About Ninjitsu!
Ninjitsu! is a stand-alone sequel to Scuttle! by Peter C. Hayward, with art by Kelly Jo, and the second game in Jellybean Games’ Treasure Hunters series. You lead a ninja house (squirrels and birds included) collecting treasures and hiding secrets. The core is the same as Scuttle!: play cards as treasure for points or for their action, and be first to 21 points. The twist is the secret. Any card can be played face down into your collection, where it still counts, but opponents may spend a turn stealing it, and some secrets are booby-trapped.
A game takes five to ten minutes and the box says ages 6 and up, so it works as a family filler as well as a light bluffing game between adults. The deck is 41 cards and can be shuffled together with Scuttle! or Brains! for a bigger mix. Jellybean Games offers the rulebook and card sheets free on its print-and-play page; the files carry a plain copyright notice, so the download button goes there.
How to play in one minute
- Shuffle the 41 cards and deal four to each player; the player in the darkest clothing starts.
- On your turn do one of three things: draw two cards; play one card, either for its action (into the discard pile), as a treasure (face up in front of you) or as a secret (face down in front of you); or steal a face-down secret from another player and turn it face up in your own collection.
- Lightning-bolt cards are one-off actions, gear cards have ongoing effects while in play, bomb cards are traps that go off against whoever steals them, and key cards are worth more while they stay hidden.
- Cards without a number (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Joker) cannot be treasures and are discarded if stolen.
- If you have 21 points or more in treasures and secrets at the start of your turn (17 in a 5-player game), you win. Declare a win wrongly and you skip a turn.
What’s in the PDF
- Rulebook: 7 pages in colour with icon explanations, a sample game and a quick-reference page.
- Cards: 7 Letter sheets in colour, 41 cards; print on card stock and cut. Sleeves with an opaque backer keep face-down secrets secret.
In the PDF
- Rulebook (7 pages) with a quick-reference page
- Card sheets (7 pages, Letter): 41 cards