their descriptions are missing from the truncated source and are not transcribed here.
- Let's go for the couple
- Doctor Moreau's prescription
- The customer is always right