Blasting Billy
Blasting Billy Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 60 playing cards (5 different types, each containing the values 0-10 and one dynamite card). The color on the back of the cards matches the color on the front.
- Gold (values 0-10)
- Banknotes (values 0-10)
- Coins (values 0-10)
- Jewelry (values 0-10)
- Diamonds (values 0-10)
- Dynamite (one card of each type; these cards have no value)
- Back
- The rules
Short Overview
Players take turns playing a card, which they either have to place in front of themselves, in front of Blasting Billy, or back into the box. The goal is to try and get your hands on the highest possible value of each type (color). You can also set dynamite traps to remove cards from the game later on. If at the end of the game you have a higher value than Billy in one or more of the colors, you're out of the game (for now). Players still in the game have a chance to win if they managed to obtain the cards with the highest value. If you've been eliminated, the only chance you still have at winning is if all the other players have also been shot down.
Setup
Shuffle the 60 cards. In a 2-player game, return 12 cards to the box without looking at them. In a 3-player game, return 6 cards to the box. These cards will not be used, but players are allowed to check the colors of the removed cards.
Deal 3 cards to each player. Place the remaining cards in a face-down draw pile. You must hold your hand cards in such a way that the other players are able to recognize the type (color) of your cards at all times.
Randomly determine a starting player.
How to Play
Players take turns in clockwise order. On your turn, choose 1 of the following 3 options.
A. Place a card face down in the middle of the table (and give it to Billy)
Place one of your hand cards face down in the middle of the table, in Blasting Billy's loot.
Sort the cards by type (color) and overlap them. You should always be able to clearly tell how many cards there are of each type.
Important: the order of the cards has to remain unchanged.
During the game, nobody's allowed to look at the cards that were given to Billy.
Example: 1 red card, 2 green cards, 3 blue cards. The colors and symbols of the cards are visible: jewelry, banknotes and coins.
B. Place a card on your own loot pile (and claim it)
Place one of your hand cards in front of you. It's now part of your loot. The first card of each type is placed face down, and all subsequent cards of the same type are placed face up.
Sort the cards by type (color) and overlap them. Players should always be able to clearly tell how many cards there are of each type.
Important: the order of the cards has to remain unchanged.
You're allowed to examine the cards in your own loot at any time.
Example: 2 red cards, 2 green cards and 3 yellow cards. The total value of these cards is unknown to the oponents, but the loot will contain at least the following: 6 red (jewelry), 7 green (banknotes), 15 yellow (gold).
C. Discard a card face down (and dump it)
Place one of your hand cards into the box face down. All players are allowed to see the color of the discarded card.
After performing 1 of the previously mentioned actions, fill your hand back up to 3 cards by drawing 1 card from the face-down draw pile. The next player in clockwise order now takes their turn.
End of the Game
After someone takes the last card from the face-down draw pile, each player has one final turn. Then, everyone discards their 2 remaining cards to the box. Now flip all the cards on the table face up. The order of the cards must remain unchanged.
Final Scoring
Dynamite Cards
There's one dynamite card of each type. These cards don't have a value. Before proceeding to final scoring, flip all cards face up, without changing the order of the cards, to check if any dynamite cards were played in any of the columns, either belonging to a player or to Billy. If that's the case, discard the dynamite card along with the previous card in its column.
Example: after the last card was placed, all the cards are flipped face up. Billy's red column contains a dynamite card. The card just above it shows a value of 10. Remove it, along with the dynamite card. The column now contains 2 cards instead of 4. Its total value is now 7 instead of 17.
Comparing with Billy
For each type, each individual player now compares their total loot value to Billy's.
If you have a higher total value than Blasting Billy in one or more colors, Billy shoots you down mercilessly. Flip all your cards of the corresponding type(s) face down. If you tie with Billy, nothing happens. If you have at least 1 face-down column in front of you, you're eliminated and can no longer win (at least for now).
All players who weren't shot down count the values on all their cards. The player with the highest total score wins the game. In case of a tie, the involved player with the fewest cards wins. If there's still a tie, those players share the victory.
Exception
Only if all players were shot down, those players are still competing for victory. In this case, final scoring still takes place as described previously, but face-down cards aren't counted. In case of a tie, the involved player with the fewest face-up cards wins. If there's still a tie, the involved player with the fewest face-down cards wins. If the tie still persists, those players share the victory.
If none of the players scored any points, you were all too greedy and Blasting Billy wins. In that case, he runs off with the entire loot!