Prairie Dog Poker

Prairie Dog Poker

Five Cards. One Burrow. How Deep Can You Dig?

Welcome to Prairie Dog Poker, a print-and-play game that combines classic five-card draw poker with a little underground strategy!

In this game, you're a prairie dog building your very own burrow, one poker hand at a time.

Every hand you play determines the shape of the chamber you can dig. Some chambers earn points, others provide helpful bonuses, and every new room brings fresh opportunities — or a few unexpected challenges!

The goal is simple: build the best burrow you can before you run out of room!

How to Play

All you need is a printed game sheet, a pencil, and a standard deck of playing cards. You can even use the included digital card companion if you'd rather leave the deck in the box!

Draw Your Cards

Start with five cards, choose which ones to keep, and draw replacements for the others. Just like traditional five-card draw poker!

Build Your Burrow

Your final poker hand determines which chamber you can add to your burrow. Each chamber has its own shape, doorway locations, and point value or special ability.

Rotate and flip your chamber to find the perfect fit, connecting it to your existing underground home.

Make Some Tough Choices

Sometimes the strongest poker hand isn't the best choice!

You can choose a lesser hand contained within your cards if that chamber works better for your burrow.

Do you take the points now, or choose a room that gives you more opportunities later?

Keep Digging!

As your burrow grows, space becomes more valuable. A chamber that seemed perfect early in the game might become impossible to fit later.

Once you can no longer place another chamber, your digging days are done!

Add up your points and see how you did.

Play Your Way

Solo Play: Build your burrow at your own pace, experiment with different strategies, and try to beat your previous scores.

Multiplayer (2–4 Players): Compete with friends and family to see who can build the highest-scoring burrow. There's even an optional, limited betting system for players who want a little extra poker-night excitement!

What's Included?

For just $5, you'll receive the complete digital edition of Prairie Dog Poker, including:

Three difficulties — Easy, Medium, and Hard.

Full-color and printer-friendly black-and-white versions.

Complete solo and multiplayer rules.

A digital companion for drawing and managing your poker hands.

Everything is delivered digitally. No shipping, no waiting for a box, and no special components to purchase.

Just print, grab a pencil and a deck of cards, and play!

A Little Something Extra

I'm also offering two special reward options for this campaign.

$10 — Holiday Gift Edition

Everything in the Standard Edition, plus a printable holiday gift card to give to friends or family members with a link for the game. A fun little present for someone who enjoys card games, puzzles, or tabletop gaming!

$15 — Founding Burrowers (Only 10 Available!)

Want to leave your mark on the prairie?

Founding Burrowers will have their names permanently carved into the illustrated wooden title sign on every burrow sheet, in every copy of the game, forever!

About MSM Games

I'm an independent game creator who enjoys designing games that are affordable, accessible, and a little different.

Following My Five-Year Almanac, I'm excited to introduce Prairie Dog Poker as part of my MSM Games Basics line — smaller print-and-play games built around simple components, interesting decisions, and plenty of replayability.

These games are created at my own table, alongside a full-time job and family life, because I genuinely love making them.

My hope is to have Prairie Dog Poker ready for everyone to enjoy before Christmas. I think it would make a fun little holiday gift, or just something new to enjoy around the table with friends and family.

Thank You!

Whether you've supported one of my previous projects or you're discovering MSM Games for the first time, thank you for taking a look!

Every pledge helps me continue doing something I love: creating games and sharing them with people who enjoy playing them.

I can't wait to see the burrows you build!

Now grab your cards, sharpen your pencil, and let's get digging!

— Shane
MSM Games