Alarm!
Alarm! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Whatever you do, don't get caught!
You are a burglar and you must try to collect the most loot by the end of the game ... without getting caught by the police! The player that can stay out of prison will win the game.
Contents
- 52 'Obstacle' cards (Police/Guard Dog/Door Chain/Padlock)
- 16 'Loot' cards
- 23 'Equipment' cards (Bone/Wire cutters/Keys)
- 4 'Four-Leaf Clover' cards
- 4 'Panic' cards
- 4 'Dropped Loot' cards
- 6 Overview/Lawyer cards
- 1 Overview/Informant card (see optional rule)
Setup
- Give each player an Overview/Lawyer card with the overview side face-up (return the unused card(s) to the box without looking at them).
- Shuffle the rest of the cards into one deck and put it in the middle of the table.
- Make room for a discard pile.
- The most criminal looking player becomes the active player for the first turn.
Playing the Game
The active player takes the top card from the deck, shows it to all players and then gives it to a player of his choice (including himself) who has not yet received a card this turn. When you receive a card from the active player, you place it face-up in front of yourself so that all players can see it. The active player repeats this step and gives a card to another player, until all players have received exactly one card.
Then the player to the left of the current active player becomes the new active player.
If at any time during the game the deck becomes exhausted, then the discard pile is immediately shuffled and placed face-down as a new deck.
Whenever you receive a card, you must immediately check whether you have been caught by the police. You have been caught if you ever have one of the following combinations of cards in front of you:
- 2 "Police" cards
- 3 "Guard Dog" cards
- 4 "Door Chain" cards
- 4 "Padlock" cards
- 2 "Guard Dog" cards + 2 "Door Chain" cards + 2 "Padlock" cards
- 5 "Loot" cards
If you are caught by the police, then you are immediately eliminated from the game, and all of your cards are placed on the discard pile.
When you receive an Equipment card, you immediately put this card on the discard pile, together with the corresponding "countered" card. If you have no corresponding card at this time, then you keep the Equipment card face-up in front of you; if you ever receive a corresponding card later in the game, then you must immediately discard the two cards together.
- 1 "Bone" card eliminates 1 "Guard Dog" card
- 1 "Wire Cutters" card eliminates 1 "Door Chain" card
- 1 "Keys" card eliminates 1 "Padlock" card
The "Four-Leaf Clover" card is a special counter card that immediately eliminates 2 obstacle cards (Police/Guard Dog/Door Chain or Padlock), but this card may not be saved for future turns – it is put on the discard pile as soon as you receive it.
Each player has a Lawyer card. This can be used once during the game when you are about to receive a card that you really don't want! To use the card, flip over your Overview card to the Lawyer side and put the unwanted card straight onto the discard pile. This still counts as receiving a card this turn, so you cannot be given another one by the active player.
At the end of the turn when there are only two players left in the game, the "final showdown" begins. The game continues as normal, but at the start of every turn, the active player must discard a Loot card in order to "buy some more time" and stay in the game. If you become the active player during the final showdown, and you have no Loot card to discard, then you are immediately eliminated from the game and your opponent is the winner!
Special Event Cards
Dropped Loot: If you are given this card by the active player, you must immediately steal a Loot card of your choice from any player with Loot, assuming someone has some! Whether or not any Loot was stolen, this card is placed on the discard pile.
Panic: If you receive this card, then you must immediately choose one of your other face-up cards to pass to the player on your left or right. This player now must give one of their face-up cards to the next player in the same direction (but this may not be a card with the same name as the one they have just received, unless this is the only type of card they have). The panic continues until you are passed a card from your other neighbour ... or until someone gets caught by the police!
During a panic, it could happen that you are passed a card but have no card to pass on (if, for example, the card you were passed countered – or was countered by - your only face-up card). In this case, the panic is also over.
As soon as the panic is over, everyone calms down a little and the Panic card is put on the discard pile. The active player then continues the game as normal. Note: the cards passed around during a "panic" do not count as receiving a card during the turn. You may use your Lawyer card if necessary during the panic, but in this case it won't count as having received a card this turn.
Optional Rule
The Informant: There is one Informant card that can be added to the game at the set up stage. If you decide to use this card, shuffle all seven of the overview cards together at set-up. One player could now have the informant card instead of a Lawyer card (the card is only revealed when used).
If you have the Informant card, then you have no lawyer ...
But as a police informant, you can use this card once during the game and immediately pass on a card that you are about to receive to another player of your choice who has not yet received a card this turn. This of course means that the informant has not yet received a card this turn and will get another one, whereas the player to whom the informant passed a card has now received their card for the turn. If all other players have already received a card this turn, then the informant ability cannot be used.