Designed by Heinz Meister
Published by F.X. Schmid
Copyright 1994 Heinz Meister, 1995 F.X. Schmid
Translated by Kurt Adam
(mage@uu.net)
Always stay cool!
You have already uncovered five cards. And you turn one more and one more.
Using the cards, the crocodiles on the inner track are moved. If they land on unoccupied spaces, everything is fine. However, if there is already another crocodile on the space, the turn ends and all of the accumulated points are passed to the next player.
When should you stop? A few cards uncovered means you only move forward a few spaces. However, someone that tries to go too far may get nothing!
A Croco-cool push your luck game where the winner is the first person to reach the end.
The 14 special cards (darker backs) are put to the side; they are used for the advanced game.
The board is put into the middle of the table. It shows an inner circular track with 12 spaces and an outer track with 27 spaces.
The 5 wooden crocodiles are distributed in any desired manner on empty spaces of the inner track.
Each player chooses a pawn and puts it on the space marked "See You Later..." This is both the start and end space of the outer track.
The 36 cards (lighter backs) are shuffled and placed face down next to the board.
The "coolest" players begins and play continues in clockwise order. The active player turns the top card of the stack and moves the corresponding colored crocodile clockwise the stated number around the inner track. Now there are two possibilities:
1. The crocodile finishes on an empty space. In this event, the player can (if he wanted!) turn another card from the stack and move the corresponding crocodile moves etc. They player can continue to do this as long as they either stop voluntarily or the second possibility occurs:
2. The crocodile lands on a space with one or more other crocodiles. In this event, the player's turn ends immediately and the next player begins their turn.
For a voluntary turn end, the player moves his pawn along the outside track the number of spaces equal to the number of cards turned up. The cards are then placed on the discard pile and the next player begins.
EXAMPLE: Sandra is next. She is able to turn seven cards without moving a crocodile onto an occupied space. She decides to stop and moves her pawn seven spaces and discards the seven cards.
Each card always moves a pawn only 1 space; the face values has no meaning for moving pawns.
Many pawns can be on the same space simultaneously.
If a players turn ends involuntarily, then all of the turned up cards are passed to the next player and their pawn is not moved.
The next player must turn at least one card during their turn. If they aren't forced to stop, they could then opt to stop and move his pawn along the number of cards in the entire stack. Naturally, they could continue to turn cards and risk losing all of the progress.
EXAMPLE: Markus has already successfully turned 5 cards. However, the sixth card ends his turn, because the corresponding crocodile lands on an occupied space. Markus passes the 6 cards to Dieter, the next player. He turns a card and....bad luck! - the crocodile also lands on an occupied space. Now 7 cards are passed to Dominik. She must turn the first card - and is lucky! He decides to voluntarily stop and moves his pawn 8 spaces. He places the 8 cards on the discard pile. Sandra, the next player, now begins again "at zero".
The cards with the white numbers are treated as wild, i.e. any crocodile can be moved using these cards. However an additional card must be turned immediately; after using a wild card, a player can not voluntarily stop their turn.
If the deck is exhausted, the discard pile is shuffled and used again.
The Ah and Oh rules lead to many enthusiastic "Ahs", but also a few disappointed "Ohs". The Ah and Oh rules do keep the game interesting. They come into play once at least half of the pawns are moved away from the starting space. With 2 players, therefore, 1 pawn, with 3 or 4, at least 2 pawns, and with 5 or 6 players, at least 3.
The rules are:
The Ah rule for whoever is last: if the player ends his move voluntarily, they move their pawn forward double the number of the cards in the stack; each card thus counts 2 spaces.
The Oh rule for whoever is leading: if the player is forced to end his move, they move their pawn backward the number of cards in the stack (but not past the starting space).
If several players are tied for first or last, then the rules is in effect for all of the players that are tied.
On rare occasions it could happen that all of the pawns are on the same space. In this case, the Ah and Oh rules are not used.
The player who first reaches are crosses the starting space again is the winner.
Players who are experienced with the normal game should try this expansion. The game becomes more tactical and the interaction between players is increased.
The 14 special cards are shuffled and dealt face down so that each player has two. The remaining cards are placed aside face down.
At the end of his turn, a player could play on of their two cards. The card can be played against any player and is laid face up in front of the player desired. When that player's turn comes up, they must execute the corresponding instruction. The card is then discarded.
A player can only have one a special card in front of them at a time.
There are two each of 7 different special cards. They have the following meaning:
[Translator's note: The cards here appear in the same order as in the German rules. I tried to approximate the drawings on them, but some are pretty hard to duplicate!]
+2 The player must always turn a pair of cards before they can end their turn voluntarily. The first card must be turned anyway, now a second must also be turned. After the second, they could stop voluntarily. If they choose not to stop and turn a third card, then they must turn a fourth also, etc. Also, if the fourth card was a joke, then they would have to turn a fifth (due to the wild card rule). However, they would then have to turn a sixth due to the +2 card, provided that they haven't been forced to stop, yet.
x2 The player, if their turn ended involuntarily, must move their pawn backwards twice the number of cards turned, whether they lead or not.
->3 The player may only turn a maximum of 3 cards. If the third card does not cause the end of their turn, they may move their pawn. This rule is in effect even if the third card is wild.
<-> The player, if he stops voluntarily, moves the pawn of the player that played the card on him half the number of cards turned (rounded down). This pawn is moved instead of the active player's pawn.
The card should be played so that the arrows point at the two players affected by it.
If the pawn moved should be moved double due to the Ah rule then the number should be divided, rounded and then doubled. If the pawn should be moved backward due to the "Oh rule", then it is moved back the full number of the cards, not half.
.^v The player loses his turn and play passes to the next player. The player may not turn cards nor play any special cards.
-5 The player on his turn moves his pawn 5 spaces backward. They can then continue with their turn in the normal manner.
v^ The player must make a prediction for every card turned (after the first) whether the next card will be higher or lower in value than the just turned card. If both cards have the same value, then the prediction is assumed correct. If the prediction was not correct, then the player's turn ends whether the crocodile is moved onto an empty space or not.
All other rules remain unchanged.
The active player turns a card and moves the corresponding crocodile:
If a crocodile lands on an empty space, another card may be turned, etc. As soon as they decide to voluntarily stop, their pawn is moved the number of collected cards.
If a crocodile lands on an occupied space, the player's turn immediately ends, and the collected cards are passed to the next player. Their pawn does not move. The next player must turn at least one card.
White numbers are wild: any crocodile can be moved. Another card must be immediately turned.
The Ah and Oh rules:
Whoever is last, moves forward double the number of cards, if he stops voluntarily.
Whoever is first, moves backward the number of cards, if he is forced to stop.
The player who first reaches are crosses the starting space again is the winner.