40 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Material
• Overview and Goal of the Game
• Game Elements
  • Thief Tiles (40)
  • Special Tiles (20)
  • The Jar
• Special Tiles Effects
• Set Up
• Sequence - Game Instructions
  • A Round Consists of 4 Phases
  • Glimpse at a Tile on the Board - Effects
  • Glimpse with a Lantern Tile Directly Taken from Player's Hand - Effects
  • Phase 3: Action (optional)
  • Phase 4: Attempt to Steal (optional)
    • 1. Surrounding a Sapphire
    • 2. Forming a Line
• End of the Game
• Final Count and Winner
  • Hint During the Attempt to Steal Phase
• Game Details
  • Failed Attempt to Steal
  • Glimpse
  • Example of Multiple Steals
• Optional Rules
  • Leaders of Thieves
  • Three Tales
    • The Dishonest Merchant Tile
    • The Genie Tile
    • The Sinbad Tile
  • Simplified Rules for Family and Children
• Phases of the Game
• Summary of Special Tiles

Material

• 67 tiles
  • 60 regular tiles
  • 4 reminder tiles
  • 3 tiles for optional rules
• 15 Evil Eyes
• 9 sapphires
• 1 storage pouch

Overview and Goal of the Game

Players take turns in attempting to steal one of the nine sapphires on the table. These gemstones are surrounded by 16 tiles placed face down, concealing a thief or a special object. The top of each tile shows a coloured symbol giving hidden object hints. To complete a theft, active players must form a combination of colours and symbols by revealing the four tiles surrounding the sapphire or by forming a line. If the combination is properly derived, players get the sapphire.

If they fail, they get an Evil Eye (a negative point of victory). With the help of special tiles, the players can cause harm to or protect themselves from their opponents.

The game ends when the 9 sapphires are stolen. The player with the most sapphires wins the game.

Game Elements

The game is made up of 60 tiles.

Thief Tiles (40)

These 40 thief tiles are grouped into five (5) symbols and four (4) colours. All symbols have two (2) thief tiles of each colour.

Symbols: Sun, Clubs, Moon, Hand, Star.

Special Tiles (20)

There are 20 additional special tiles in the game: Lantern, Sapphire, Amulet, Dagger, Evil Eye.

The Jar

A jar marked with a colour and a symbol appears on the back of each tile. This colour symbol hints at what's hidden in the jar (either a thief or a special object). However, only one of both pieces of information is right... Or wrong!

A red star jar can hide:

• a red thief with a wrong symbol;
• a star thief with a wrong colour;
• a special object with no symbol, nor colour.

WARNING: Each combination of symbol and colour is found three (3) times in the game. Example: there are three (3) jars marked with a red star.

Special Tiles Effects

Special tiles have different effects:

• Effects when they are uncovered during the GLIMPSE phase.
• Effects when played directly from player's hand.
• Effects when uncovered in an ATTEMPT TO STEAL phase.

	Lantern	Sapphire	Amulet	Dagger	Evil Eye
Effects when uncovered during the GLIMPSE phase	Players must reveal a Lantern tile to all other players. Players reveal three (3) adjacent tiles to all players. Daggers uncovered with a Lantern have no effect. However, players keep all Sapphire tiles they discover.	Players must reveal a Sapphire tile to all players. Players put the Sapphire tile away in his hoard. Players replace the sapphire tile with a tile taken from the stack and put it face down (without looking at it). Players continue to play their turn at the ACTION phase.	The Amulet tile has no effect during the GLIMPSE phase. This information must remain secret as it is a wild tile. During the ATTEMPT TO STEAL phase, players can use the Amulet tile as a Thief tile of any colour or symbol.	Players must reveal a Dagger tile to all players. Players must discard all the tiles they have in their hand immediately. Players continue to play their turn at the ACTION phase.	The Evil Eye tile has no effect during the GLIMPSE phase. This piece of information must remain secret as it is a wild tile.
Effects when played directly from player's hand	Play during the GLIMPSE phase. Players can peek at two (2) adjacent tiles instead of one. Daggers discovered in the Lantern phase do not affect players. Other lanterns discovered in the Lantern phase do not affect players. However, players keep all Sapphire tiles they discover.

Set Up

• Shuffle all game tiles.
• Randomly put 16 tiles face down on the table. Place them in four (4) rows of four (4) tiles.

Rules about tile setting: When there are many tiles to put on the table, always proceed from left to right, line by line, from top to bottom.

• Lay the nine (9) sapphires on the table, leaving enough space so each sapphire can be surrounded by four (4) tiles.
• Put the balance of the tiles in a stack and place it close to all players.
• Set the Evil Eyes close to all players. Players will receive an Evil Eye if they fail in their attempt to steal a sapphire. At the end of the game, all Evil Eyes (tile or token) will be deducted from the player's sapphires (one Evil Eye = one sapphire).

Sequence - Game Instructions

Players take turns. The player with the most visible signs of wealth (jewelry, watch, money, etc.) goes first. They must complete all phases in numeral order, but phases 2 to 4 are optional.

A Round Consists of 4 Phases

Phase 1: Build up your hand. Players must draw up to three (3) tiles from the stack. When players already have tiles in their hand, they can keep or discard them and draw new tiles for a total of three (3);

Phase 2: Glimpse (optional). There are two ways to glimpse:

1. Glimpse at a tile on the board. Players may peek at what is hidden under a tile. But the content will have to be revealed to opponents when affected by a Dagger, Sapphire or Lantern tile.
2. Glimpse with a Lantern tile directly taken from player's hand. Players can use a Lantern tile from their hand to peek at two (2) adjacent tiles.

Glimpse at a Tile on the Board - Effects

• a Thief, Amulet or Evil Eye tile: players take note of the tile and put it back face down on the board without telling the opponents;
• a Dagger tile: players must reveal the tile to all other opponents and must discard all the tiles they have in their hand immediately. They will have to end their turn without any tiles and the Dagger tile will go back to its original place face down on the board;
• a Sapphire tile: players must reveal the tile to all other opponents and then put away the Sapphire tile in their hoard. They replace the Sapphire tile with a new tile taken from the stack and put it face down on the board;
• a Lantern tile: players must reveal the tile to all other opponents as well as three (3) of the adjacent tiles.

Thereafter, they must return all revealed tiles face down on the board. They may continue to play.

WARNING! When there are less than three (3) tiles adjacent to the Lantern tile, players will only reveal these tiles. When there are one or more Sapphire tiles, players pick them up and replace them with new tiles from the stack face down on the board. They may continue to play. When one or more Dagger tiles are uncovered while a Lantern tile is used, players will not be affected. When a Lantern tile reveals another Lantern tile, there is no effect.

Glimpse with a Lantern Tile Directly Taken from Player's Hand - Effects

• A Thief, Amulet, Lantern, Dagger or Evil Eye tile: players take note of the tile and put it back face down on the board without telling the opponents.
• A Sapphire tile: players must reveal the Sapphire tile to all other players and then they put it away in their hoard. Players replace the Sapphire tile with a new tile taken from the stack. It is placed face down on the board. Players may then continue to play.

WARNING! A Dagger and a Lantern tile have no effects when they are discovered with a Lantern tile.

Phase 3: Action (optional)

Players may undertake only one (1) of the following actions:

• replace one of the tiles on the board with one of the tiles in the player's hand. Players place the tile face down on the board and place the tile on the board in their hand;
• interchange two (2) adjacent tiles on the board (top/bottom/left/right/diagonal);
• play a special tile (Amulet, Sapphire or Evil Eye) held in their hand.

Phase 4: Attempt to Steal (optional)

Players may decide to attempt to steal. To swipe a sapphire, players must announce where they will attempt their robbery. Then, they must reveal four (4) tiles on the board to all players.

WARNING! Announcing where the theft will take place is very important, because it is possible to steal more than one (1) sapphire in one shot. To validate these lootings, the players must succeed the announced theft. (Examples on the page 11.)

In order to succeed in stealing a sapphire, players must form one of the following combinations:

• 4 tiles of identical colours;
• 4 tiles of different colours;
• 4 tiles of identical symbols;
• 4 tiles of different symbols.

Two (2) options to succeed a theft:

1. Surround a sapphire with a proper four-tile combination;
2. Form a line with a proper four-tile combination.

1. Surrounding a Sapphire

Players must encircle a sapphire with four valid colour or symbol combination tiles.

Players seize the sapphire when they make a correct guess. This move ends their turn. The tiles are left face up on the board.

When the deduction is incorrect, players put the tiles back face down on the board. They must also take an Evil Eye as a punishment. This move ends their turn.

WARNING! Face up and face down tiles are used in the same way. Players may replace or interchange them as they wish.

2. Forming a Line

Players must form a line with four valid colour or symbol combination tiles.

The line may be horizontal, vertical or diagonal.

When their guess is correct, players immediately steal one of the sapphires touching the line. When no sapphire touches a line, players may take the sapphire of their choice, either on the board or in their opponent's hoard. Then players discard the tiles forming the line and replace them with four (4) new tiles from the stack, face down. This move ends their turn.

WARNING! When there are many tiles to put on the table, always proceed from left to right, line by line, from top to bottom.

End of the Game

When there is no sapphire left on the board, the game is over.

Final Count and Winner

Players subtract a sapphire (tile or gemstone) for every Evil Eye (tile or token) they have in their hoard. The player who has the most sapphires wins the game and is crowned "King of Thieves".

In the event of a tied score, the player with the least Evil Eyes wins the game.

In the event of a new tied score, the player with the most real sapphires wins the game.

If players still can't decide who is the winner, everyone wins.

Hint During the Attempt to Steal Phase

Players may steal several sapphires in a single round. When possible combinations appear in an indirect way (surrounding other sapphires or forming other lines in a single valid combination), the players can steal everything in one single deduction.

WARNING! The initial deduction must be completed successfully to benefit from all the indirect combinations.

Game Details

Failed Attempt to Steal

Incorrect colour and symbol combinations surrounding a sapphire. The players have not returned the four (4) identical or different colour tiles nor the four (4) identical or different symbol tiles. Therefore, players have failed their deduction. They must return the tiles face down and take an Evil Eye for their failed attempt to steal.

Incorrect combination due to the unveiling of a special tile other than the Amulet tile. In this example, players are not meeting any conditions to steal because the Sapphire tile is not a Thief tile. Consequently, the players must return the tiles face down and take an Evil Eye for their failed attempt to steal.

NOTE: A Dagger, a Lantern or an Evil Eye tile would have had the same effect.

Glimpse

Revealing a special tile with a Lantern tile on the board. When players discover a Lantern in the Glimpse phase, they reveal the three (3) adjacent tiles to all opponents. The unveiled special tiles have no effect, except for the Sapphire tiles. Players take all the Sapphire tiles and put them away in their hoard. They replace the missing tiles with other tiles from the stack face down. They can continue their turn.

Revealing a special tile with a Lantern played from player's hand. When players play a Lantern tile from their hand during the GLIMPSE phase, they can peek at two adjacent tiles. Special tiles discovered this way have no effect, except for the Sapphire tiles. Players must reveal the Sapphire tiles to all other players and then they put it away in their hoard. Players replace the missing tile with a new tile taken from the stack. It is placed face down on the board. They can continue their turn.

Example of Multiple Steals

In the following example, both the green thieves (fig. 1) were already face up on the board. One of the players attempted to steal a sapphire by revealing the four (4) top tiles. The four (4) tiles are different colours. The player can then steal the sapphire surrounded by these four (4) tiles. When he have stolen the Sapphire, he create a second line. This is made up of four (4) identical color tiles (green). The player steal a second sapphire touching the line. When there is no sapphire touching the line, they can steal a sapphire on the board or from an opponent's hoard.

• Steal 1: Players steal the sapphire surrounded by the tiles;
• Steal 2: Players steal the sapphire touching the formed line.

Optional Rules

WARNING: These optional rules have been tested to be played separately from each other. You can try to play more than one at the time. Fun will be part of the game even if it is likely to be out of balance.

Leaders of Thieves

There are four (4) Leader of Thieves tiles in the game. These tiles are part of the basic 40 Thief Tiles. There is one Leader of Thieves tile in each colour. These tiles are identified by a Faravahar (Persian symbol).

These tiles are thieves. As the regular Thief Tiles, they each have a colour and a symbol. They can be used in the ATTEMPT TO STEAL phase.

The Leaders of the Thieves rule grants them two (2) special powers.

1. When players hold one (1) Leader of Thieves tile in their hands, they can play it in the ACTION phase. They then reveal the tile to the other players, replace one of the tiles on the table by the Leader of Thieves tile and then move on to another action.
2. When players form a line or a square with four (4) Leader of Thieves tiles, they can steal all the sapphires on the board.

WARNING: The Leader of Thieves tile is placed on the table face up. Only one Leader of Thieves tile can be played by a player in a turn. The Leader of Thieves tile cannot be canceled by a Dagger tile.

There is no modification to be done when setting up the game. This rule does not change any phases of the game.

Three Tales

When setting up the game, add three (3) golden tiles before shuffling the tiles.

The impact of these tiles will be immediately activated as soon as:

• they are drawn by a player;
• they are revealed by a player when they are on the board.

The Dishonest Merchant Tile

This tile originates from "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" tale.

As soon as this tile is activated, it must be placed to the active player's inferior left corner. See image next page.

[Diagram, turns 1 to 4: the Dishonest Merchant tile sits at the active player's inferior left corner and moves clockwise along the corners of the board between turns.]

Active players must then continue to play as per the usual rules. When their turn is over (after the ATTEMPT TO STEAL phase), the dishonest merchant steals the corner sapphire if it is still in place. In this case, the sapphire is withdrawn from the board and placed on the merchant's tile. If the sapphire has already been stolen, the dishonest merchant can't steal the sapphire, but continues to play.

Before the following player starts to play, the Dishonest Merchant tile will follow the road up to the next corner clockwise. The merchant will steal the sapphire in this corner at the end of the player's turn.

The merchant will do the same for the two other corners.

At the end of the 5th turn, if the center sapphire is still in play, the Dishonest Merchant will steal it and the game is over. Players have all lost. Otherwise, players continue the game and the Dishonest Merchant tile remains in play, but does not move anymore.

NOTE: The merchant's stolen sapphires are always available to be stolen. They can be taken by a Sapphire tile or when players form a line. (Printed as "xNote" in the source.)

The Genie Tile

This tile originates from "Aladdin and the Magic Lamp" tale.

As soon as this tile is activated, the active player can make one of the following wishes:

• get rid of all Evil Eyes;
• normally end he's turn and immediately play a second turn;
• get rid of the dishonest merchant and steal his loot (stolen sapphires).

The Sinbad Tile

This tile originates from "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor" tale.

As soon as this tile is activated, all players must make their hands circulate seven (7) times clockwise. Players give their tiles to their neighbours on the left and receive the tiles from their neighbours on the right seven times.

Simplified Rules for Family and Children

When setting up the game, remove all special tiles. You must keep and shuffle only the 40 Thief Tiles. The game phases are not changed by this rule. The absence of special tiles greatly reduces the difficulty of the game, making deductions easier.

Phases of the Game

Players can successively carry out the following phases:

1. Build up your hand: players must draw up to three (3) tiles from the stack. When players already have tiles in their hand, they can keep or discard them and draw new tiles for a total of three (3);
2. Glimpse (optional): players may glimpse at what is hidden in one of the jars. (Look under one of the tiles without disclosing what it contains);
3. Actions (optional): players may play on one of the tiles on the game or use one they have in their hand;
4. Attempt to steal (optional): players may attempt to steal a sapphire. If they fail, they get an Evil Eye.

Summary of Special Tiles

• Lantern: Glimpse: reveal 3 adjacent tiles. Action: peek at 2 adjacent tiles. Steal: fail to steal.
• Sapphire: Glimpse: win the Sapphire tile. Action: steal a Sapphire on the game or from an opponent. Steal: fail to steal.
• Amulet: Glimpse: no effect. Action: get rid of one of their Evil Eye. Steal: use as a Thief tile.
• Dagger: Glimpse: discard all the tiles they have in their hand. Action: cancel any special tiles. Steal: fail to steal.
• Evil Eye: Glimpse: no effect. Action: give a Evil Eye to an opponent. Steal: fail to steal.