Gelt Galore: Pocket Edition plain text rules

Quick Start


Place the turn tracker on the spot for the 1st night.

Each night, players roll the die to determine their category.

If you land on green (Jam-Packed), pink (Spin Class), or blue (Latke Lore):
Answer trivia correctly to draw a random Perk token and collect the card.

If you land on purple (Pot o' Gelt):
Follow the festive prompt.

After night 4, play the Shamash Shakeup round.

Collet Perks and Treats, and swap for the Perks you want, to score the most points!



What’s in the Box


84 Trivia cards

28 Action cards

Bonus Tater Tots deck

81 Perk tokens

38 Treat tokens

1 bag

1 turn tracker

1 die

1 rule booklet

Game Setup


Separate the cards out by category (Jam-Packed, Spin Class, Latke Lore, and Pot o' Gelt) and shuffle each deck.
The Tater Tots deck offers easier questions for younger players or those less familiar with the holiday. If playing with it, shuffle it and place it with the other decks.

Place the Perk tokens into the bag

Each player takes 2 Treat tokens.

Game Play


The player who most last made latkes starts the game. On their first turn, place the tracker token on the #1 spot of the night tracker. On each of this player's subsequent turns, move the tracker token one spot.

Each round, proceed clockwise around the players.

Nights 1–8


On your turn, roll the die. The player to your left draws a card from the corresponding deck and reads it aloud, as follows:

1 or נ (nun): Jam-Packed
2 or ג (gimmel): Pot o’ Gelt
3 or ה (hey): Latke Lore
4 or ש (shin): Spin Class

If you land on a trivia category (Jam-Packed, Latke Lore, Spin Class), answer the question correctly to draw a random Perk token and collect the card.
If playing with Tater Tots, draw from the dedicated deck any time that player's roll would land them on a trivia category.

Optional twist: if a player gets 3 questions wrong in a row, draw their next quetion from the Tater Tots deck.

If you land on Pot o' Gelt, follow the festive prompt.
If instructed to Pick a Perk, choose any token from the bag.

If instructed to Take a Treat, collect a Treat token.

If any player instructed to swap Perks has none, substitute 2 Treat tokens.

If a prompt does not apply, move on to the next player's turn.

When finished with an action card or if a player answers a question incorrectly, place the card in a discard pile beside its deck.

If a player's roll would land them on an empty deck, shuffle the deck's discard and draw from that.
If there are no more cards at all in a trivia category, draw from the Pot o’ Gelt deck instead.

Shamash Shakeup


After night #4, move the turn tracker to the shamash. During this round, each player rolls the die and performs the corresponding action:
1 or נ (nun): Swap Perks with any player
2 or ג (gimmel): Take 2 Treats
3 or ה (hey): Take 1 Treat
4 or ש (shin): Pass 1 Treat to the player on your right

At the end of this round, move the turn tracker to the #5 spot and play the remaining nights as before.

Game End


At the end of night #8, the game ends.

Scoring


To determine a winner, assign points as follows:
  • 2 points for every Perk token.
  • 1 point for every Treat token
    • Perk token bonuses:
    • 3–4 Perk tokens of the same design: 2 points
    • 5+ Perk tokens of the same design: 3 points
      • For example:
      • 3 latke tokens and 4 sufganiyot tokens = 4 points
      • 5 olive & feta tokens and 3 latke tokens = 5 points
      Optional twist: to maximize bonus points with 3–5 players, include only 2 Perk designs when setting up.

    Bonus Awards: 2 points each
    • Historian Award — most Latke Lore cards
    • Traditionalist Award — most Spin Class cards
    • Cultured Award — most Jam-Packed cards
        • In case of a tie, each tied player gets 1 point.


Play with Treats


Level up the fun by playing with real treats of your choosing!
  • Replace Treat tokens with chocolate gelt, or another uniform treat (like chocolate kisses, flavored suckers, etc.).
  • Replace Perk rokens with a selection of varied goodies, like fun-sized candy bars.
  • Skip the scoring: When the game ends, all players keep their goodies, making everyone a winner!

Variant Rules: Play with Treats


Prepare your goodies:
    Perks: place a varied selection of goodies of similar size, such as fun-sized candy bars in a variety of flavors, into a bag or other opaque container.

    Treats: offer a selection of smaller goodies, such as chocolate gelt, bonbons, hard candies, stickers, etc.
      Remember to keep all edible goodies wrapped until the end of the game.

Separate the cards out by category and shuffle each deck. Each player takes 2 Treat items to start.

The player who last made latkes starts the game. On their first turn, place the tracker token on the #1 spot of the Night Tracker card. On each of this player's subsequent turns, move the tracker token one spot.

Each round, proceed clockwise around the players.

Nights 1–8


On your turn, roll the die (or spin a dreidel, which offers the same odds!). The player to your left draws a card from the corresponding deck and reads it aloud, as follows:

1 or נ (nun): Jam-Packed
2 or ג (gimmel): Pot o’ Gelt
3 or ה (hey): Latke Lore
4 or ש (shin): Spin Class

If you land on a trivia category (Jam-Packed, Latke Lore, Spin Class), answer the question correctly to draw a random Perk item and collect the card.
If playing with Tater Tots, draw from the dedicated deck any time that player's roll would land them on a trivia category.
Optional twist: if a player gets 3 questions wrong in a row, draw their next quetion from the Tater Tots deck.
If you land on Pot o' Gelt, follow the festive prompt.
If instructed to Pick a Perk, choose any Perk item.

If instructed to Take a Treat, collect a Treat item.

If any player instructed to swap Perks has none, substitute 2 Treats.

If a prompt does not apply, move on to the next player's turn.

When finished with an action card or if a player answers a question incorrectly, place the card in a discard pile beside its deck.

If a player's roll would land them on an empty deck, shuffle the deck's discard and draw from that.
If there are no more cards at all in a trivia category, draw from the Pot o’ Gelt deck instead.

Shamash Shakeup


After night #4, move the turn tracker to the shamash. During this round, each player rolls the die and performs the corresponding action:
1 or נ (nun): Swap Perks with any player
2 or ג (gimmel): Take 2 Treats
3 or ה (hey): Take 1 Treat
4 or ש (shin): Pass 1 Treat to the player on your right

At the end of this round, move the turn tracker to the #5 spot and play the remaining nights as before.

Game End


At the end of night #8, the game ends.

In lieu of scoring, all players keep their perks and treats, making everyone a winner!

    Bonus Awards: 1 extra Treat each
    • Historian Award — most Latke Lore cards
    • Traditionalist Award — most Spin Class cards
    • Cultured Award — most Jam-Packed cards

Variant Rules: Play with Presents


For Perks: Ask each player to bring one wrapped present appropriate for any player.
    Alternatively, the host could provide one per player.
For Treats: offer a selection of small goodies, such as chocolate gelt, bonbons, hard candies, stickers, etc.
    Remember to keep all edible goodies wrapped until the end of the game.

Separate the cards out by category and shuffle each deck. To start, each player takes 1 wrapped present.

The player who last made latkes starts the game. On their first turn, place the tracker token on the #1 spot o the Night Tracker card. On each of this player's subsequent turns, move the tracker token one spot.

Each round, proceed clockwise around the players.

Nights 1–8


On your turn, roll the die (or spin a dreidel, which offers the same odds!). The player to your left draws a card from the corresponding deck and reads it aloud, as follows:

1 or נ (nun): Jam-Packed
2 or ג (gimmel): Pot o’ Gelt
3 or ה (hey): Latke Lore
4 or ש (shin): Spin Class

If you land on a trivia category (Jam-Packed, Latke Lore, Spin Class), answer the question correctly to collect the card and Pick a Perk.
If playing with Tater Tots, draw from the dedicated deck any time that player's roll would land them on a trivia category.
Optional twist: if a player gets 3 questions wrong in a row, draw their next quetion from the Tater Tots deck.

Whenever instructed to Pick a Perk, choose one action:
    Unwrap your present.

    Swap presents with any other player.
      Presents swapped may be wrapped or unwrapped.
    Keep the present you have.

If you land on Pot o' Gelt, follow the festive prompt.
    If a prompt does not apply, move on to the next player's turn.

When finished with an action card or if a player answers a question incorrectly, place the card in a discard pile beside its deck.

If a player's roll would land them on an empty deck, shuffle that deck's discard and draw from that.
    If there are no more cards at all in a trivia category, draw from the Pot o' Gelt deck instead.

Shamash Shakeup


After night #4, move the turn tracker to the shamash. During this round, each player rolls the die and performs the corresponding action:
1 or נ (nun): Swap Perks with any player
2 or ג (gimmel): Take 2 Treats
3 or ה (hey): Take 1 Treat
4 or ש (shin): Pass 1 Treat to the player on your right

At the end of this round, move the turn tracker to the #5 spot and play the remaining nights as before.

Game End


At the end of night #8, the game ends.

In lieu of scoring, all players keep their perks and treats, making everyone a winner!

    Bonus Awards: 1 extra Treat each
    • Historian Award — most Latke Lore cards
    • Traditionalist Award — most Spin Class cards
    • Cultured Award — most Jam-Packed cards

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