S'quarrels: A Game of Absolute Nuts (2007)

Under a nearby acorn tree embark in the rigorous task of collecting acorns before winter sets in. Other Squirrels are all trying to take them before you do. Whirlwinds, Ambushing, Quarreling, and Hoarding are all just part of the fun. Get the coveted Gold Acorn but watch out for the dreaded Rotten Acorn. The more acorns you get the better chance you have of surviving winter! The player to store the most acorns when winter finally comes WINS! S'Quarrels is designed for playing in groups of 2 to 6 players.

OBJECTIVE: To Store the most Acorns before WINTER. Players select a predetermined score (such as 50 or 100) to play to. After playing multiple rounds, the first player to reach the determined number wins the game!

EQUIPMENT: A pencil and paper to keep score and this deck of 120 cards as follows:
Action Cards: 8 Quarrels , 8 Hoards , 6 Ambushes , 2 Cycles , 1 Winter
Number Cards: 30 Ones , 24 Twos , 18 Threes , 12 Fours , 9 Fives
Special Cards: 1 each of Gold & Lead Acorns

GAME SETUP:
Shuffle all cards. Dealer deals out SEVEN cards to each player. All players discard any Action Cards and replace them until their hand holds only Number and/or Special Cards. NOTE: Players keep their hands but the deck is reshuffled if the WINTER card was drawn during the game setup.

This diagram demonstrates the layout of the table. The ‘Deck’ is where all cards are drawn; ‘Discard’ is where all Action Cards are placed when drawn. The ‘Hoard Pile’ is where all end-of-turn discards are placed and will usually consist of only Number Cards; however there is an exception that will be discussed later.

The ‘Player’s Hand’ represents the cards each player is currently holding. All players have their own ‘Storage Pile’ in which Number Cards are stored for points. The more cards in the ‘Storage Pile,’ the more points you will have at the end of the round.

HOW TO PLAY:
Play starts to dealer’s left and continues clockwise. All players MUST draw one card from the ‘Deck’ at the beginning of their turn before storing any cards. If players have less then SEVEN cards in their hand, they continue drawing until they have SEVEN. If an Action Card is drawn, the player stops drawing and must play the Action Card immediately. A player may choose to store cards before they have drawn all SEVEN cards, however the player will NOT draw any more cards for the rest of their turn if they do so.
STORING CARDS - Players must have sets of THREE matching Number Cards to store them in their ‘Storage Pile.’

To finish your turn, discard ONE card from your hand into the ‘Hoard Pile.’ It is now the next player’s turn.

ACTION CARDS: (this is where the game gets NUTS!)
UPDATED (6/28/09) QUARREL - ALL players select a card from their hand, and at the same time turn their cards over. The highest card wins! If highest cards match, those players then select another card until one card wins. WINNER takes ALL cards played in the QUARREL, stores, and discards one card to the hoard pile. Play then continues to the WINNERS left. If QUARREL ends in a draw then no one wins the quarrel all cards are returned to each player.

UPDATED (12/2/08) HOARD - Everyone, except the player who draws the card, races for the cards in the ‘Hoard Pile.’ First one to have their hand on top of the deck wins! The WINNER takes the entire hoard pile and places any matches into their ‘Storage Pile’. The winner then discards one card and play continues clockwise from the winner.

AMBUSH - Player randomly takes one card from each player’s hand.

WHIRLWIND (AKA: CYCLE) - Collect ALL players hands, shuffle them together, and then deal the cards out to everyone starting with the player that drew this card and going clockwise. Current player then continues playing their turn by drawing more cards if they still do not have SEVEN.

WINTER - This card ends the game immediately. Count up your points.

SPECIAL CARDS: (One last twist for the game)
GOLD ACORN - (+5 points if in your hand when WINTER arrives.) It trumps all other Number Cards and can be used in place of a Number Card during a Hoard or Quarrel. However once played, it MUST be placed in the ‘Discard’ pile and is lost for the rest of the game, UNLESS it is the LAST card in your hand when played. Then player keeps the card.

LEAD ACORN - (-5 points if in your hand when WINTER arrives.) It can only be passed during a Quarrel, Cycle, or Ambush. You may NOT discard the Lead Acorn into the ‘Hoard Pile’ unless it is the LAST card in your hand when discarding at the end of your turn.

NOTE: If you happen to have the Gold Acorn and the Lead Acorn, you may discard the Lead Acorn over the Gold Acorn at the end of your turn if they are the ONLY two cards in your hand.

END OF GAME:
Once WINTER has been drawn, all players count up the points in their ‘Storage Pile.’ Each set is worth the number on the card. For example: Three 2’s (one set) is worth 2 Points total. Remember to count the Lead and Gold Acorns from your hand. Another round is played until the predetermined score is reached by one of the players. The winner of the round deals for the next round. In case of a tie, highest total score deals next round.