Smečka (Amarok CZ)

Winter has arrived in the frozen forest, and wolf packs are waging a relentless battle for survival and the right to bring a new generation into the world. The card game Smečka offers a fast-paced, highly interactive game full of tactical maneuvering, reading your opponents, and unexpected twists. Your goal is to avoid dangerous traps, strike at the right moment, and lead your pack to victory by uncovering the sacred trail of the wolf spirit named Amarok, the forefather of all wolves.The game is based on an original concept of information management and a dynamic handicap. The deeper you venture into the forest and the more successful you become, the greater the challenge that lies ahead. With each round you win, the way you hold your cards changes: at first you see both, after your first victory you know only one, and after two wins you can’t see any of your cards—only your opponents know them. Thanks to the ability to take cards not only from the table or the deck but also directly from your opponents’ hands, there’s constant tension at the table.This game will appeal to families with children as well as groups of friends looking for a fast-paced, easy-to-learn-but-clever game with minimal downtime and plenty of mischief. In addition to the classic free-for-all battle, the rules also include a full-fledged team mode for 4 or 6 players divided into pairs, where any coordination between teammates is prohibited.

At the start of a round, each player receives two forest cards, and two more cards are placed face-up in the center of the table to form a shared pool called the river. Players take their cards into their hands in a manner corresponding to their current number of wins: newcomers see both of their cards face-to-face; after one win, they see only one; and after two wins, they hold both cards face-up toward the other players. The active player then chooses exactly one card from any of the four locations—from their hand, from the river, blindly from the shared deck, or directly from another player’s hand. They immediately place the chosen card face up in front of them; played cards are not replenished during the round.
Forest cards bear not only point values but also special symbols that immediately affect the action on the table. The Season Change symbol instantly flips the objective card, thereby turning the entire condition for winning the round upside down (from the highest total to the lowest, or vice versa). The Claw symbol allows a player to flick any other card in play and tuck it under the deck—an ideal way to weaken an opponent or get rid of the treacherous Wolf Trap, which prevents a player from winning that round if it remains face-up in front of them at the end. A special event is “Pairing”: if any player manages to lay two cards with the heart symbol in front of them, the round ends immediately with that player’s instant victory, regardless of the total values.
If no instant victory occurs through pairing, the round ends when every player has two cards laid out in front of them. Everyone adds up the values of their cards and compares them to the current side of the objective card—if the Wolf Pack symbol is shown, the player with the highest total wins; if the Lone Wolf symbol is shown, the player with the lowest total wins (provided they do not have a trap in front of them). The winner moves their score card down one level on the score track. The first player to achieve three victories uncovers the sacred trail of the forefather Amarok and becomes the overall winner of the game.

Game Contents:

• 1 Objective Card (with a wolf pack symbol on the front and a lone wolf symbol on the back)
• 22 Forest Cards (11 blue coniferous forest cards and 11 red deciduous forest cards)
• 6 Score Tracks
• 6 Overview Cards
• Game Rules