How To Play: Yellowstone

Overview

If you’ve ever wanted to wrangle bison and outsmart your friends in a board game, Yellowstone is your jam. I’ve spent enough hours puzzling over maps with my friends to need a snack break. In this guide, I’ll give you an outline of the rules and share the best strategies for snagging a win. Trust me, if I can win after my last snack break, so can you!

What’s in the box

• 1 Game board
• 5 Player boards
• 80 Trail markers
• 60 Wildlife tokens
• 45 Park cards
• 30 Visitor meeples
• 15 Special action tiles
• 5 Reference cards
• 1 Rulebook
• 1 First player token

How To Play Yellowstone: Rules Summary

Game Setup: Start Your Yellowstone Adventure

1. First, lay out the main board in the center of the table. Double check it isn’t upside down. (Trust me.)
2. Each player picks a color and grabs their ranger pawns, matching tokens, and player board.
3. Shuffle the park cards and deal three to each player. Place the rest in a face-down deck.
4. Put wildlife tokens face down in their marked spots. Hide the bear from your cat.
5. Everyone takes 2 starting resources. Put the rest within reach in a supply pile.

Gameplay: Explore, Collect, Score

1. On your turn, pick one: move your ranger, collect resources, or play a park card.
2. Whenever your ranger lands on a new space, flip a wildlife token and, if possible, collect it. If it’s a bison, act like you meant to do that.
3. Use resources to complete park cards. Completed cards go face up—these mean more points.
4. After you go, refill tokens, draw back up to three cards, and pass to the next player.

Winning: Claim Victory Like a Wolf Grabs a Squirrel

1. When someone completes their seventh park card, that triggers the last round. Let everyone else finish one more turn. Yes, even Steve.
2. Add up your park card points, bonus tokens, and any secret goals. Most points wins. Everybody howls (optional, but highly encouraged).

Special Rules & Conditions: Don’t Get Lost in the Geyser

1. If two rangers land in the same spot, they share the resource, but must swap one card. Rules are rules!
2. Bears block adjacent paths for one round after being found, so plan your route or risk going around the long way.
3. If you ever run out of resources, you can take a wild token, but lose two points at the end.

Now you know How To Play yellowstone, and can explain the rules at the table while pretending you didn’t read them five minutes ago. Have fun exploring, collecting, and maybe even winning (no promises though)!

Best Yellowstone Strategies

Mastering Park Route Planning in Yellowstone

Choose Your Starting Point Wisely

Your starting park matters. Always look for areas with lots of wildlife icons nearby. This lets you grab bonuses fast and annoy your friends even faster.

Connect Key Parks Early

Create a path that links popular parks before others beat you to it. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself blocked and stuck with a very boring trail.

1. Plot a route that snags rare park bonuses first.
2. Move swiftly—slow players lose prime spots.
3. Try to anticipate rivals’ moves and block their connections.

Maximize Efficiency

I keep my route as short and direct as possible. This saves me moves, so I can claim other goodies. Every move counts in Yellowstone! For more tips search ‘How To Play yellowstone.’

Mastering The Critters: Wildlife Token Management in Yellowstone

Snatch The Best Tokens Early

First, rush to grab rare wildlife tokens as soon as you spot them. Everyone at my table fought like grizzly bears for those elusive wolves!

1. Check the board for rare animal spots each turn.
2. Plan your moves to reach them before your friends do.

Balance Sets For Points

Next, don’t get greedy with just one type. Instead, spread your collection. I once chased only bison and lost big!

1. Pick different animal tokens when you can.
2. Maximize points by making complete sets.

Block Your Rivals

Finally, keep an eye on what others collect. If you see someone eyeing that last eagle, swoop in and take it. It’s ruthless, but hilarious.

1. Track your friends’ collections every turn.
2. Deny them the tokens they need for a set.

Wildlife token management is a big part of How To Play yellowstone if you want to win. Trust me, managing your critters smartly can change the whole game!

Master the Art of Card Drafting in Yellowstone

When you want to rule the park, you need to nail your card drafts. After several nights failing miserably, I learned a few tricks! Here’s how to ace this in “How To Play yellowstone.”

Know What You Need

1. Always check your current park goals.
2. Grab cards that help you finish those goals first.

Watch Your Friends

1. Notice the types of cards they pick.
2. Block them from getting key cards if it helps you more.

Don’t Ignore Combos

1. Combine cards that give bonus points together.
2. Plan ahead so your cards work as a team.

Adapt Every Round

1. Stay flexible; sometimes you have to switch plans fast.
2. Draft for value if your park route changes.

Ready to Roam and Rule Yellowstone?

After getting trounced by my buddy Gary at Yellowstone (he claims it’s all skill—I claim it was pure luck), I learned a few things. Park route planning, wildlife tokens, and card drafting make this game way more fun than I thought. If you follow these tips, you might just avoid ending up in last place like me! Just remember: keep your eyes on those wild tokens and always plan a backup route. Now, go impress your friends with your knowledge on How To Play yellowstone. And if you beat Gary, tell him Jamie finally sent some competition!

Want to know what we think of Yellowstone? Read our detailed review of Yellowstone here