Among Vultures!  

                                              Only one will be filled....

        

A harvest game for two up to six vultures!

The sun is burning down in the desert. The horizon is shimmering in the distance and swirls through the heat. With everlasting patience, vultures are circling through the sky always on the lookout for their next meal. They watch each other closely to make sure, that no one else finds carrion alone and feeds this to his own belly. As soon, as a vulture lands on something to eat, all others will certainly come along to join the meal and start to struggle for
the greatest hunk. No one will grant anybody anything!

Among vultures is a fast paced game, where nobody seems to get enough fast enough. This is real jealousy about food, because the vulture, who is first to feed his stomach with 30 points of prey will win the game!

Before the game starts, please fold your vulturecard regarding the instructions on the backside of the card. At your disposal are six colors. Choose one you like. The vulture with the bruise resists sometimes the attempt of folding. Sometimes you have to convince him with a hit on his head!

Vultures usually have to cover huge distances over a desert to find food. Our playing field, the desert, is to be laid out with placed face down desert cards in a predefined pattern, which is correspondent to the number of players, who will take part in the game.

For 2 players = 5 x 5 cards in square
3 and 4 players = 6 x 6 cards in square
5 and 6 players = 7 x 7 cards in square

In the tide of events, the desert cards will be soon explored and revealed through the players, when they stop their flight of their vulture on top of one of the cards. Every player chooses one vulture in the color he likes and starts the game already with 5 points worth of prey. The greediest player (or optionally the youngest, oldest or whatever the players prefer!) starts first and puts his vulture anywhere on one of the desertcards.

After that, every other player following clockwise places his vulture on his chosen starting point. You can even start from the same position together, if you put your vulture on top of another players vulture. It makes no difference at this point of the game. You win the game immediately, if you are the first player to own 30 points of prey at any time. In this moment, as a player claims he has the 30 points and can prove his right, the game ends at once. He will gain the title foodmaster of all times.

Some more playing detail: the vulture, ähm...player, who goes first, can move his vulture  horizontal or vertical on his choice for a movement of one desert card for free and reveal the card. After that, he has to decide, if he lands on the card or chooses to move a bit further. If the laid open desert card shows for example an empty spot, you should consider to invest some of your precious preypoints (you are starting already with 5!) into more movement for this
turn. Sometimes even a vulture has to flap his wings a bit, to reach a more promising position.

If you are one of the lucky vultures, who are able to find a field, which provides a thermal lift, you can even take a ride for free! without lightening your vulturestomach of precious preypoints (actually winningpoints they are!). These thermal lifts have blue loops with a number on it, so you can easily see, how many more moves would still be possible for your vulture. Important! you don´t have to fly the maximum as stated. You can of course fly always less, if you choose.

But it is not flying alone, which a vulture takes interest in! He wants to feed. A vulture needs no cooking device, as the desert is hot enough and every possible meal already arrives well done.

How many preypoints are available on a carrion? There is a big number, which defines the overall worth and this is parted in several hunks, which are to be played out round by round. As you can imagine even a hungry vulture needs some time to feast on a half cow! This gives all of the other predators circling in the sky as well a chance to get a piece of the cake until its gone. As long as one vulture sits alone on his prey, he counts as uncontested and can feed his
stomach round by round until no points are leftover and therefore emptying this spot.

The untroubled meal is over, as soon as another vulture drops by and wants his share! At the beginning of the game, every vulture is folded in a birds pattern. So in this way, you can easily staple them one on one and see exactly, which one is at the bottom and leading and which one arrives latest and is on top. This mechanic feature administrates easy in gameplay and can be followed at every time by every player.

The vulture at the bottom, who was first at the prey is called the foodmaster! For all others vultures, who were later is the line up decisive. It defines the row, when each vulture gets his chance to get eventually his share from the carrion.

Selffeeding makes you rich! is nearly the only known saying of the vultureuniverse, which was passed down by generations of vultures. So no one can feed in
peace or alone. All vultures struggle as strong as possible over the prey. You will be beaten on your beak! Thats for sure. To solve the strife, the society of the vultures invented the Zankdeck! These are special cards with the value ranging from 1 up to 5. To score with the Zankdeck you are starting to draw a card face down from the staple of the Zankdeck and add every time the value of the drawn strifecards (Zankdeck) to each other.

Your goal is simple, just aim to be near as possible to the vultureholy number 9. If you are starting and reach exactly 9, the fight is over and you score the preypoints laid out on the desert card on your hand. Are you coming over 9, than you are out for this round and the next present vulture gets his chance.

You have to estimate, how many low cards where already drawn from the Zankdeck by the other players (even in the precedent rounds).

Try to figure out, how is your chance to stay happy with a result of 7 or even 6 from the Zankdeck as a result and stop here, to be in high hope that the opposition will need more points with the Zankdeck and exceeds 9. Important note, so long no one has reached  exact 9 with the Zankdeck, every present vulture gets his chance to beat the others with the Zankdeck to come as nearly as possible to the value of 9.

Also what made many testplayers happy and causes a lot of fun, the vulture, who is at the bottom of the carrion is the declared foodmaster for this turn, goes first and in the following struggle keeps the Zankdeck and is the dealer for all other players for this round. This is also a great oppurtunity to make some comments and noises (clap with your beak on the table, laugh sardonic or have a malicious grin on the fruitless attempts of the opposition).

If one vulture wins the Zank, because he scored as the first vulture 9 with the Zankdeck or scored nearest to 9 (equal is not possible, everybody coming after your eight for example, has to draw another card, hoping to get a one!) gets the displayed preypoints. The next hunk in the row, will be laid out or when the carrion is already finished, the now emptied desert card will be laid aside instead. The vultures on spot will have to look elsewhere to feast on a
new prey.

Zank with the Zankdeck always takes place, when the vulture on the bottom has his turn. For this rule some of the other vultures gain enough time to fly here as well and get their chance to share this carrion. The biggest hunks are usually at the end of the row, so you have to measure carefully, when and where to join the most promising prey.

To feed alone would be obviously good for your digestion, but keep an eye on your comrades! If they feed on larger hunks than you, they will probably reach a lot faster the 30 points to win the game. From this point of view, you should never allow other vultures to feed alone on the biggest carrions.

How far a vulture already advanced in preypoints is kept a secret, because all of your received preypoints are hidden at the players discretion. You can try yourself as an accounting clerk with the ever changing score of the other players, but remember, you can even spend some of your received preypoints to fly further and therefore deduct also winning points. Believe me, nobody than the players themselves will exactly know when they will reach eventually the 30 points, thats for sure. It helps of course to guess, who might be leading....

So pay attention or otherwise another vulture has had enough and will be the one, who is holding siesta in the shadows of a big cactus.
A propos cactus and rattlesnake. These are two special effect cards, but this you will have to find out for yourself!

For already experienced pilots, we have also invented three extra profiles, the  trouble vulture, the speedy vulture and the best friend vulture.

Have a good flight and enjoy our game! Truly yours GameHeads.