HOW TO PLAY SHORTCUT™

To win the game both of a players pieces must be in the center rectangular square at the end of the path. Everyone gets two pawns. A minimum of 3 or 4 players is recommended for the game, but you can play with two. The game comes with enough pieces for four players.

The game starts with a question asked of Player 1 by the person on his or her left from a deck of prepared cards that come with the game. Players can also make their own questions and answers by using the blank cards that come with the deck. This can be a lot of fun, because the game can become about any subject you choose! Contact us at stiffgrits@interlync.com to be emailed a free template to enter your own questions on for print-out.

If Player 1 gets the question right they keep the card. If they don’t get it, they assign the question to any other player they want, who then has a chance to get the card. If no-one gets, it is put on the bottom of the deck for later, or placed in a discard pile. Player 1 then rolls two dice and moves one piece the full amount or both pieces according to each die. Before rolling, he or she can use any cards they have accumulated to buy certain advantages.

1. They can spend 1 card for the ability to double their roll if it is an odd number if they choose.

2. They can spend 2 cards to keep themselves safe from being bumped until it is their turn again.

3. They can spend 3 cards to take the diagonal shortcut if they so choose for their upcoming roll. They can split that shortcut between pieces if they want. 5 cards allows two shortcuts to be taken if it’s possible on that roll. The spent cards are “turned in” and retired for the rest of the game.

BUMPING - GRAY SQUARES ARE “SAFE”

If a piece lands on an already occupied square, the piece already there is bumped back to the previous corner. But if it’s a gray square or both of a players pieces are on it, they cannot be bumped. You can only get bumped once before your next turn.

If a player should land on a yellow square, they are automatically bumped back to the previous corner. Turn passes to the left, and players move their pieces clockwise around the board until they turn into the “home stretch”.

The first of a players pieces that makes it into the stretch needs to roll the exact number of squares remaining to get into the winning square at the end of the path. A players remaining piece does not have to be an exact roll, and will finish and win the game as long as the number is equal to or greater than the remaining squares necessary. Thanks for playing SHORTCUT™!