The Wolverine, also known as Gulo Gulo, is the most prominent member of the marten family. This is why he is so hungry and when he sees a nest full of eggs, he is unable to keep his paws off them.
Junior Gulos are just as keen on lady swamp vultures' eggs. Unfortunately for Gulo junior, he was caught by the lady herself, while attempting to steal one of her eggs and has now been detained.
There is only one thing left to do: get the family together and search for the little bugger. By now, the Gulo family certainly would have found their Gulo junior if it wasn't for the fact that they are so greedy for those eggs.
They cannot resist passing a nest without stealing an egg. However, stealing an egg has become quite a challenge these days.
Those peppy swamp vultures have come up with a pesky alarm system to protect their nests. And Gulos that are too greedy and clumsy, are met with a huge scare rather then a tasty breakfast egg…Whoever jumps the furthest, will get to Gulo junior first and can win the game.
Components
- 1 black cotton bag
- 22 eggs in 5 colors (5 of green, yellow, red, blue, and 2 purple)
- 1 nest (wooden bowl)
- 1 alarm pole
- 1 octagonal Gulo junior tile
- 23 octagonal yard tiles (5 blue, 6 green, 6 red, and 6 yellow tiles)
- 6 Gulos in 6 colors rules
Setup
First, place the nest in the middle of the table, fill it with all the eggs and then stick the alarm pole in between the eggs. Now, shuffle the 23 octagonal yard tiles face down.
Afterwards, one of you draws 4 of the yard tiles without looking at them and adds the Gulo junior tile. Shuffle the 5 yard tiles, face down, and place them as a deck on the table. These 5 yard tiles are the face-down deck.
Then, place the remaining yard tiles face down, starting at the deck, so that they form an uninterrupted path. This forms the yard tile path. Then, each player picks one of the Gulos and places it behind the first yard tile, as shown here:
Object of the Game
All Gulos are jumping over the yard tiles in order to get to the face down deck where they will search for Gulo junior. Whoever manages to find him and steal one of the purple eggs from the nest, will win the game.
Game Play
The hungriest player goes first. After that, game play continues in clockwise order. On a player's turn, he starts with the choice of a yard tile, which determines the egg color he will attempt to steal.
Next he tries to steal an egg of the appropriate color from the nest. Finally, if he successfully stole the right-colored egg, he moves his Gulo.
Whoever manages to steal a red egg moves onto the next red yard tile, while someone who gets a blue egg out the nest, will move onto the next blue yard tile, and so on.
Stealing an egg - but of which color
On a player's turn, he can, if he wants, turn over the next face down yard tile. If he does so, he must steal an egg from the nest that matches the color of that tile.
David decides to turn over the next face down yard tile. As it is blue, he now must steal one blue egg from the nest.
Note: If a player turns over a yard tile, he must steal an egg of that color from the nest.
A player need not turn over yard tiles, if there are already face-up tiles in front of his Gulo.
It might often be better for a player not to turn over a new yard tile. This way, he has the choice of picking one of the already available colors in front of his Gulo.
There are open yard tiles in front of Matilda's Gulo. She can turn over the next face down yard tile (x). However, she decides not turn over the next face down tile. She prefers to steal a red egg, since this will allow her Gulo to move the furthest (see below: Moving your Gulo).
Note: If a player does not turn over a yard tile, he may choose which egg he wants to steal from the nest. He may choose the egg color by choosing one of the open yard tiles in front of his Gulo.
If there are only face down yard tiles in front of a player's Gulo (as at the start of the game), he must turn over the yard tile that is directly in front of his Gulo and then, steal an egg of the matching color.
There are only face down yard t'les in front of Clara's Gulo. As such, she has to turn over the first yard tile in front of her Gulo. It happens to be a yellow one and therefore she steals a yellow egg from the nest.
A player is not allowed to turn over the upper yard tile of the face down deck, at the end of the path, before his Gulo has reached the last yard tile of the path (see: End of the Game). , ,
The egg that a player has just tak is placed inside of the cotton bag.
Moving your Gulo
If you manage to steal an egg of the chosen color without causing EGG ALARM, your Gulo can jump forward to the next open yard tile of that color.
Now it is Philip's turn. He chooses to turn over the next face down yard tile. It happens to be a yellow one. After he manages to steal a yellow egg from the nest, he is not allowed to jump onto the just turned over tile, but only as far as the next yellow yard tile.
This means that you are never allowed to jump over a selected color. After you have moved your Gulo, your left hand neighbor has his turn.
There is no limit on how many Gulos can stand on the same yard tile There is no limit on how many Gulos can be passed.
Egg Alarm
If another egg falls out of the nest during a stealing attempt, or if the alarm pole falls onto the table, the EGG ALARM goes off!! Your daring Gulo has to move back to the next yard tile of the color you failed to steal.
Fig. 6: Bad luck for Peter! In the attempt of stealing a red egg from the nest, the alarm pole falls onto the table and triggers the EGG ALARM. Peter's Gulo has to move back to the next red yard tile.
If there are no yard tiles of the selected color behind your Gulo, you have no choice but to move back to the start (place your Gulo behind the first yard tile).
After every EGG ALARM, take all the eggs, mix them inside the cotton bag and pour them back into the nest. Stick the alarm pole in-between the eggs.
After you have moved your Gulo, your turn is over and your left hand neighbor gets to play.
The last egg of a given color
If you manage to steal the last egg of a given color, without triggering the EGG ALARM you get an extra turn. Before playing your extra turn, put all the eggs in the cotton bag mix them and pour them back into the nest. Stick the alarm pole in-between the eggs.
Things to keep in mind when stealing an egg from the nest:
Always indicate the egg you are about to steal from the nest. You cannot change eggs while trying to steal one from the nest.
You have to steal an egg using one hand only.
The alarm pole can touch your fingers, but you are not allowed to hold, push or move the pole purposefully.
Eggs cannot be shifted, held or displaced on purpose.
While pulling the targeted egg out of the nest, you are allowed to get eggs shifted and pushed aside in the process, but you cannot hold them. Only the chosen egg can be held in any fashion.
The alarm pole can touch the edge of the nest. The EGG ALARM only goes off if the alarm pole touches the table or an egg falls out of the nest.
If the alarm pole falls out of the nest without the action of any player, it is stuck back in between the eggs by the player who just had his turn.
End of the Game
Your Gulo has reached the last yard tile. On your next turn you turn over the upper yard tile of the deck. If it is not the Gulo junior yard tile, you have to steal an egg from the nest, which matches the color of the just now turn-over yard tile.
If you manage to do so (without triggering the EGG ALARM), place the current yard tile in front of the tile on which your Gulo is standing.
Matilda manages to steal a red egg for a newly turned over red yard tile. Therefore, she now extends the yard tile path with this tile, jumps onto it and gets another turn.
Now, move your Gulo onto the newly placed tile and immediately play again and continue to do so until you either find Gulo junior, or you trigger the EGG ALARM.
EGG ALARM with the turned over deck yard tile! Place the turned over yard tile, face down, at the bottom of the deck and move your Gulo back to the next tile of the same color.
If you trigger the EGG ALARM, your Gulo has to move back to the next yard tile of the color you have failed to steal. Place the yard tile you have turned over back under the yard tile deck (face down). Refill the nest with all eggs (as described in the EGG ALARM section) and stick the alarm pole back. Then your turn is over.
If you turn over the Gulo junior yard tile, you have to steal a purple egg from the nest. If you manage to do so, without triggering the EGG ALARM, you have freed Gulo junior and won the game.
Victory! Whoever turns over the Gulo junior tile and then manages to steal a purple egg from the nest, is the winner.
However, if the EGG ALARM goes off while attempting to steal a purple egg, the game will continue: move your Gulo back by one yard tile. Place Gulo junior at the bottom of the yard tile deck, face down.
EGG ALARM while attempting to steal the purple egg: Gulo junior is placed at the bottom of the face down deck. Your Gulo moves back one yard tile.
Then, you refill the nest, as after every EGG ALARM, and stick back the alarm pole. Now your left hand neighbor gets to play.
The Faster Game Variation
If you change the rules for the end of the game as follows, even smaller children can become true Gulos. This way the game will be shorter.
Whoever reaches the last yard tile before the face down deck, immediately gets another turn (so you don't have to wait for your next turn) and turns over the upper tile of the deck.
If the turned over yard tile happens to be Gulo junior you have immediately WON! (you don't have to steal a purple egg from the nest).
If the turned over yard tile is not Gulo junior, you have to steal an egg of the matching color from the nest:
If you manage to do so, take the yard tile and place it, face down, back at the bottom of the deck and turn over the next yard tile. Continue to play until you either cause the ALARM to go off, or until you find Gulo junior.
If you fail to steal the egg, you have to move your Gulo back to the next tile of the color you have failed at. The tile is placed back, face down, under the deck. The game continues. The nest is refilled and the next player gets his turn.
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