Premise:

Ad-Man! is a game where you take on the role of an advertising pitch-person, using cartoon mascots to collect product accounts. The winner has the most Product cards at the end of the game.

Product cards have a symbol, and only mascots with that same symbol are of use in winning the account for that product. Mascot cards have three symbols, each with a numerical value; they’re best for some products, but can be used for others, where that mascot has some appeal.

Setup:

Shuffle both decks; deal 4 (red) Mascot cards to each player. The dealer turns the first (yellow) Product card over. The player to the dealers’ left begins. Thereafter, the winner of a round flips the next Product card over.

Gameplay Mechanics:

Players take turns playing mascots with the appropriate symbol, vying to have the highest accumulated number value.

Play is incremental; players add more Mascot cards until no more can be played in that round. If a player cannot play a card, but won’t secure the Product card, they are out of the round.

A player may “stand” if they believe another player cannot meet or beat their total. If the standee is correct, they win the card. If they are incorrect, they are automatically out that round.

Players may play a Trump card when the card indicates it can be used.

If a player has put any card into play during the round, at the conclusion they draw 1 fresh Mascot card. Players have the option to pass play at the beginning of a round, and may draw 2 Mascot cards. Players may only have 6 Mascot cards in their hand. Discarded Mascot cards are eventually reshuffled into a new draw pile.

Tie-Breaking:

In a round, the winner has the most points in the relevant top row symbol. If at the end of the game, a non-tied player picks a Product card from their own pile as a tiebreaker.

The player on the right played Cartoon Men. The Player on the left answered with Tiger; now both players have 4 points. Right player upped the ante with Vulture, giving her a total of 7, to which left player drops out of that round, unable to meet or beat 7 points. Right player wins the turn, and both players refresh their hands with 1 card. Right player is now down one less card, but one product up!

Here's a video I made to help cement the rules quickly, which is used on the Kickstarter page: