Long ago, it is said, five forest animals ascended to the stars and came back in the form of all-knowing spirit creatures. If someone desires to learn the secrets of the stars, they must first gather beautiful stones, smoothed and tempered by their many years on Earth.

The animals will reward the giver handsomely. But be watchful of the cunning, jealous Coyote, who loves to block all those who seek to give these precious stones to the animals.

Components

• 1 bowl
• 1 coyote
• 1 cloth bag
• 2 player boards
• 56 stones (8 ea. in 7 colors)
• 12 action cards (6 per player)
• 6 spirit power cards

Object of the Game

Use action cards to reveal colorful stones and collect them for points. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins!

Setup

Place the bowl in between both players. Set Coyote to the side.

Put all stones into the bag and shake. Draw four stones and place them in the bowl. If you drew any special opalescent Spirit Stones , return them to the bag and draw new stones until there are four in the bowl.

Give each player a player board and set of 6 action cards. Spread the cards face-up, in front of the boards.

Shuffle the Spirit Power cards and divide them into two, equal, face-up piles. Each pile will have 3 cards in them.

Choose a player to go first. The starting player flips over their "Take Two Stones" action card so that it is face-down. That action will not be available until it is recovered.

Game Play

On your turn, select one of your face-up action cards and complete the action. After you are done, turn it face-down. If the card requires you to take a number of stones, those stones must be available in the bowl.

Take One Stone - Take one stone from the bowl and place it on your scoring board. If there are no stones in the bowl, you cannot use this action.

Take Two Stones - Take two stones from the bowl and place them on your scoring board. If there are less than two stones in the bowl, you cannot use this action.

Add two stones & take one stone - Draw Two stones from the bag and add them to the bowl. Take one stone from the bowl and place it on your player board.

Add three stones & move coyote - Draw three stones from the bag and add them to the bowl. Then, place the Coyote pawn on one of the animals on your opponent's board. You do not have to move Coyote if you don't want to.

Use spirit power & recover cards - You can only use this action card if at least three of your other action cards are face-down.

Choose one of the face-up spirit power cards, perform the action(s) shown, and move the card to the bottom of its original pile. Flip all of your face-down action cards so that all 6 are face-up.

Note: the spirit power card actions must be performed in order, as written.

Placing Stones

After taking stones from the bowl, place them on your player board. The boards are divided into five sections, each showing an animal and their special requirements.

If the stone does not meet the animal's requirement, you cannot give it to them. If you ever take a stone that you cannot place, return it to the bowl.

Animal Requirements

Owl - Same-colored pairs

You earn 3 points for each complete pair you give to Owl. You do not need to complete a pair in a single turn. You can start any pair before finishing another.

Rabbit - Three different colors

You earn 6 points from Rabbit only if you complete the set.

Beaver - Three-of-a-kind and a same-colored pair

You earn 5 points for three of the same color and 2 points for a pair. You do not need to complete a set in a single turn and can start either set before finishing the other. If you complete both sets, you receive 7 BONUS POINTS (for a total of 14).

Salmon - One of each color

The more stones you give Salmon, the more points you earn. One stone earns 1 point, two stones earn 2, three stones earn 4, 4 stones earn 6, 5 stones earn 9, and 6 stones earn 13.

Turtle - All one color

The more stones you give Turtle, the more points you earn. One stone earns 1 point, two stones earn 3, three stones earn 6, 4 stones earn 9, and 5 stones earn 14.

Spirit Stones

Spirit Stones are special. They can only be placed in the bonus spaces and will double the points earned for that animal. Placing the stone also closes the section, preventing you from adding any more stones to that animal.

Coyote

Coyote is a trickster who loves distracting other animals. If the Coyote pawn is on one of your animals, you are not allowed to add any stones (including Spirit Stones) to that section until Coyote moves. There are two ways to get rid of Coyote:

Use the 'Add three stones & Move Coyote' action - After adding stones to the bowl, you may move Coyote to an animal on your opponent's scoring board.

Use both 'Take one stone actions' - The back of each 'Take one stone' action card shows one half of Coyote. Once both cards are face down, you complete the image of Coyote and you may move him to an animal on your opponent's player board.

End of the Game

If there are five Spirit Stones out of the bag at the end of any player's turn, the game ends immediately. The stones may be in the bowl or on player boards.

Scoring

Add up the points earned, as noted on the player board. See the player board section of the rules for scoring each animal's collection.

If a Spirit Stone is in the bonus space, the player earns double the listed value for that animal.

The player with the most points wins the game. In case of a tie, the player with Coyote wins the tie.

Continue Reading