Below is the web version of the rulebook for Squirrel Island. You can also download the latest PDF version below.
Rule clarifications for all cards can be found by clicking on the cards in the card gallery.
We suggest watching the video on How to play as an addition to the rulebook.
Squirrel Island • Rulebook β1.0
Last updated July 18 2022
You were born a squirrel on Squirrel Island,
thus you don’t scurry for nuts to survive, but to win.
When the first nut falls, the game to gather nuts begins.
For many seasons you have been part of successful teams,
gaining much experience and respect among your peers.
Which begs the question you have always wondered,
if you have what it takes, not to follow but to lead?
It will all come to show, at the end of this fall.
Raise your banner and scurry to become,
the champion of Squirrel Island!
GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW
In Squirrel Island you will build up your own team of squirrels to help you gather as many nuts as possible over a series of 4 days.
You begin each day with gaining new resources.
Then take turns and use those resources to play squirrel and item cards.
If you can’t play any card you instead go to sleep.
When all players have gone to sleep you begin the next day.
The one with most nuts
after the final day wins!
SETUP
COMPONENTS
CARDS
The deck is shared between all players. Drawing a card from the deck means you take the card on top of it and put it into your hand. Only you can look at the cards in your hand. There is no limit to how many cards you can have in hand.
The Island board
This component holds cards that any player can draw and play. It also shows what happens at the start of each new day.
NUT TOKENS
Store all nuts you gain in your nut collection on the left side of your mat. The player with most nuts at the end of the game wins. It should be clearly visible how many nuts you have. If you lose nuts you put them back in the supply.
COIN TOKENS
Keep coins you gain in your bank on the right side of your mat. There is no limit to how many coins you can have. When you pay coins you put them back into the supply. Coins are mainly used to play items. You can use 3 coins to pay for 1 stamina.
PLAYER TILE & MAT
The tile is double-sided and shows what you can do on your turn if you are awake or asleep. The mat is where you keep track of your stamina and store your nut- and coin tokens.
STAMINA TOKEN
Stamina is what you use to play squirrels. Keep track of how much stamina you have with your stamina token and the stamina bar on your mat. You can not have more than 5 stamina. Any stamina you gain when your bar is full will instead give you 1 nut each.
FIRST PLAYER TOKEN
The player who has the first player token will start playing each new day.
STARTING THE GAME
When all components are set up as shown on page 1 you can start playing. You begin the game and each new day with a morning phase. Now all players will collect resources simultaneously. What resources to collect is shown on the Island board for each day.
The first day you will:
• Move your stamina token to 3.
• Gain 2 coins.
• Draw 5 cards from the deck.
When each player is done you put the top 4 cards of the deck face-up on the Island board. Place three in the available spaces in the top row and the last one in the leftmost space in the bottom row. Thus covering the first morning phase. After revealing the Island cards the morning phase is over and you begin taking turns around the table.
HOW TO BEGIN THE FOLLOWING DAYS
At the start of days 2, 3 and 4 you will, in addition to collecting resources, also refresh all your squirrels and then collect their loops. When you are done you wake up by flipping your player tile to the “awake” side. When everyone is awake you reveal a new Island card and proceed with taking turns.
WHAT IS A LOOP?
Most squirrels have one or more so called loops that you will collect each morning phase. The symbol inside the loop shows what resource you will gain 1 of when you collect that loop. You can also play cards that let you collect loops from squirrels if you exhaust them.
This is a Loop.
Example, if you would collect the loops from Motivator you would gain 1 stamina & 1 coin.
AWAKE
After the morning phase you will take turns one at a time in clockwise order around the table for the rest of the day. The player with the first player token takes the first turn.
On your turn, when you are awake, you play one card from either your hand or the Island. You can only play one card at a time and then you pass the turn to the player on your left. If you do not play a card you instead go to sleep.
- Card Key
1. Cost
2. Name
3. Play effect
4. Ability (squirrels only)
5. Picture
6. Card type & Squirrel Tribe
7. Rarity (copies of card in deck 1,2 or 4)
8. Stash Value
HOW TO PLAY A CARD FROM YOUR HAND
• To play a card you must first pay its cost.
• After you have paid the cost you play out the
card in front of you and resolve its play effect.
Squirrels cost stamina to play. If you play a squirrel you place it in front of your player mat and then resolve their play effect. The ability on squirrels is not part of this effect. Thus you do not collect its loops when you play a squirrel.
Items cost coins to play. If you play an item you resolve the play effect first and then place it to the right of your mat. The items you have played form a pile called your used items.
HOW TO PLAY CARDS FROM THE ISLAND
Instead of playing a card from your hand you can play one from the Island. The only difference is that you must pay an additional cost of either 1 stamina or 1 coin. This cost is not dependent on the type of card you play. If you play or draw a card from the Island you immediately replace it with the top card of the deck. If you play a card from the Island you replace it before you resolve the play effect of the card. If you would draw 2 or more cards from the Island you only replace them after you have finished drawing.
ASLEEP
When it is your turn and you can not or do not want to play a card you instead choose to go to sleep. Flip your player tile to its other side to indicate that you have gone to sleep. This is done individually and the first player who goes to sleep each day gets the first player token and will start playing the next day. The current day continues until everyone is asleep.
WHEN YOU ARE ASLEEP
Even though you are asleep you still take your turns. You can not play any more cards but instead you may gather 1 nut if you exhaust any 1 of your squirrels. You do this the turn you go to sleep as well. If you do not have any squirrels to exhaust you pass the turn. You may pass without exhausting but you may not exhaust more than 1 squirrel on each of your turns.
When the last player awake goes to sleep they may also gather 1 nut. Then instead of it being the next players turn the current day ends. If it was not the final day you begin the next day with a new morning phase.
GAME END
When all players have gone to sleep on the fourth and final day, the game ends. Instead of starting a new day you will now add your stashed nuts to your collection. Reveal your stashed cards and add the combined stash value from them together with the nuts you have gathered to see your final score.
The player with most nuts wins the game!
In case of a tied score the tied player with most squirrels wins. If it is still a tie the residents of Squirrel Island consider you equally worthy to be known as champions!
EFFECTS
EXHAUST & REFRESH SQUIRRELS
Squirrels can be either refreshed or exhausted. A squirrel is always refreshed after you play it and all squirrels become refreshed at the start of each new day. To exhaust a squirrel you rotate the squirrel card sideways to show that it is exhausted. An exhausted squirrel does not give you its abilities. To refresh a squirrel that has been exhausted, you rotate it back up. You can not exhaust or refresh other players squirrels unless it is specifically stated.
SQUIRRELS WITH UNIQUE ABILITIES
The unique squirrels have unique abilities instead of loops. These abilities either activate when you do something specific on your turn or they have an ongoing effect that only applies to you.
• If the squirrel is exhausted you do not have its unique ability.
• There is no limit to how many unique squirrels you can have.
• The unique abilities that activates on your turn does not activate during the morning phase.
• If an ability activates when you play a card you can choose to resolve the unique ability before or after the play effect of the card.
• If multiple abilities activate you choose the order they resolve.
• The unique squirrels play effect can activate its own ability.
• The unique abilities are not optional and you should help to remind each other whenever they activate.
For example, if you have the Cartographer you will gain 1 nut each time you draw 1 or more cards. (It does not activate during the Morning phase.)
STASH A CARD
Some effects will tell you to you stash a card. This means you tuck the card face-down, halfway under your player mat. All cards have a stash value in the bottom right corner which indicates how many nuts the card will give you at the end of the game if it has been stashed. The stashed cards remain stashed until the end of the game. You are not allowed to peek at what you have stashed while playing. When you stash a card from the top of the deck you do not look at it. If you would stash a card from your hand you choose which one to stash.
GO AGAIN!
If a card tells you to Go again! you will take another turn instead of passing the turn to the left. This new turn works just like a normal turn where you can play a card or go to sleep and gather 1 nut. If you get more than one instance of Go again! you will take that many more turns, even if you go to sleep.
SABOTAGE CARDS
There are some cards with effects that have white text on a red background. This is only to show that it affects the other players. Steal means you take 1 nut from another players collection and add it to your own. Players can not have a negative amount of nuts.
Squirrel Island is a board game designed by Rasmus and Robin Karlsson.
But they wouldn’t have gotten this far on their own. It is thanks to the feedback from everyone who have played the various incarnations with us over the many years that we feel the game has become something special. We are very thankful to you all. Squirrel Island is available as a Print & Play and as a download for Tabletop Simulator on Steam®. All information can be found on our website.
Based on The Nut Game ©De tre vandrarna, 2017
Fonts used in game and rulebook:
Cardenio Modern, Cambria , FuturaHandwritten
Illustrations, graphics & text by Robin
