Achievement Hunter HEIST
Achievement Hunter HEIST Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set Up
Have each player select one of the eight unique characters, and distribute the three role cards associated with each of the characters. The role cards are labeled with character codenames. After your characters are selected deal out seven additional cards from the start deck to each player, giving them a total of ten cards. Place all the unused start cards, role cards, and characters aside.
Characters: There are eight characters. Each has unique skills, role cards, and abilities; which are displayed on their character card.
Abilities can be used once per game, and are outlined on the character card. When used, flip over the character card to show the full portrait. Some can only be used during the heist or getaway. Of the eight characters, four of them have abilities and four of them start with more powerful role cards.
Duffle bag, and time: The interior of the game box is used as a duffle bag the team will throw loot and low power cards into during the game. Place it and a timer set at 10 minutes within reach of all players. For the first playthrough, you may want to play without the timer.
Now that all players have selected a character and have a ten-card deck, the team will prep for the heist. The prep phase consists of two actions: trading and a prep challenge.
Prep Phase
Trading: Each player is allowed to trade up to two cards between teammates. They can be traded in any fashion between players as long as no one trades more than two cards total and all players have ten cards after trading is complete.
Shuffling: Because time is a critical factor, there is a special way players must shuffle. Place all of your cards in one hand. Then, move them to the other hand one at a time alternating between placing one on top and one on bottom. Continue through the entire deck. Complete this process twice. This method is used every time you shuffle.
Prep Challenge: These challenges offer a variety of boosts to help the team during the game. Each player can attempt one. Select a challenge to attempt, shuffle your deck, and follow the directions on the card.
From your deck, flip the number of cards listed on the challenge card. If they equal or exceed the needed value in the center of the card, it is a successful challenge. If they do not, flip another set of three cards. Continue through your deck once. The perks of each challenge card are listed on the card.
If successful, follow the instructions on the card. If unsuccessful, set them aside for the next game. Other players can attempt challenges that another player was unsuccessful at.
Heist Phase
With the team fully assembled, choose a heist, keeping in mind the strengths of your team. The goal is to acquire as much money as possible in the shortest amount of time. Each heist has rules for its unique challenges listed on its box.
Heist Deck: Separate the heist into stage 1 and stage 2, and shuffle them separately. Place stage 1 on top of stage 2; this is the Heist Deck. Set this deck within reach of all players.
Personal Deck: Shuffle all your cards and place them face down in front of you. Draw five cards. This is your hand. Make sure all players have room for a personal discard pile as well.
When you're ready, begin the timer at ten minutes, if using. Players have 10 minutes total to complete the heist and the getaway. The longer the team spends in the heist the harder the getaway will be.
Basic Gameplay Flow: Once the timer begins, any player can flip over the top card of the Heist Deck. The card must be cleared before flipping the next.
To clear a card, any individual player must play a card or multiple cards that equal or exceed the value of the heist card. During the heist, players cannot combine cards with each other to clear a card, and cannot play more cards than needed.
If a card cannot be cleared, it is flipped over and counted as a strike. This is called the heat level. If the heat level reaches six, the Heist fails.
When you clear a card, remove it from the board. Between the used cards and the cleared card, one can be added to the duffle bag. You do not have to add a card to the duffle, but this is used to stash cash cards or remove low value cards from your deck. Add the remaining cards to your discard, and draw back up to five cards. If at any time you cannot draw back up to five, you may add your hand to your discard pile, shuffle your entire deck, and redraw.
Cash Cards: These can be cleared by cards of any skill of power equal to or greater than the Cash Card. Unlike clearing standard cards, the cards used do not need to match. You should always stash cash in the duffle bag.
Unique Cards: Cards with unique backs in the Heist Deck are placed into the objective row face down as soon as they are revealed. They remain here until they are attempted by a player.
Challenges: These follow the same format as Prep Challenges. To attempt, take the card and turn it over in front of you. You must shuffle your deck before and after a challenge. While attempting, you cannot do any other tasks. Successful challenges can remove strikes or reward cash, among other things. If a challenge is failed, add it to the scrap pile, unless specified on the card. If a hazard appears while attempting a challenge, it is treated as a zero power card and remains in your deck.
Loot: Loot cards can be unlocked using a matching icon, such as keys, fingerprints, etc. Once the requirements are met, add the loot and the unlocking cards to the duffle bag. Cards can come from multiple players, and can be placed from your hand at any time.
Challenges and loot cards are the only two types of cards added to the objective row. Loot cards remain in the objective row until they are fully unlocked, whereas challenge cards are removed from the row when they are being attempted.
Hazards: These affect only the player that flips them from the Heist Deck. They come in two types. The first type is added immediately to your personal discard pile and activates once it is drawn into your hand. The player is then removed from play until teammates meet the requirements on the hazard card. The second type goes directly into the player's hand, and they are not removed from play. Specific card rules for each hazard are on the cards to guide the player. Removed or discarded hazards are placed in the scrap pile.
Auto Strike: Some cards in the heist automatically add a strike and increase the heat level. They will increase in frequency as you progress further through the heist. These can be removed in the same way as other strikes.
Scrap Pile: Any cards that need to be permanently discarded are added to the scrap pile. This includes released hostages, failed challenges, hazards, and strikes that have been removed.
Ending the Heist: Players may leave the heist at any time by placing their character card on the getaway vehicle. However, once you have performed this action you can no longer clear heist cards, help with hazards, or attempt challenges. Players with unaddressed hazard cards cannot enter the vehicle. The Heist Phase ends once a player stops the timer, which can be done at any time, so make sure you have a seat in the getaway vehicle first! If a player has not entered the vehicle when the timer stopped, they are busted and cannot help during the getaway. Add all the busted player's cards to the scrap pile.
Getaway Phase
The goal is to make it to the warehouse with as much loot as possible. All strikes from the heist carry over to the getaway. Set the duffle bag aside, and have all players shuffle their deck and draw a new five-card hand.
Then, shuffle the getaway deck, and arrange cards facedown into the pattern shown on the playmat. Each card represents one city block. Place the getaway vehicle on the spot labeled Start.
Next, add one additional card to each related spot based on the final Heist Phase time. The time gates are at 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 minutes, and 6 minutes. In short, if the team took longer than six minutes to leave the heist, there will be two cards on each spot. *If not using a timer, each spot should have two cards.
Beginning the Phase: When the team is ready, restart the timer and flip the cards adjacent to the vehicle. You have the remainder of your ten minutes to complete the phase, meaning if the heist took seven minutes, you have three minutes to navigate to the warehouse (marked finish).
Discard: Unlike the Heist Phase, all cards used during the getaway are added to the scrap pile. There is no reshuffling, so if a player uses their entire deck, they can no longer contribute.
Clearing Cards: Similar to heist cards, getaway cards are cleared by meeting or exceeding the power on the cards. The difference is, during the getaway, teammates can combine cards to meet what is needed. Cards can also be cleared by taking them as a strike. When a strike is taken in the getaway, all players discard any card from their hand. Keep in mind at six strikes the game is over. Auto strikes are not taken immediately, but can be added as strikes just like other cards.
Navigating to the Warehouse: All cards remain face down, except for the top card on blocks adjacent to the vehicle. When the top card is cleared, any cards below are revealed. If there are no cards below, that block is available to move into. When moving into a new block, flip all adjacent top cards. You can backtrack through open blocks. Additional getaway vehicles can be encountered during the getaway. All vehicles have usage rules indicated on their card.
Finishing: If you make it to the finish spot with fewer than six strikes in under ten minutes, the heist is a success!
Victory
If you safely navigate the getaway, it's time to count your loot! First, place all remaining cards from personal decks into the duffle bag. Then count all the money bags in the stash. Skill cards with a money bag are only worth one.
Total Score: Each heist has a set of target scores visible on their box. It takes a nearly perfect heist to reach the highest target. The Mansion Heist does not include any loot, but instead uses the total clear time as a target.
Career Criminal Mode: The Gas Station, Bank, and Casino Heists can be played sequentially (in that order) for a longer play experience, and to allow smaller teams to tackle the more difficult heists.
After each successful getaway, you have the option of using any acquired loot to purchase cards before beginning the next heist. You can only purchase cards that are remaining in your player deck after the getaway. The cost of each card is equal to the power of the card. For instance, to add a 5-power wheels card to your starting hand, the team would spend 5 cash from their total loot haul.
Once everyone has made their purchases, return any unspent loot to the duffle bag, and prepare the next heist. Distribute role cards, and deal seven start cards to each player. If you purchased cards between rounds your deck will start with more than ten cards.
The heat level carries over between heists. It may be important to leave a heist earlier than normal to make sure the team doesn't hit a sixth strike.
If and when you survive the third heist in the sequence, count all of the unspent loot remaining from the heists for a total career criminal score.
Card Anatomy
Throughout the instructions, various parts and types of cards are mentioned. The card diagrams in the booklet can be used for reference.
Build Your Own Heist
Once you've played through the supplied heists, maybe notched a few high scores, it's time to create your own heist challenge.
The cards of Heist were designed to be used as building blocks - allowing players to deconstruct the default heists and assemble something new. However, there are a few guidelines to creating your own fast-paced, loot-grabbing experience.
In general, a heist is comprised of around 60 heist cards with another 30 or so for the getaway. Each card is labeled for stage 1 or stage 2, this denotes that card's difficulty. Stage 1 cards are generally easier to overcome and are meant to help players strengthen their deck. Stage 2 cards step up the challenge as players continue to bolster their decks and take on harder challenges.
As you build out your heist, keep the difficulty ramp and challenges you insert in mind. Don't be afraid to add limitations to players to fit your theme, such as a silent mode with no speaking or requiring players to only use one hand. Here are a couple Heist examples to get you started:
- Living on the Edge: A high difficulty heist that emphasizes lowering the heat level through a combination of team abilities, and successful challenges. 8 auto strikes; 5 Challenges to lower the heat level.
- The Honey Pot: A heist that places a higher value on balanced team composition and communication. Highroller suite and V.I.P. are the only loot; 6 Hazard cards.