Piepmatz Game Rules

Hey there! I’m here to guide you through the exciting world of Piepmatz. Get ready to immerse yourself in this charming bird-themed card game! Let’s dive in and explore the rules together.

Setup:

First things first, it’s time for setup. Shuffle the 104 Meadow cards and deal five cards face down to each player. These cards will form the starting hands. Also, place the Bird Feeder cards nearby, creating a deck along with the remaining Meadow cards.

Playing the Game:

Now that we’re all set up, let’s learn how to play. The goal here is to attract the most valuable birds to your personal bird sanctuary.

On your turn, you have two options: you can either draw a Meadow card or play a card. If you choose to draw a card, simply take the top card from the Bird Feeder deck. On the other hand, if you want to play a card, you have to follow the bird rules.

Each bird card displays two key features: a habitat and a flock size. The habitat shows where the bird lives, such as in the forest or the meadow. The flock size indicates how many bird cards of the same type you need to play. For example, if a bird card has a flock size of three, you’ll need to play three bird cards of that type to attract it to your sanctuary.

The board has four habitats, each with their own set of bird cards. These habitats are the meadow, the forest, the wetlands, and the mountains. To attract a bird, you must play bird cards from your hand that match its habitat and meet the flock size requirement.

Once you’ve played the necessary bird cards, place the attracted bird card face-up in your sanctuary and score points accordingly. Some bird cards have special abilities, so be sure to read their instructions and use them to your advantage.

End of the Game:

The game ends when all the Bird Feeder cards have been drawn and players have taken their final turns. Add up the points on your bird cards, and the player with the highest score wins the game! If there’s a tie, the player with the fewest bird cards in their hand breaks the tie.

Conclusion:

Well, that’s all for the game rules! I hope you’re feeling ready to spread your wings and start playing Piepmatz. Remember to strategize, adapt to different habitats, and attract those beautiful birds to your sanctuary. Have a fantastic time and may the best bird enthusiast win!

When you play the game Songbirds, your goal is to strategically use bird cards to gather seeds and different types of birds from the bird feeder. Every seed and bird pair that you collect will earn you points.

If you have the most of a particular bird species, you’ll score points for single birds as well. At the end of the game, the player with the highest number of points is declared the winner.

Preparing the Game

In this game, you and your friends will have a blast playing as birds. Let me walk you through the setup:

1. First, I’ll turn the feeder base to the side that we need and put it in the middle of the playing area. Depending on how many players we have, there will be either two or three perches. You can easily spot them thanks to the arrows on the feeder base card.
2. Now, I’ll shuffle the feeder cards. In a 2-player game, we’ll follow a special rule which we’ll get to later. For now, I’ll just place two to four seed cards face up in a column above the feeder base. As we add cards to the feeder, we’ll always start from the bottom and work our way up. If any of the cards are damaged, we’ll replace them. Once we have four seed cards, we’ll shuffle any bad cards back in and place the rest of the feeder cards face down to create the feeder deck.

In a two-player game, we need to remove five cards with a 3+ symbol from play. Remember, these are four seed cards and one crow card.

2 Players: Let’s start by getting rid of all the birds of one type.

Now, I’ll deal each of us five sets of four bird cards. Remember, we need to keep our cards hidden from each other.

Alright, here’s what you need to do to get started with Piepmatz:

First, gather all the bird cards and place them face-down in a draw pile. This pile is called the bird deck. Make sure it’s within easy reach. Next, draw seven bird cards from the deck and arrange them face-up in a row next to the pile.

The player who saw a songbird last gets the first player card. This special card stays with them throughout the game.

Let’s Get Started with the Game!

The game follows the same course of play regardless of how many players are participating. The first player takes their turn, and then the next player in clockwise order goes next. Here’s what each turn looks like:

1. Playing a Card
2. Resolving Effects
3. Drawing New Cards

After one player finishes their turn, the next player takes their turn, and the cycle continues until the end of the game.

A. Playing a Card

I’m going to show you how to choose a bird card and put it on a perch. It’s easy, just follow these steps:

1. Take a bird card from your hand.

2. Place the card face up on a perch that you choose.

That’s it! It’s a simple process that allows you to add a bird to your collection. Now you can watch as your birds soar and perch among the branches. Enjoy the beauty of nature right at your fingertips.

This is the way to form rows of birds on the perches. The first bird in each row is sitting at the perch, pecking seeds. All the other birds in that row are on the ground, waiting in line.

Remember to always play your card at the end of a row. Make sure the ground cards are positioned in a way that makes them easy to identify.

Please note that at the beginning of the game, there are no birds waiting in line.

Now let’s move on to resolving the effects.

Compare the birds on the ground with the bird at the perch.

In the row where you played your card, calculate the total strength of the bird cards on the ground. Compare this total to the strength of the bird at the perch. There are two possible outcomes:

1. If the total strength is greater:

– Take a seed card

2. If the total strength is not greater:

– (Further instructions can be added here)

So, here’s what you need to do. Take a close look at the numbers you’re comparing. The difference between those numbers will tell you where to find a seed card.

If the difference is between 1 and 4, it’s pretty straightforward. You get to take a face-up seed card and put it face down in your score pile. But the specific card you take depends on the difference. If the difference is 1, you take the card right above the feeder base. If it’s 2, 3, or 4, you take the second, third, or fourth card from the feeder base.

Now, here’s an important point. If there’s a bad card right beside the seed card, and there’s a way for that to happen (check out phase C for the details), you have to take the bad card too. Just put it face up in front of you for step 3. But if there’s no card left in the position you determined, tough luck, you don’t get anything.

Now, let’s talk about what happens next. The remaining seed cards that are face-up on the table, as well as any bad cards, need to be slid towards the feeder base. During this process, do not replace the seed card you just took with another one from the deck. Instead, you’ll do that at the end of your turn.

Here’s a scenario for you: if the difference between the seed card you took and the card before it is 5 or more, there’s a special action you need to take. Grab a card from the top of the feeder deck and show it to everyone playing. There are two possible outcomes: it’s either a seed card or a bad card.

If it’s a seed card, you place it face down in your score pile. On the other hand, if it’s a bad card, you place it face up in front of you. This is important because it will come into play later in step 3. Regardless of the outcome, you do not get a replacement card for this action.

Now, what happens if you cannot draw a card from the feeder deck because it’s empty? Well, in that unfortunate scenario, you get nothing. This triggers the end of the game, so keep that in mind and plan your moves strategically.

You’ve just added a strong greenfinch to the row on the left! Now, let me explain what happens next. The total strength of all the birds on the ground is 7. This number is calculated by adding up the strengths of the greenfinch (3), another greenfinch (3), and a chaffinch (1). As you can see, it’s greater than the strength of the chaffinch on the perch, which is 5.

So, the difference between the total strength (7) and the strength on the perch (5) is 2. As a result, you get to take the second seed card from the feeder base. In our example, this would be a 3-point seed card. Add this card to your score pile. Additionally, slide the cards in positions 3 and 4 down.

Now, let’s move on to the next step. It’s time to add a bird to your collection. You’ll need to take the bird that’s currently on the perch and add it face up in front of you. Remember to place the bird in the appropriate species pile, so everyone can see how many birds you have of each species. But be careful not to take the bird into your hand!

Finally, we have one more step to cover. If there are any bad cards that need to be resolved, this is the time to do it. Make sure to follow the instructions on the cards and take any necessary actions.

And that’s it! You’ve now completed the sequence and are ready to move onto the next turn. Keep these steps in mind as you play the game. Enjoy and have fun!

So here’s what you do: take a good look at that pesky face-up bad card staring at you. Deal with its effect first, and once you’ve dealt with it, say goodbye to the bad card and remove it from the game. If you happen to not have a bad card, well, lucky you! Move right along to the next step.

When it comes to birds, there’s one in particular that can be quite a troublemaker – the Crow. This mischievous creature has the ability to scare away other birds in your collection, leaving you with one less feathered friend. If you have multiple species of birds in front of you, the Crow will go after the one that you have the most of.

Hey there! Let’s talk about squirrels and their mischievous behavior. Those little critters love to steal seeds from your score pile. It’s like they have a secret hoarding agenda! Anyway, when a squirrel pays you a visit, here’s what happens:

First, I have to shuffle your score pile. Then, I’ll pick a lucky player to draw two cards from it. These two cards will be removed from the game, never to be seen again. But hey, you can take a peek at the cards if you want. No secrets here!

Now, if you only have one lonely seed card in your score pile, that card will also be removed from play. Sorry, little seed card! If you don’t have any seed cards in your score pile (which can happen if you draw the squirrel straight from the feeder deck), well, the squirrel leaves empty-handed. No stolen seeds for them!

Now, let’s move onto the next step: bird relocation!

This one’s pretty straightforward. We’re going to move the bird with the highest value from the ground to the perch. If there’s a tie, we’ll choose the bird that’s closest to the perch to make the big move. And just to keep things neat and tidy, we’ll close any gaps between the remaining birds on the ground. Gotta keep the bird neighborhood looking nice!

Example: So, here’s how it goes: I move the chaffinch to my collection and the blackbird to the perch. But hold on, things get interesting. If I played a greenfinch with a strength of 4 or more, that greenfinch would move to the perch instead. Cool, right?

5. Compare Again

Now, let’s compare the new bird at the perch with the remaining birds on the ground. Simple enough, right?

If the total strength of the birds on the ground is even greater than the strength of the bird at the perch, we do steps 1-5 all over again. Yup, we keep doing this until the total strength of the birds on the ground is no longer greater. On the other hand, if the total strength is equal to or lower than the strength of the bird at the perch, we move on to the “Drawing New Cards” phase of our turn.

Example: So, in our previous example, the blackbird is now chilling at the perch, all fancy-like. And guess what? The total strength of the remaining birds on the ground is 3 + 1, which equals 4. So, even though the blackbird is awesome and all, the total strength is still greater than 3. So, we go back to steps 1-5 and repeat until it’s no longer the case. Exciting, isn’t it?

When I subtract 3 from 4, I get 1. I take the first seed card and put it in my score pile, along with the blackbird, which I add to my collection. The two remaining seed cards move down.

The greenfinch moves to the perch and becomes stronger than the bullfinch on the ground. This is the end of Phase B in my turn.

The Total is the Same or Lower

When I place my bird card in a row, if the total strength of the birds on the ground is the same as or less than the strength of the bird on the perch, I don’t receive a seed card or the bird on the perch.

Instead, I can choose a bird card from my hand (from the ones I have left) and add it directly to my collection. The strength of this card must be the same as or less than the strength of the card I just added to a row. The species of the two cards don’t matter.

Note: If you don’t have a bird that’s as strong as or weaker than the first one you played, go straight to the “Drawing New Cards” part of your turn without adding a card to your collection.

Example: So here’s the situation: You have a bird called a sparrow with a strength of 3, and you’re adding it to another bird called a chaffinch with a strength of 5. The chaffinch is sitting on a perch.

Now, here’s what you need to consider. The total strength of the birds on the ground, which is just the sparrow in this case, is lower than the strength of the chaffinch at the perch.

That means you have a chance to add one of the remaining three bird cards in your hand to your collection. But there’s a catch – the card you choose to add must have a strength of 3 or less.

C. Drawing New Cards

Once your turn is over, it’s time to replenish your hand. You can draw up to 4 cards and replace the face-up seed cards.

At the end of your turn, make sure you have four bird cards in your hand. You can get these cards from either the queue of face-up bird cards or from the top of the bird deck. Just remember that the queue gets refreshed every time a card is drawn.

Hey there! Let’s make sure we have enough seed cards for the feeder base. If we need more, we’ll draw new cards from the feeder deck and add them above the base. Remember, we only want seed cards in the column, so any bad cards we draw will go in a separate column next to the seed cards.

We can assign one bad card to each seed card. Just like with the seed cards, we’ll place the bad cards from bottom to top, even if there isn’t a seed card in that position yet. If we happen to draw a fifth bad card and there are already four bad cards in play, we’ll remove it from the game.

Example: When it’s my turn to play, there are only two cards left in the deck. So, I have to draw cards from the feeder deck.

The first card I draw has a value of 3, which I place on top of the column.

After that, I draw a crow card and add it next to the bottommost seed card, which has a value of 1. Finally, I draw another seed card to bring the total number of face-up seed cards back to four.

If the feeder deck runs out of cards while I’m supposed to add seed cards to the column, it’s game over (you can find more details on the next page). From that point on, there will always be less than four face-up seed cards.

Note: Towards the end of the game, some positions may consist of just a bad card.

In step 1 of phase B, if the difference matches that kind of position, you have to take the bad card without getting a seed card as well.

End of the Game

When you can’t draw a card from the feeder deck anymore, that’s when the game ends. Each player takes turns until everyone has had an equal number of turns. This means the last turn of the game will be taken by the player to the right of the first player.

If that player triggers the end, then the game officially ends after their turn.

Now it’s time to choose two bird cards from your hand and discard them face down. Once all players have done this, you can add your remaining two bird cards to your collections and start scoring.

To score your cards, follow these rules:

1. 5 points per pair of birds: A pair of birds consists of a male and female bird of the same species and strength.
2. Species majorities: First, I’m going to score each species separately. I’ll count how many bird cards I have for each species in my collection. Only the person with the most birds of a species will earn points for that species. To calculate the points, I’ll add up the values for all the birds of that species. If there are multiple players tied for the most birds, each player will score their respective birds. Take a look at this chaffinch collection, it’s worth 10 points.
   

Important: Remember, the point value of each bird is exactly half of its strength value, rounded up.

The winner of the game is the player with the most points!

If there’s a tie, we’ll see who has the most pairs of birds. If there’s still a tie, then we can celebrate our shared victory!