Critters is coming to Kickstarter. In this chapter
- The basics
- Objective of the game
- Deckbuilding
- Terminology
- Resetting your deck
The basics
Welcome to the small farm town of Critterton. Here, friendly work hard on their farms all week, then trade their wares at the Farmer's Market on the weekend. You can find all sorts of crops and trinkets at the Market, but lately there's a growing appetite for three crops in particular: Apples, Berries and Carrots.
You've just moved to Critterton and picked up a small, rundown farm. It isn't much, but with a little love and care, it can grow into a grand Farm that feeds the whole town.
Objective of the game
Complete to earn cards. The first player with 5 cards wins.
Getting there is a loop you'll repeat every turn: grow crops, buy better cards, pack into your . Each also gives your Farm a permanent bonus, so every one you earn makes the next one easier.
Deckbuilding
Critters is a deck-building game with a focus on resource management.
Everyone begins with the same small deck. Over the game you'll buy cards from the Market straight into your deck, and every loop through your deck gets a little more efficient than the last.
You'll never run out of cards. When your draw pile is empty, your discard pile is shuffled into a fresh one. Pay attention to what your deck contains, because your deck is your farm.
Terminology
A few card-game terms this rulebook (and the cards themselves) lean on:
- Hand: the cards you're holding.
- Draw pile (or Deck): your face-down pile that you Draw from.
- Discard pile: the face-up pile next to your draw pile, mostly cards you've already played.
- Play (a card): use a card from your Hand.
- Draw (a card): take the top card of your draw pile into your Hand.
- Effect: what a card does when it is played.
- Fizzle: an effect fails because it has no valid target. It simply doesn't happen, and triggers nothing.
- Rival: any other player.
Resetting your deck
Whenever you would Draw a card but your draw pile is empty, your deck is : shuffle your entire Discard pile and place it face down. That's your new Draw pile.