KIDSPROUT JUMBOREE
a game of responsibility-shirking
for the piecepack
by Ron Hale-Evans (rwhe@ludism.org)
and Marty Hale-Evans (marty@martynet.org)
[version 0.1, 2002-03-14]
3-4 players
Approx. XXXXX minutes
Requires: single piecepack, pen or pencil, and paper. A calculator might help too.
Copyright © 2002 by Ron Hale-Evans. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license can be found at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html.
So your kid joined the KidSprouts, and somehow you got talked into becoming a SproutMeister. Now you're the "leader" (yeah, right) of a rambunctious mixed-gender troop of Sprouts, ranging in age from 10 to 15. Sure, the little kids can be a handful, but the older kids tend to get into big trouble with Sex and Drugs and Rock & Roll, none of which is usually associated with the squeaky-clean KidSprouts of America -- and that's the way National likes it.
But now the Blue Arrowhead, Royal Fir, Sun Beam, and Night Owl Troops of the local KidSprout Council are heading to the Jumboree. The very thought of the very Jumbo Trouble your own Sprouts are likely to get into instantly gives you another migraine. You're not going to have any fun. You're not going to have any peace and quiet. It will be all you can do to keep your own Sprouts under control -- unless you can foist your duties off on the other SproutMeisters. Hey, that's a pretty good idea...
Unfortunately, all the other SproutMeisters have the same idea.
The object of the game is to score the fewest Stress Points. To do so, players must avoid leading Activities at the Jumboree, and foist their own KidSprouts (coins) off to Activities led by other SproutMeisters. A die is rolled to determine what Activity is next and how long it will take in hours, then players play their KidSprouts to the center of the table with ages (coin values) hidden. Ages are revealed simultaneously, and the SproutMeister who plays the oldest KidSprout must lead the Activity and take Stress Points equal to the total value of the coins played, multiplied by the hours the Activity takes (as rolled on the die). SproutMeisters may effectively modify the age of any KidSprout by playing one or two Excuses (Ace or 2 tiles of their suit) on Sprouts after ages are revealed, thereby affecting who leads the Activity. If your leading an Activity would run past dinnertime, you need not do so, unless it is the last Activity of the day, in which case you take double Stress Points for leading an Overnight.
Each player should prepare a play area as follows:
Take the pawn, the die, all tiles, and all coins of one suit.
Take the Ace and 2 tiles of your suit and stack them in front of you, suit-side-down.
Place the remaining four tiles of your suit (Null, 3, 4, and 5) grid-side-up in a two-by-two-tile diamond shape. This is called your "Schedule".
Like the numbers on a standard analog clock (the kind with hands), each space around the perimeter of your Schedule represents one hour. The 12:00 position is the top corner of your Schedule, and the 6:00 position is the bottom corner. Place your pawn on the 6:00 position.
Place your six coins suit-side-up in front of you.
After the players' play areas have been set up, players roll their dice. The high roller takes the black die and sets aside the other three dice, which will not be used for the rest of the game. (The black die is called the "Buck" and the player who currently has it is called the "Leaping Buck".) A Scorekeeper is also chosen.
The game is played for three "days" lasting from 6:00 AM (Reveille) to 6:00 PM (Dinner). Each day consists of six rounds, or Activities. On each round:
The Leaping Buck rolls the die to determine what Activity the KidSprouts will be engaged in and how long it will take in hours, according to the following table:
| DIE ROLL | ACTIVITY | HOURS |
| Null | Birdwatching Lecture | 1 |
| Ace | Adventures in Knot-Tying | 1 |
| 2 | Sing-Along | 2 |
| 3 | Craft Time | 3 |
| 4 | Nature Hike | 4 |
| 5 | Survival Skills | 5 |
Note that no Activity takes less than one hour, so when rolling a Null, you must multiply the values of the Sprouts played by 1, not 0 (see below).
Each player plays one KidSprout (coin) to the center of the table with its coin value hidden. The coin value represents the age of the KidSprout. For example, a 5 coin represents a 15-year-old Sprout, an Ace represents an 11-year-old Sprout, and a Null coin represents a 10-year-old Sprout.
When all KidSprouts have been played to the center of the table, the Leaping Buck gives a signal and all players reveal the ages of their Sprouts simultaneously.
Each player has a chance to play either or both of their Excuses (the Ace and 2 tiles of their suit, worth 1 or 2 points respectively) on any Sprout on the table. The Sprout can belong to the SproutMeister who played it, or to someone else. A SproutMeister who plays a Excuse must state whether it is added to or subtracted from the age of the Sprout.
A player playing an Excuse must actually make one up that fits the context of the game. Examples:
The same verbal Excuse may not be used more than once per game.
Players may continue playing Excuses to any Sprouts until everyone is out of Excuses, or it is clear no one wants to play any further Excuses. In the latter case, the Leaping Buck slowly chants "Going... going... gone!" to allow last-minute Excuses. After the word "gone", no one can play any more Excuses for this Activity.
The player who played the oldest KidSprout (after Excuses are taken into account) is designated the Activity Leader.
In case of a tie for oldest KidSprout, the Leaping Buck decides who will become the Activity Leader from among those tied.
If leading the Activity would move your SproutMeister pawn past 6:00 PM on the Schedule, you are said to be "stressed out", and no one can force you to lead the Activity unless it is the end of the day (see below). Ties are broken as above, except that you are out of the running. If all players who played the highest KidSprout are stressed out, however, then the SproutMeister who played the next oldest KidSprout becomes Activity Leader, with ties broken as usual.
Note that a player who is stressed out continues to play Sprouts to the center of the table like everyone else; such a player simply cannot lead an Activity except for the last Activity of the day.
The Activity Leader then takes all four coins and stacks them on the appropriate space on their own Schedule. For example, if the first Activity of the day, which starts at 6:00 AM, is Craft Time, which lasts three hours, the Activity Leader stacks all four coins on the 9:00 space of their Schedule, and places their pawn on the stack. If the same SproutMeister is Activity Leader on the next round, and the Activity is a Sing-Along, which lasts two hours, they take the coins played that round and stack them on the 11:00 position on their Schedule, with the pawn on top. In this way, a Schedule serves as something like a Cribbage board. It contains all the information, both hours and Sprout values, needed to calculate a player's score at the end of the day.
Excuses played for the current Activity are set aside suit-side-down at the end of the Activity, and are not used again during the current day.
The last round of each day is special. It is practically the only time you can be made to lead an Activity past 6:00 PM, and afterwards there is a scoring round. The last round of each day is played in the same way as the first five rounds, with the following special rules:
As mentioned, you are no longer exempt from having to lead an Activity that would move your SproutMeister pawn past 6:00 PM.
A SproutMeister who must lead an Activity past 6:00 PM is said to be leading an "Overnight". Overnights are stressful. You must take double the regular Stress Points for that Activity while curfewing teenage Sprouts in search of beer and nookie, and chasing down younger Sprouts who are running around with flashlights, laughing and screaming. To indicate an Overnight, stack the coins you take on the table next to the appropriate hour (for example, 8:00 PM), to distinguish them from any coins on the 8:00 AM space.
After the last Activity of the day, a scoring round occurs. Each player examines their Schedule and tells the Scorekeeper how many hours each Activity they led took, and the sum of the coin values for that Activity.
Each Activity is scored as follows: the values of the coins for that Activity (not counting any Excuses played) are totalled, then multiplied by the hours the Activity took, to obtain the number of Stress Points for the Activity. For example, if the player's Schedule shows they led an activity for four hours with Sprouts worth 1, 2, 3, and 5 (a total of 11), the Stress Point value of this Activity would be 4 x 11, or 44. (Null coins count as 0, and Ace coins count as 1.)
The Scorekeeper then sums the Stress Points for each Activity led by a given SproutMeister, and adds the total to the Stress Points the player has from previous days, if any. The Scorekeeper then scores the remaining players.
At the end of the first and second days, a new day begins, and all KidSprouts return to their own troops. Thus, players get all of their KidSprouts (coins) and Excuses (tiles) back. The pawn is placed back in the 6:00 AM position, ready for Reveille.
At the end of the third day, the player with the fewest Stress Points is the winner. Congratulations, SproutMeister! You have successfully evaded your brat-sitting duties! Way to slack!
Part of the strategy for KidSprout Jumboree lies in remembering which KidSprouts and Excuses your opponents have already played.
Psych your opponents out. Since playing the oldest KidSprout means you must lead an Activity, on average you will want to play high coins when your opponents play low ones, and low ones when they play high ones. If you play high when your opponents play low, you may be forced to lead the Activity, but it will cost you relatively little in Stress Points. On the other hand, if you play low when your opponents play high, you probably won't be forced to lead the Activity at all.
Naturally, it's safer to play high coins when the die rolls a low-numbered Activity, but remember, your opponents will be thinking the same thing.
Being "stressed out" is a mixed curse. If the current Activity would put your pawn past 6:00 PM, you can usually play high coins with impunity.
Playing Excuses on your own Sprouts to subtract from their values when you are in danger of leading an Activity is often a good tactic, but it may be better to play an Excuse on another player's Sprout, and add to the Sprout's value. With the latter tactic, you may be able to force a player who is winning the game to swallow more Stress Points, especially if the other players cooperate with you. This phenomenon is known as "lederhosen" (leader-hosin'). Of course, real SproutMeisters don't wear lederhosen (except in Bavaria, where the trees are made of wood).
Original concept: Ron Hale-Evans.
Development and rules write-up: Ron Hale-Evans,
with Marty Hale-Evans.
Game colour: Big thanks to Marty Hale-Evans and Meredith Wilson.
Graphics:Marty Hale-Evans.
Playtesters: XXXXX.
0.1, 2001-03-14: Original playtest rules.