VESPAW ~ GAME RULES

2-4 players, 15 min/player, ages 12+

THE STORY

Welcome to the vibrant urban neighborhood of the late 20th century, where you will don the helmet of a fast and friendly Vespaw Delivery Company courier. Your mission? Race around on your trusty scooter in a bid to earn the most money. Admittedly, it's a ruff job, but fear not! Buttercup, the neighborhood's beloved old stray dog, is here to teach you some New Tricks. Will you become the ultimate Vespaw courier and give Buttercup the loving home she has always wanted?

GOAL

Earn the most money by the end of the game.

GAME OVERVIEW

The game takes place over 3 rounds. During each round, you will spend company resources (white cubes) and your own money to move around the board picking up and delivering packages. Players earn different rewards depending on how fast they can complete 5 deliveries each round. NOTE: You can win all 3 rounds and still lose the game. A key feature of the game is Buttercup’s New Tricks. These are special powers you may activate enabling you to deliver packages with far greater efficiency. It is possible to activate 2 New Tricks simultaneously, creating exciting and surprising combinations.

SETUP STEPS (in this order)

Place the board in the center of the table.
Pick a color, green, blue, orange, or pink. Sit near your color as shown on the board. Decide on the first player. SUGGESTION: whichever player most recently pet a dog. Give the golden fire hydrant to the first player. Give each player the components that match their color; 1 scooter pawn, 5 delivery tokens, 1 bone, and 1 paw. Place your scooter on the street block on the board in front of you with the symbol of a scooter that matches your color. Place your delivery tokens, your bone, and your paw on the spaces provided on the board in front of you.
Give each player 5 white cubes and 2 money tracker rings. Place the 5 white cubes on the board in front of you in the white cube supply spaces provided. Place your money trackers so that you begin the game with $30.
Select, either randomly or deliberately, 6 New Trick tiles. Shuffle and randomly place them face down on each of the 6 New Trick tile spaces on the board; 3 of 1 type and 3 of the other.
Shuffle the deck of Bonus Challenge Cards. Draw a number of cards equal to the number of players +2 and lay them in a row, face down, above or below the board. Set this deck aside where it can be accessed later.
Shuffle the deck of Pickup & Delivery (P&D) cards and deal each player a deck of 18 cards. Return the remaining cards to the box. Keeping the delivery address side down, place your deck on the delivery deck space on the board in front of you.
Make a row of 5 cards in front of you by drawing from your P&D deck. Keep delivery address sides down. You may set aside up to 8 cards to draw from when setting up the final round.
Place a delivery token, package side up, on each of the 5 matching address spaces on the board.
Place any unused pieces back in the box.
Whichever player goes last may now place Buttercup on any block on the board that does not have a package. NOTE: Placing Buttercup in this way only happens when setting up the first round.

GAMEPLAY

Highlights

The game consists of 3 rounds, each with multiple turns.
Players must deliver 5 packages each round.
Players must pick up or deliver at least 1 package each turn.
Rounds end when all players complete all 5 of their deliveries.
Players gain money and other rewards based on how fast they complete their deliveries.
There are 3 other ways to gain money: Unspent white cubes, Bonus Challenge cards and your paw marker.

Components & Features:

Pickup & Delivery (P&D) Cards: The pickup address is on one side, and the delivery address is hidden on the other, revealed only when a package is picked up.
Pickup & Delivery (P&D) Tokens: Two-sided tokens with the package pickup symbol on one side, and the delivery location symbol on the other.
Your scooter & Buttercup: you may pick up a package with one and deliver with either.
White Cubes (Vespaw Delivery company resources): Spend to move your scooter and Buttercup, or activate specific New Tricks.
Subways: You may move between matching stations for 1 movement. Subway stations are only on blocks with stairs.
New Tricks: Special powers you must reserve with your bone or paw to activate.
Bones: You may move onto New Trick tiles to reserve special abilities.
Paw Markers: You may move onto New Trick tiles after a bone is moved there first.
The Park: Claim rewards here with your paw based on how fast you deliver all your packages.
Bonus Challenge Cards: Gained at the end of rounds 1 and 2.

Game actions:

Move:

Spend 1 white cube or $3 to move either your scooter or Buttercup 2 blocks or 1 block each, ignore intersections.
Spend up to your white cube supply before picking up your first package each turn. NOTE: Delivering packages does not limit your use of white cubes.
Spend money to continue moving after picking up your first package that turn. No limit. If you spend to $0 all players gain $10.

Pick Up Packages:

While on a block with 1 of your package side-up tokens, flip its delivery card to reveal its delivery address. NOTE: Delivery addresses remain hidden until that package is picked up. Flip this token to its delivery (map pointer) side and place it on that delivery address on the board.
When moving to a block with a P&D token, you must resolve that token before moving on. However, when your turn begins while on a block with a P&D token, you may choose to move first.
You may resolve multiple packages and deliveries on the same block in any order you decide.
You may pick up a package with either your scooter or Buttercup and deliver that package with either.

Deliver Packages:

While on a block with 1 or more delivery (map pointer) side-up tokens, place these tokens on their delivery cards. These are completed deliveries.

Reveal New Tricks 1 at a time (see ‘WHAT ARE NEW TRICKS?’ below):

Reveal 1 New Trick at the end of the first 3 turns of round 1. Reveal 1 New Trick at the end of the first 3 turns of round 2.

Reserve New Tricks with your bone:

To reserve New Trick abilities, move your bone onto any revealed New Trick tile. You may do this at any time during your turn, up to once per turn.

Reserve New Tricks with your paw:

You can reserve a New Trick with your paw as well; however, you may only move your paw immediately, in turn order, after any bone (including your own) is moved to that New Trick first. You may move your paw in this way during another player's turn. No limit.

Activate New Tricks:

Perform any New Trick that you’ve reserved with your bone or paw, at any time during your turn. Some New Tricks cost an additional white cube or $3.

Gain money with your paw:

Gain $1 when an opponent completes at least 1 delivery while performing a New Trick you've reserved with your paw.

Claim End-of-turn Rewards:

Gain money when your turn ends with your scooter and/or Buttercup on a block that matches the requirements of 1 or both of your Bonus Challenge cards. (See Appendix)

Claim End-of-round Rewards:

After completing all your deliveries that round, move your paw to any available reward space in the middle of the board.
Resolve these rewards after all players complete all their deliveries (see ‘END OF ROUND STEPS ’ below).

IMPORTANT: If all other players have completed their deliveries, you must complete your remaining deliveries in a single turn.

WHAT ARE NEW TRICKS?

New Tricks are special powers Buttercup may ’teach’ you. You may reserve New Tricks with your bone or your paw.
Some New Tricks unlock new routes and are marked with the infinity symbol (∞); others offer specific actions but cost 1 white cube or $3.
See the appendix below for details on each New Trick.

END OF ROUND STEPS (in this order)

Gain $2 for each unspent white cube.
Flip the Bonus Challenge cards face up.
Repeat ‘SETUP STEPS’ 7 & 8 above.
Gain rewards from the middle of the board according to the placement of your paw:

Money
Bonus Challenge card (picked in winning order).
First player token

Move your spent white cubes, P&D tokens, bone, and paw back to your supply. (Leave your scooter and Buttercup where they are on the board.)
Return your completed P&D cards back to the box.
After setting up round 3 you will have 3 P&D cards remaining. Return these cards to the box.

END OF GAME

After round 3, move your paw to the highest dollar reward space in the center of the board.
Gain that money and any Bonus Challenge money you earned during your last turn.
The player with the most money wins.
Tiebreakers (in this order): Unspent bone, unspent paw, most unspent white cubes, most money earned from Bonus Challenge cards that turn.
In case of an unbreakable tie, those players share the win and are each adopted by Buttercup.

APPENDIX

NEW TRICKS

See ‘Reserve New Tricks with your bone’ and ‘WHAT ARE NEW TRICKS?’ above for details on reserving New Tricks.

Spend 1 white cube or $3 to place Buttercup on any block. Resolve any of your pickups or deliveries on that block.

Spend 1 white cube or $3 to move Buttercup, 1 block at a time, any direct path towards your scooter. Resolve each of your pickup or delivery tokens you encounter, 1 block at a time.

You may move either your scooter or Buttercup off the board at the end of any street and re-enter at the end of any other street. This costs 1 movement each time you perform this action.

Spend 1 white cube or $3 to move either your scooter or Buttercup up to the full length of any 1 street in any 1 direction. Resolve each of your pickup or delivery tokens you encounter, 1 block at a time.

You may enter any A or B subway and exit from any A or B subway. This costs 1 movement each time you perform this action.

Move through subways an unlimited number of times without spending any movements.

Spend 1 white cube or $3 to move your scooter and/or Buttercup up to 3 blocks.

You may move any scooter on the board as if it is your own. NOTE: Once you move another player’s scooter you may no longer use your own scooter for the rest of that turn. At the end of that turn, hand those scooters to those players. They may now place them anywhere on the board.

BONUS CHALLENGE CARDS

Pick 1 Bonus Challenge card at the end of round 1 and round 2. Cards are picked, 1 player at a time, according to the reward space you claimed in the middle of the board.

Bonus Challenge cards offer an ongoing opportunity to gain money at the end of each turn. Each card shows a block type. When *your scooter or Buttercup ends a turn on a block shown on your Bonus Challenge card, gain $1 for each match. FOR EXAMPLE: If, at the end of a turn, both your scooter and Buttercup match 1 of your Bonus Challenge cards but only Buttercup matches your other Bonus Challenge card, you gain $3 that turn. Alternatively, you may flip a Bonus Challenge card face down at any time during your turn, forfeiting its end-of-turn benefit in exchange for 1 immediate block movement on the board. Reset this card at the end of your turn by flipping it face up again. Below are examples of each type of card:

End your turn with your scooter and/or Buttercup on any block adjacent to this building shape.

End your turn with your scooter and/or Buttercup on any block on Akita Ave.

End your turn with your scooter and/or Buttercup on any block adjacent to either building shape.

End your turn with your scooter and/or Buttercup on any block adjacent to either subway.

End your turn with your scooter and/or Buttercup with your scooter and Buttercup on the same street to gain $2.

End your turn with your scooter and/or Buttercup on a block along any edge of the board.

End your turn with your scooter and/or Buttercup on a block with at least 1 other scooter or starting block.

End your turn with your scooter and/or Buttercup adjacent to any building shape whose address is between 1 and 7.

*When using the INVASION OF THE SCOOTER SNATCHERS New Trick, it is the location of your Scooter and not another player’s scooter that counts when resolving your Bonus Challenge cards at the end of your turn.