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Under the scorching savanna sun, the animals engage in a strange race every year. Everyone competes simultaneously on the same track: cheetahs against cheetahs, zebras against zebras, rhinos against rhinos, meerkats against meerkats, and turtles against turtles. The racetrack repeatedly leads across a raging river that can only be crossed with the help of the tree trunks floating there. But those who don't pay attention run the risk of drifting down the waterfall...
Game Objective
Everyone plays as 5 animals crossing the river on tree trunks. The goal is to bring 3 animals to the finish line and score the most points.
In Whitewater, you each play as 5 different animals (cheetahs, zebras, rhinos, meerkats, and turtles) competing against each other in various races at the same time. The route repeatedly leads across a raging river with floating tree trunks. You can only cross the river using these tree trunks. The game ends when someone has finished the race with 3 of their 5 animals or when there are no more tree trunk tiles left to fill the river. The winner is the player who scores the most points for finished races.
Game Setup
Choose a color, take your animals and cards. Adjust tree trunk tiles based on the player count and reveal the first tiles.
Each player chooses a color and takes the corresponding game components:
- 5 Animals (wooden discs)
- 5 Race cards (animal cards)
- (1 Team card)
Return any excess materials to the box.
Place your team card in front of you and place your animals on the corresponding spaces. Agree on who goes first. This player also places the starting marker on their team card. Take your five race cards into your hand.
The River Course
Find the tree trunk tile with the red arrow and place it at the top end of the river. Shuffle the remaining tree trunk tiles and place them face-down as a draw pile next to the game board.
If you are playing with fewer than 6 players, remove some tree trunk tiles blindly from the game:
| Number of Players | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
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| Removed Tiles | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
Draw the top four tree trunk tiles from the pile and place them in the river below the tile with the red arrow. All tiles must always be oriented so that the arrow points downstream. Place the placement sheet at the end of the track and get the die ready. Now you are ready to start!
Gameplay
Every round, simultaneously choose a card face down. The starting player reveals theirs and performs the action (move animal or card action). All revealed cards remain in place until all have been played.
Whitewater is played in rounds. In each round, you all simultaneously choose a card from your hand and place it face-down in front of you. The player with the starting marker reveals their card first.
Each race card shows an animal. Above it is its number, which also indicates how far it can move. Below the picture is an action. After revealing your card, you must decide whether to move the corresponding animal forward or perform the action.
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When you reveal the Cheetah card, you must either move your cheetah 5 spaces forward or move the starting marker to another team card of your choice.
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When you reveal the Zebra card, you must either move your zebra 4 spaces forward or shift all tree trunk tiles one position downstream. To do this, take the top tree trunk tile from the draw pile, reveal it, and push it into the river from the top. At the bottom end with the waterfall, another tile is pushed out over the waterfall. Place this on a discard pile. If there are animals on the pushed-out tile, place them back on their team card.
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When you reveal the Rhino card, you must either move your rhino 3 spaces forward or roll the die. The die result determines which of your animals you must move forward at its usual speed (for example, the cheetah by 5 spaces, the zebra by 4, and so on). If you roll the sun, move any one of your animals forward by 1 space.
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When you reveal the Meerkat card, you must either move your meerkat 2 spaces forward or pick up all your revealed cards back into your hand.
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When you reveal the Turtle card, you must move either your turtle, your rhino, or your meerkat forward by 1 space.
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After you have moved your animal or performed an action, it is the next player's turn in clockwise order. They reveal their card, move their corresponding animal or perform an action, and so on, until everyone has had a turn.
Your revealed cards remain face-up in front of you. You place additional cards on top, forming a pile. You may only ever choose cards from your hand, so you must play a different card each round until you either perform the "take cards into hand" action or have no more cards in your hand. In both cases, you pick up all your discarded cards into your hand and have all cards available again in the next round.
After everyone has moved an animal or performed an action, the round ends. In the next round, the player with the starting marker reveals their card first again.
Important: If you play a card with an animal that has already finished its race, you may no longer move it, but must choose the other action instead. If you play the turtle card, the meerkat or the rhino may have to move forward by 1 space.
The Icons
- +1, +2, +3: When your animal lands on this space, you move it forward the stated number of spaces additionally.
- Move starting marker: Move the starting marker to a team card of your choice (including your own). This only determines who starts the next round. Attention: The starting marker can be moved multiple times within a round!
- Die: You must roll the die and move the rolled animal (e.g., 5 = cheetah by 5 spaces, 4 = zebra by 4 spaces). If you roll the sun, you move any one of your animals forward by 1 space. Chain reactions are possible.
- Cards to hand: Take all your race cards back into your hand.
- Tree trunk tile: Push a new tree trunk tile into the river from the top. The bottommost tile is removed from the game. Animals that were on this tile must start the race from the beginning and are returned to the team card.
Additional Information on Movement
Animals may only move towards the finish line. An animal that you bring into play from your team card moves onto the first space behind the starting line with its first step.
To finish the race, an animal must cross the finish line (excess movement is forfeited). It is then placed on the placement sheet. Each animal species has its own podium. The first animal of a species to reach the finish line is placed on 1st place of the corresponding podium, and so on. The numbers in the stars indicate the points for the respective places.
Important: Only one animal can stand on each space! An animal that ends its movement on another animal immediately moves forward to the next free space.
End of the Game
The game ends at the end of the round in which someone brings their third animal to the finish line, or when the tree trunk tiles run out. The winner is the player with the most points.
All animals of the same species compete against each other. The game ends at the end of the round in which at least one player has moved the third of their 5 animals across the finish line. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins. In the event of a tie, the winner among the tied players is the one who placed better with the turtle; if no one has, the meerkat decides, and so on.
Alternative End
The game can also end if you need to push a tree trunk tile into the river but there are none left. In this case, still push all tree trunk tiles in the river one position further and remove the last one. The round is played to the end with fewer than 5 tree trunk tiles.