The latest prototype for GDFR! has been sent to the printer, and I can’t wait to get it into the hands of playtesters! Honestly, I can’t wait to get my own hands on a copy to play with my friends, and to sleep soundly with it tucked under my pillow… If you have been wanting to know more about the first game that GAME-O-GAMI is publishing, then this post is for you. Today we reveal the latest version of the game’s rules, written by me (David Luis Sanhueza), which will tell you how to play Goblins Drool, Fairies Rule!

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GDFR! Rules v1.0

Goblins Drool, Fairies Rule! is a card game of rhyme and reason for 1 to 4 players. A gang of mischievous goblins have escaped from the Fairy Circle, and it is up to the players to send them back before they cause trouble! But an ancient spell of rhymes which transforms goblins into fairies and fairies into goblins makes this a trickier task than you might think…

The Cards

This game consists of 20 unique cards. Each card has two sides, one representing a goblin, the other representing a fairy. When a card is goblin-side-up, it is called a “Goblin.” When a card is fairy-side-up, it is called a “Fairy.” Cards with stars around the edges are called “Star Cards.”
Each side of a card has one of 4 Symbols, shown in the top-left and bottom-right corners. The Symbols are “Sun”, “Moon”, “Mushroom”, and “Frog”. If a card has a Sun Symbol, then the opposite side always has a Moon Symbol. If a card has a Mushroom Symbol, then the opposite side always has a Frog Symbol.
The names of the Fairies and Goblins are divided into 5 rhyming groups. All names end in one of these five sounds: “oop”, “elly”, “ock”, “our”, “ew”. No two cards share the same combination of Goblin and Fairy rhyming groups. No card has the same rhyming group on both sides.

Setting Up The Game

Players sit in a circle and take turns going in clockwise order. All players can see each others’ hands at all times, so there is no secrecy. However, it is against the rules to look at the face-down side of any card once the game has started.
When dealing, all cards in the deck should be goblin-side-up. At the beginning of the game, each player is dealt one random Goblin Star Card. Any un-dealt Goblin Star Cards are then set aside, out of the game. The remaining cards are shuffled, and then each player is dealt 3 more Goblin Cards from the deck, starting with the player to the dealer’s left.
Once each player has 4 Goblins, then 4 Fairies are dealt from the deck to the “Fairy Circle,” in the middle of the play space. All remaining cards are then set aside, out of the game.
Then determine which player goes first.

How To Play

1) Add – On each player’s turn, that player must add 1 of his cards to the Fairy Circle. A player can add any 1 of his cards, including a Goblin or a Fairy.

2) Flip – If the names of any cards in the Fairy Circle rhyme with the name on the added card, flip them over: Goblins become Fairies and Fairies become Goblins. The added card does not flip over.

3) Take – After the player finishes flipping the cards over, she must take all cards from the Fairy Circle which match the Symbol of the card she added. (Example: all other Sun Symbol cards when the player added a Sun Symbol card.) The player does not take back the card she added.

Star Cards are special. When a player adds a Star Card to the Fairy Circle, ALL other cards in the Circle are flipped over, regardless if they rhyme with the added card or not. The player then takes all cards with a Symbol that matches the card she added, as usual.

After a player has finished taking cards from the Fairy Circle, the next player starts her turn, going in clockwise order.

The goal of the game is to be the first player with NO Goblins when your turn is over. It is okay if a player has Fairies when his turn is over. As long as he has no Goblins, that player wins!

Rules for a 1-Player Game

The rules above are for a 2-4 player game. Goblins Drool, Fairies Rule! can be played by a single player, much like Solitaire. The rules for a 1-Player game stay mostly the same, with a few changes:

Setup

At the beginning of the game, deal yourself one random Goblin Star Card. Any un-dealt Goblin Star Cards are then set aside, out of the game. Shuffle the remaining cards, and then deal yourself 5 more Goblin Cards from the deck. You start with a total of 6 Goblins.
Then deal 6 Fairies from the deck to the “Fairy Circle,” in the middle of the play space. All remaining cards are then set aside, out of the game.

How To Play

1) Add – On each turn, add 1 of your cards to the Fairy Circle. You can add any 1 of your cards, including a Goblin or a Fairy.

2) Flip – All cards in the Fairy Circle which rhyme with the added card are flipped over: Goblins become Fairies and Fairies become Goblins. The added card does not flip over.

3) Take – After you finish flipping the cards over, you must take all cards from the Fairy Circle which match the Symbol of the card you added. (Example: all Frog Symbol cards when you added a Frog Symbol card.) You do not take back the card you added.

Star Cards are special. When you add a Star Card to the Fairy Circle, ALL other cards in the Circle are flipped over, regardless if they rhyme with the added card or not. You then take all cards with a Symbol that matches the card you added, as usual.

The game continues until you have NO Goblins when your turn is over. It is okay if you have Fairies when your turn is over. As long as you have no Goblins, you win! If you give up, then the Goblins will run amok and cause you endless amounts of mischief… You have been warned!

Special Challenge: each time you play, see if you can win in less turns than the time before.

Rhyming Guide

Here is the list of Goblin and Fairy names, split up into the 5 rhyming groups:

Dusty Dour,  Nappy Hour,  Needs a Shower,  Cringe and Cower, 
Petal Flower,  Sweet and Sour,  Dewdrop Shower,  Pixie Power

Chicken Pock,  Cobweb Shock,  Cuckoo Clock,  Old Man Sock, 
Candy Rock,  Poppy Smock,  Hickory Dock,  Goldie Lock

Gobble T. Goop,  Dastardly Droop,  Salamander Snoop,  Goblin Soup, 
Lemon Loop,  Rainbow Swoop,  Hula Hoop,  Vanilla Scoop

Earwax Stew,  Spidery Glue,  Full Moon Moo,  O.P. You, 
Baby Blue,  Willow Sue,  Morning Dew,  Penny Clue

Nervous Nelly,  Vermin Vermicelli,  He So Smelly,  Big Big Belly, 
Kokopelli,  Snowflake Shelly,  Lucky O’Kelly,  P.B. and Jelly

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Any questions? Picturing how the game plays will be even clearer once we are able to show you what the actual cards look like – including the names and symbols laid on top of the illustrations. If something in the rules seems amiss, confusing, or like a potential typo, please let us know.  And if you know friends and family members who would like to play a game like this, please pass this on to them and help our community grow. 🙂  Ready… set… discuss!

– David