Varmints!
Varmints! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Getting Started
Everything you need to play a game of Varmints is right in this box! You don't need dice, paper, or anything else. Just grab a friend and gather the following cards:
- Sixty Varmint Cards: a single shared deck.
- Six Trash Bin Cards: three for each player.
- One Trash Truck Card: placed in the middle of the table.
Take your three Trash Bin cards and place them in a row in front of yourself on the table. Your opponent does the same. Together, these two rows of Trash Bins create the three Alleys in which you'll play your Varmints.
Shuffle the deck of Varmint cards, then deal three piles of three face-down Varmint cards to each player. Without peeking, place one pile beneath each of your three Trash Bins. These three piles become your Scraps, which you must defend from opposing Varmints!
Deal each player a starting hand of five face-down cards. Place the rest of the Varmint deck in a spot off to the side that is easily reachable by both players, and leave room next to it for a shared discard pile.
Decide the starting player via Rock-Paper-Scissors, then spin the Trash Truck card so that the arrow points left-to-right from the perspective of the starting player. Now pick up your starting hand, grab a bib, and wash your paws... It's time to eat some trash!
The Neighborhood
The play area is laid out as follows: each player's Trash Bins form a row, and the three Alleys (Alley #1, Alley #2, and Alley #3) are the columns they create across the table. Each player's Scraps sit beneath their Trash Bins. The shared Varmint deck and the shared discard pile sit off to the side.
Parts of a Card
- a. Level: where you can play this Varmint during the Day Phase.
- b. Speed: gets compared to other critters during the Night Phase.
- c. Boost: use to increase the Speed of an ally.
- d. Artwork: different kinds of Varmints are better at different things.
- e. Name: just for fun, no effect on gameplay.
- f. Effect: occurs immediately when you play or Boost with this card.
Gameplay Overview
Each round of Varmints has two phases, Day and Night. During the Day, you and your opponent take back-and-forth actions, playing one card at a time to populate your Alleys. At Night, your Varmints will compete with your opponent's Varmints in each Alley.
The Day Phase
While the sun is high, you'll play critters to prepare your Alleys for the rowdy night ahead. Every card can be played face-up as a Varmint or face-down as Backup.
To play a card from your hand face-up in an Alley, count the total number of cards (face-up and face-down) in play on your side of that Alley. If the number of existing cards is greater than or equal to the Level of the new card, then you may play that card face-up as a Varmint.
[Diagram: a check mark marks a Level 3 card that may be played face-up into an Alley where the player's side already holds enough cards; a cross marks one that may not, because too few cards are in play there.]
Sometimes, you don't want to (or can't) play a card face-up. That's okay! Instead, you can ignore a card's Level and play it face-down as Backup in any Alley. Backup cards count towards the Level of an Alley. You may have up to three Backup cards in each of your Alleys. If a fourth Backup card would be placed on your side of an Alley for any reason, discard that card instead.
You may only have one face-up Varmint in an Alley at a time. When you play a new face-up Varmint in an Alley, any existing Varmint gets flipped face-down and turns into Backup. Build up your Alleys over multiple rounds to gain access to higher Level Varmints and stronger effects!
Note: Scraps and Backup are different things! Scraps start the game underneath your Trash Bins, while Backup gets played in your Alleys behind your Varmints. Always use your Trash Bins to keep your Backup and Scraps separated from each other during a game.
At any point during the Day Phase, you can choose to pass your turn without playing a card. Each time you take a turn, whether you play a card or pass without playing one, it becomes your opponent's turn to play a card or pass the turn. Then, the turn comes back to you. When both players pass sequentially without playing a card, the sun sets, and the Night begins.
The Night Phase
As darkness falls on the gutters and back streets, your hungry critters spring into action! In a blur of feathers and fur, your Varmints face off in Contests against your opponent's Varmints across the block.
Following the direction of the Trash Truck arrow, move through each Alley from left to right, holding a Contest in one Alley at a time. To hold a Contest, simply compare the Speed values of the two opposing face-up Varmints in the Alley. The Varmint with the larger Speed value wins that Alley for the night! The loser picks up one Scrap card (if any are present) from beneath their Trash Bin and adds it to their hand before proceeding to the next Contest. After a Contest concludes, both participating Varmints remain in play.
[Diagram: a check mark marks the winning Varmint, a Speed 80 card; a cross marks the losing one, a Speed 40 card. The caption reads "80 > 40".]
When Speed values are equal, both of the competing Varmints get what they came for: Each player picks up a Scrap and adds it to their hand.
If you don't have a Varmint in an Alley, your side of that Alley is Vacant, and its Speed counts as zero. When both sides of an Alley are Vacant, nobody loses Scraps.
Boosting at Night
If your Varmints are a little too slow, worry not! The outcome of a Contest can be modified by using cards from your hand to Boost a competing Varmint's Speed!
If you want to give a Varmint a one-time Boost, you need to start by paying the Boost Cost: Discard one face-down Backup card from behind the competing Varmint. After paying this cost, you can play a card from your hand sideways on top of your competing Varmint. Add the sideways card's Boost to your Varmint's Speed. Vacant Alleys can't be Boosted. Each time you want to Boost, you must pay the Boost Cost again; if you run out of Backup, you can't Boost!
[Diagram: an example total of 90, made up of a Speed of 40, plus a +30 Boost, plus a +20 Boost.]
The starting player gets the first chance to Boost or pass. From there, you'll take back-and-forth turns, either Boosting or passing in a single Alley's Contest, until you both pass sequentially. Finally, compare the new modified Speed totals, and see who wins! After a Contest is decided, discard all Boost cards from both sides of the Alley before moving on.
Once all Contests are resolved, each player draws three cards, stopping at a maximum of five cards in hand. Rotate the Garbage Truck to face the other player, and the Night Phase ends. It's time for a new Day!
Note: the printed rulebook calls the vehicle the "Trash Truck" on pages 2 and 6 and the "Garbage Truck" on page 7. Both names refer to the same Truck card.
Emptying a Trash Bin
As the last Scrap gets removed from one of your Trash Bins, flip the Trash Bin card over to its empty side. When your bin flips, the hollow crash of empty metal sends all the critters scattering! Immediately discard all Varmints and Backup from both sides of the Alley, but leave any Scraps in your opponent's Bin untouched. You and your opponent will both need to repopulate this Vacant Alley with new Varmints as the game continues.
When both of the Trash Bins in a single Alley are empty, you can still play Varmint cards in that Alley. Those critters won't be competing for Scraps, but you can still play them to gain access to useful card effects.
Finishing the Game
The game continues through cycles of Day and Night, with the starting player alternating each round. If the Varmint deck runs out, shuffle all of the discarded cards together to create a new deck. As soon as you empty your opponent's final Trash Bin, you win the game!
Using Card Effects
A Play Effect activates when you play that card face-up during the Day. A Boost Effect activates when you use that card to Boost at Night. Card effects have color-coded Level symbols: Play Effects are pink, and Boost Effects are gold. Each new effect occurs immediately, before anything else happens. An effect always lasts for its full written duration, even if the card that produced the effect gets discarded or flipped face-down.
Just getting started? Try playing "Numbers Only" mode, ignoring all Effects for a shorter, lighter game. Have fun!