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Bandido Alcatraz (10th Anniversary Edition)

Bandido Alcatraz (10th Anniversary Edition) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

  • Contents
  • Objective
  • Set Up
  • How to Play
  • Caution, Water!
  • Exit Card
  • End of the Game
  • Solo Mode
  • Master of Disaster's Score

Contents

  • 68 cards (including 4 cards with water, 8 with ropes and 12 with raincoats)
  • 1 Starting Tile
  • 1 Exit Card

Objective

Team up and gather raincoats and ropes for Bandido's getaway, leaving one tunnel open for his freedom. But beware of the water – it will flood the tunnels. Can you help Bandido escape?

Set Up

  1. Place the Starting Tile in the center of the table, leaving enough space for the cards. Use the easy side (5 tunnels) or the normal side (6 tunnels) of the Starting Tile, depending on the difficulty level you want. We recommend starting with the easy side.

  2. Shuffle the cards (including the EXIT card) and place them face down in a pile.

  3. Deal 3 cards to each player.

How to Play

In Bandido Alcatraz, you're all playing together. You're allowed to talk to each other to decide the best solution, but you're not allowed to show or describe the cards in your hand to your teammates. For example, you can say: "I will close one tunnel", or "I can merge two tunnels into one", or "Instead of placing a card in the tunnel, I will collect a rope".

Win by gathering 3 raincoats and 2 ropes and escaping through the EXIT tunnel after all the other tunnels are closed.

The youngest player starts. Play then continues clockwise. On your turn, you must play one card. You can choose one of these two options:

  1. Tunnel system: Place one of your cards next to the Starting Tile or next to a card already on the table. Note: A tunnel must always be connected to another tunnel, never to the ground. It doesn't matter whether the card shows a rope or a raincoat. It can be placed as long as the tunnel connection is valid.

  2. Collect equipment: Place a card showing a raincoat or a rope face up next to the draw pile. By the end of the game, you must have collected exactly 3 raincoats and 2 ropes. Your collected cards cannot be used for the tunnel system later in the game.

The collected raincoats can no longer be used in the tunnel system in the example below: (the example shows collected equipment that cannot be used to connect a tunnel, marked with a red cross, and a tunnel system built from the remaining cards, labelled "Tunnel system").

Once you've played a card, draw a new card.

No matching cards in your hand? If you cannot place any cards from your hand, you must return your 3 cards to the bottom of the pile and draw 3 new cards. Then it's your turn again.

If the draw pile consists of 3 or fewer cards, you may draw them. In that case, place the remaining cards in your hand face down and continue playing. If the draw pile is empty, you can attempt to finish the game with the remaining cards in your hand.

Caution, Water!

If you play a card with water (1), the blue half (not the other half) will need to be covered by another card (2) by the end of the game. It must match the tunnel on the card with water exactly. You cannot build a tunnel where brown ground was previously visible, and vice versa. You are not allowed to cover the whole card with another card – only the blue half needs to be covered. Ensure that all adjacent cards match the rules.

(The leaflet shows two examples of a water card being covered by a matching card: step 1 shows the water card placed, step 2 shows it covered by another card on its blue half.)

Note: Think ahead and don't get stuck, like in the example below where it's no longer possible to cover the blue half with any card. (The leaflet shows an example layout in which the blue water half cannot be covered by any card.)

Exit Card

The EXIT Card is hidden somewhere in the draw pile. When a player draws it, they may choose to place it on their next turn or keep it for later in the game. The EXIT Card must be placed on any matching tunnel card.

End of the Game

The game ends one of two ways: Either all tunnels other than the EXIT tunnel are blocked or you run out of cards. Then it's time to check your result.

  • Victory: The EXIT Card has been placed, there are no open tunnels or water left, and you gathered 3 raincoats and 2 ropes for the getaway. Bandido is free. Well done!
  • Defeat: Not met the above conditions? Oops! You've lost the game. No worries… Better luck next time.

Solo Mode

The game follows the rules as described above, except for the setup: Draw 6 cards (easy) OR 3 cards (advanced) from the draw pile.

Master of Disaster's Score

Check how smooth your escape plan was. Look at the remaining tunnels… and keep it cheeky:

Tunnels left openResult
1 EXIT TUNNEL LEFT OPENNice! Did you remember the equipment and block the water? Well done. If not… shame on you.
2–4 TUNNELS LEFT OPENOkay, you're digging… and it almost looks like you know what you're doing!
5–6 TUNNELS LEFT OPENLooks like you're back where you started. What have you actually been doing down there?
7+ TUNNELS LEFT OPENOMG. Bandido might need to recruit a new crew… or at least offer better snacks.