Dog Park

Place the main game board in the center of the table. Position the round marker on the designated space at the top of the board. Shuffle the weather forecast cards, reveal one for each designated space at the top of the board, and return the rest to the box. Shuffle the expert canine cards and place one face-up on each designated space on the right side of the board. Shuffle the dog cards, place half of the deck face-down on the 'Dog Deck' space, and return the rest to the box. Fill the 'Field' with dog cards according to the number of players (3 for 1-3 players, 4 for 4 players). Place all resource tokens (balls, sticks, treats, toys) near the park board within reach of all players. Each player chooses a color and takes their player board, bidding disc, walker pawn, and reputation marker (placing it on space 5 of the reputation track). Players receive two sticks, two balls, one treat, and one toy. The area below the player board is their kennel. Shuffle objective cards (standard and advanced separately), deal one of each to each player, who then chooses one to keep and discards the other. Each player receives one of each helper card. The first player is chosen randomly and receives the first walker token.

The goal of Dog Park is to earn the most reputation points over four rounds. Reputation is gained by walking dogs, achieving expert canine awards (by having the most dogs of a certain category in your kennel), and fulfilling objective cards. At the end of the game, the player with the highest reputation wins.

Dog Park is played over four rounds, each divided into four phases: 1. Recruitment: Players bid for two dogs from the 'Field' to add to their kennel. Bidding is done simultaneously using bidding discs, with the highest bidder winning the dog and paying reputation. If there's a tie, the player whose pawn is further ahead on the track wins. If a player cannot bid, they receive a stick and a ball for the next round. After two dogs are recruited by each player, the 'Field' is refilled. 2. Selection: Players choose up to three dogs from their kennel to walk in the park. Each chosen dog has a walking cost in resources that must be paid. If a player cannot pay, they can exchange two resources of one type for one of another. If a player cannot pay any resource, they skip the walking phase but receive a stick and a ball for the next round. 3. Walking: Players move their walker pawns along the park paths, collecting resources or activating special actions (examine, swap, block). Movement is 1-4 spaces forward. If a player lands on an occupied space, they can either pay 1 reputation to gain the space's benefits or skip them. When reaching a crossroads, players choose a path. When leaving the park, players claim departure bonuses. 4. Round Evaluation: Players gain 2 reputation for each dog walked and lose 1 reputation for each dog in their kennel that was not walked. All walked tokens are removed from dogs, and pawns return to their player boards. The weather forecast card for the just-finished round is flipped, and a new location bonus card is revealed and its resources placed on the board. The round marker moves to the next round, and the first walker token passes to the next player clockwise.

At the end of the fourth round, final scoring occurs. Players add up their reputation from: the reputation track, activated dog abilities (those that trigger at final scoring), expert canine awards (for having the most dogs in each category), fulfilled objective cards, and 1 reputation for every 5 remaining resources. The player with the highest total reputation wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most valuable expert canine award wins. If still tied, players share the victory.

The game concludes after the fourth round, following the final scoring phase. The player who has accumulated the most reputation points is declared the winner.