3 to 4 Headed Monster
3 to 4 Headed Monster Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components and Setup
3 to 4 players – 3 to 4 minutes per player
- 4 Role Tiles/cards – for 3 players, remove one of the "Dangerous" [volcano] heads before playing. Deal one to each player, who should look at it, but may not show it to any other player.
- 1 Trek Tile/card – (depicting an indecisive monster) Place this in the center of the table.
- 12 Danger cards (with values from 1 through 8, and X) – for 3 players, remove one of the 4, 5, and 7 cards before playing. Deal 3 cards to each player as their hand. Like the Role cards, players may look at their own but may not show their hand to other players. If you have the "Peaceful" [tree] Role and you are dealt 3 of the most dangerous cards (1, 2, 3, and X), reveal your role and re-deal all the Role/Danger cards.
Note on the X card (printed sidebar): The card that isn't numbered 1-8 behaves as if it is either a value zero card when accompanying a high card, or a value 10 card if accompanied by a low card!
Gameplay
Each round, players will discuss which two players should be in charge of the monster's legs for this round. Once two players have agreed with each other, they play one card each to the center of the table, face down. This does not require the other players' assent. Once the agreement has been reached and the two cards are played, discussion ends. The two who played cards choose one of the remaining players to validate the played cards. The chosen player shuffles the two cards so he doesn't know who played which, and looks at them. Then, without revealing them, he places them on the side of the Trek card that indicates their combined value. If there is a fourth player, that player may now look at a random card from the hand of anyone of their choice.
Now check to see if one of these conditions have been met:
- If there are 4 cards on the Peaceful (9+) side of the Trek card, the game ends and the player with the Peaceful Role card wins.
- If there are 6 cards on the Dangerous (8-) side of the Trek card, the players with the Dangerous role cards win.
- If there are 6 cards in play, but neither of the prior conditions have been met, the game goes to the "Fork in the Road" (see below).
- If none of the above three conditions have been met yet, play an additional round.
Fork in the Road
If 6 cards have been played, but a winner has not been determined, a final round is played as above, except that instead of number cards, the two players who agree will play their role cards to the center of the table. If one of those players has the Peaceful Role card, he wins. Otherwise the other players win.
Communication
Just because they share a body, doesn't mean the monster heads communicate well – mostly in grunts and growls. You may make statements about your hand (which may or may not be true), and saying you have high/medium/low cards is OK, but you cannot be specific about what cards you (or others) have. This especially applies to the X card... you should speak as if the X was a number card, so as not to reveal that you have it. Bluffing and accusations are encouraged. A good opening statement might be "I feel I can participate safely twice". These rules also apply to other players' cards which you may see during the course of the game.
Golden rule: if you say enough that a player can determine that you have an exact card, you've said too much. For example, saying you have a "VERY low card" is probably being too specific.