PIEPMATZ

OBJECTIVE OF PIEPMATZ: The objective of Piepmatz is to be the player with the most seeds and birds when the game comes to an end. 

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 4 Players 

MATERIALS: 1 Starter Player Card, 36 Feeder Cards, 72 Bird Cards, 1 Feeder Base, and Instructions 

TYPE OF GAME: Hand Management Card Game 

AUDIENCE: Ages 12 and Up 

OVERVIEW OF PIEPMATZ 

Players skillfully plat the bird cards from their hand in order to collect seeds and birds at the bird feeder. Pairs of birds and certain seeds are worth more points than others. The game continues until there are no more cards to draw from. The player with the most points, wins the game! 

SETUP 

To begin setup, place the feeder base on the correct side and in the middle of the playing area. Ensure that there is one less perch than there are players in the game. Shuffle the feeder cards and place four seed cards in a column above the feeder base, facing down. Replace any cards until there are four seed cards.  

The rest of the feeder cards are placed face up in a draw pile above the column of cards initially set out. The bird cards are then shuffled and placed facing up on each perch of the feeder. Each player is then dealt a hand of four bird cards. The players should ensure that their cards are hidden from the other players.  

The rest of the bird cards are placed in a draw pile, facing down. Beside the feeder card draw pile. Three bird cards are drawn from the pile and placed in the queue face up beside the draw pile. The last player that saw a bird will get the starter player card. This card is kept throughout the course of the game. 

GAMEPLAY 

The game is played in turns, with each turn consisting of three phases for the players to complete. The players play a card, resolve the effects, and draw new cards. The first player will begin the game, and it will continue in a clockwise order.  

When playing a card, the player will choose a bird from their hand to place on the perch of their choice. The goal is to form a row of birds on the perch, with the first one eating seeds, and the others waiting their turn. The player must place their card at the end of the row if there is a line. 

Once the player places, the strength of the birds are determined. If the strength of the birds on the ground is greater than the strength of the bird on the perch, then five actions take place. The player will collect a seed card, add a bird to their collection, resolve any bad cards if needed, move a bird to the perch, and compare again. Sometimes this may take numerous times. If the total is lower, then the player may choose a card from their hand to add to their collection as long as its strength is greater than the card they added to the row. 

The player may then draw up to four new cards and replenish the seed cards that are facing up. The player may choose to draw cards from the queue or from the bird deck. The queue is refreshed if they collect from here. There should be four seeds above the feeder, and the next player may begin their turn. 

END OF GAME 

The game comes to an end when there are no more cards available in the feeder deck. The game will continue until all the players have had the same number of turns. Each player will discard two bird cards from their hand, face down in the middle of the playing area. The last two cards that they have in their hand is added to their collection. 

The players will then tally their points. For each pair of birds, the player will earn five points. The player who has the largest number of a species will win the points for that species. All other players will not score any points for that species. The collection of chaffinch earns the player ten points.  

The point value for seed cards equals the total point values of the cards in their pile. The player with the most points, wins the game! 

Ellie Phillips
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