The river is filled with otters of all shapes and sizes. Decide which otter should jump into the river at the right time to maximize your score. Having the winning otter gets you more cards, but losing lets you pick the scoring conditions.

Why I otter.....

—description from the designer

SETUP

Deal a hand of 3 card to each player. Place the rest of the cards face-down (river-side up) in a pile.

GAMEPLAY

Each round players will create the river, jump in, and then distribute the rewards.

1) Create the river
Draw the top 3 cards out onto the table (river-side up) in a line to show the river.

2)Jump In
First player plays a card from his hand face-up (otter-side up). Then their opponent must play a card face-up. Both cards are assessed (rock-paper-scissors mechanic) to see which player wins the round. Higher card number breaks ties.

3) Collect rewards

The round winner does the following:

They take the two otter cards into their den. Your den is a face-up line of the otters you've won. This will be used for endgame scoring.
They choose one of the three cards from the river to take into their hand.

The round loser does the following:

They choose from the remaining two river cards and decide which will go into their hand and which will become and endgame scoring card. Place the scoring cards into a column showing the scoring conditions. At the end of the game, both players will score off of all the scoring cards.

The winner of the round goes first in the next round. Rounds continue until both players have no more cards in hand.

END OF GAME

After each player has played all of their otters, score the otters in your den according to the scoring conditions on the four river cards. Highest score wins!

Released in the February 2019 Board Game of the Month Club $20+ package.

Games