Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Varmints is a head-to-head contest between two crowds of critters as they race to devour all the trash in the neighborhood. Populate three alleys with fluffy, adorable pests and use them to raid the bins on the other side of the block.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Majority
Compete to have the strongest presence in areas that award control or points.
Card Play Conflict Resolution
Resolve confrontations by choosing and comparing cards rather than only statistics.
Hand Management
Time and sequence a limited hand of cards to preserve future options.
Take That
Direct negative effects at selected opponents.
Read the full game description
Varmints is a head-to-head contest between two crowds of critters as they race to devour all the trash in the neighborhood. Populate three alleys with fluffy, adorable pests and use them to raid the bins on the other side of the block. Defend your own bins with precise critter placement and tricky abilities. Call for backup and boost your plucky pests to outmaneuver the competition. Swoop, sneak, and scurry your way to dumpster-diving dominance, and may the fullest belly win! A game of Varmints is organized into a series of shared turns, each consisting of a Day Phase and a Night Phase. During the Day Phase, players trade actions back-and-forth, playing one Varmint card from hand at a time. Varmint cards are placed in lanes (called "alleys") in order to defend their own Trash Bins while attempting to swipe Scraps from the opponent. During the Night Phase, the strategically positioned Varmint cards face off in individual alleys, and the quicker critter wins, removing one Scrap from the defending Trash Bin. The game continues through cycles of Day and Night as alleys swarm with critters and scraps start to disappear from Trash Bins throughout the neighborhood. Empty all of your opponent's Trash Bins before they empty yours, and you win the game!