Taco Party

Story

Welcome to the Taco Tribe party where the player who eats the biggest and best tacos will win! The only problem is ingredients have a life of their own and will only hang out next to other ingredients that they like… Plus the tacos themselves like to dress up.

Details

2-4 players

62 cards

15 minutes

Ages 10 and up

Set Up

1. Find 1 empty taco card for each player and put it onto their plate (the space directly in front of them).
2. Shuffle the deck and put it into the middle of the table.
3. There are 4 slots next to the deck. Place 1 card in each slot face up.
4. Deal 4 cards to each player. They should keep their cards hidden.
5. The player who can handle spicy food the best goes first (and deserves it). After the first game the player who had the lowest score goes first. The order of play is clockwise.

Basics

Every card has two numbers. The number in the top right is the score; the number in the bottom right is the pickup cost. When cards are played the top of each card must remain visible.

How to play

Players will take turns playing cards from their hand onto their plate. The steps in a player’s turn follow. 1. Play cards 2. Discard cards 3. Pickup cards 4. Draw cards

TACO TRIBE INSTRUCTIONS

1. Play Cards

During this step a player may play as many cards from their hand as possible. There are four types of cards, the rules for playing each type follow. Empty taco: An empty taco may be played any time on its own onto your plate. Outfit: One outfit may be played on top of an empty taco. Ingredient: Each ingredient may only be stacked onto an empty taco, or stacked onto an ingredient that matches the cards requirement. New ingredients are tucked behind the card already on the plate. Topper: A topper (such as a Tiny Hat) may only be played on a taco that has three ingredients on it. Once a topper is played no more cards may be added except for an outfit.

Each card a player plays is counted towards a pickup amount. The numbers on the cards do not count towards this score; each card played adds one to the pickup amount. This is used in the pickup cards step.

For example, Jim plays an outfit plus two ingredients, which would result in a pickup of 3.

2. Discard Cards

After playing cards a player may choose to discard some or all remaining cards in their hand. If a player did not or could not play any cards during the play cards step, they must discard their whole hand, pick up the four cards in the middle, and end their turn.

3. Pickup Cards

The pickup amount from the play cards step is used to pay for the cost of the face up cards in the middle. The cost of a card is in the bottom right corner. When the cost of a card is payed, the player picks up the card. A player may choose which cards they pay for.

For example Jim has a pickup amount of 3. He could pick up 3 ingredients (a cost of 1 each) OR 1 ingredient (cost of 1) + 1 outfit (cost of 2), or one topper (a cost of 3).

If a player does not use their entire pickup amount, they must take the highest scoring card remaining in the center and place it sideways next to their tacos. This card is burned and will be worth negative points at the end of the game. If cards are tied for their score the player may choose which card to burn.

4. Draw Cards

If a player has less than 4 cards in their hand after picking up cards, they must draw from the top of the deck until they have 4 cards in hand. Then their turn ends.

Game end

2 players: The game ends when one player has completed 3 tacos (with outfit, 3 ingredients minimum, and a topper) OR when the deck runs out.

3-4 players: The game ends when one player has completed 2 tacos (with outfit, 3 ingredients minimum, and a topper) OR when the deck has run out twice. The first time the deck runs out the discard pile should be shuffled into a fresh deck.

Winning

At the end of the game each player scores their 3 biggest tacos by adding up the point value of each card played. A player’s biggest taco (most cards stacked) is counted twice.

Each taco without any ingredients is -2 points (because without filling a taco it is just a chip…and it chips away at your score…).

Each burned card is worth negative points equal to its score.

Once all scores have been calculated the player with the biggest score wins the game, if there is a tie the player who last played a card wins.

Game Variants

Hot sauce mode: You can play an empty taco into an opponent’s plate which may result in them getting negative points at the end of the game.