Description

Squirrel is a family friendly game of tactical foraging. To win you must gather the biggest hand of acorns before the last leaf of Autumn turns brown.

The game starts with a grid of 9 green leaf piles. Under each green leaf card is a chance to find either a brown leaf or 1 to 3 brown acorns.

Players must each build a maximum hand of 3 cards by hopping their squirrel counter from one leaf pile to the next. After each move they must take 1 card from the top of a neighboring leaf pile to add to their hand.

If their hand exceeds 3 cards or they make a gap in the grid, they must drop a card with its brown side face up. In this way the leaf piles change color from green to brown and when the top card of all 9 leaf piles shows a brown face, the game (and autumn) has ended. Players must then reveal their hands and the player with the greatest total number of acorns is the winner.

Beware.
The best foragers may be pushing their luck. A squirrel who holds more than 3 acorn cards must drop one in plain view. An opponent who stands on a dropped acorn can steal from your hand!
Wise foragers can manage their hand as well as the length of the game by choosing when to voluntarily drop a card and which green leaf piles to cover or reveal.

Squirrel has enough gameplay for adults and older children to enjoy with enough luck to keep young children in the game without constantly feeling out-maneuvered.

-description from designer