Bohn Camillo Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components and Setup
  • Additions to Game Setup
• Additions to Bohnanza
  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2
  • Phase 3
  • Phase 4
• Harvests and Playing Action Cards
• Rote Bohnen (Red Beans) and Heilig-Geist-Bohnen (Holy Spirit Beans)
• Accountability
• "Trading" Variant
• End of the Game and Winner of the Game
• The Action Cards
  • Schlagabtausch (6×) — Squabble
  • Quertreiber (3×) — Obstructionist
  • Bohnendieb (3×) — Bean Thief
  • Spitzel (3×) — Spy
  • Kuhhandel (3×) — Horse-Trading
  • Gottes Bohn (2×) — God's Bohn
  • Süße Rache (3×) — Sweet Revenge
• Translator's Notes

Components and Setup

The game Bohn Camillo contains eight Heilig-Geist-Bohnen (Holy Spirit beans), 1 collection field for "Aktionskarten Bohn Camillo" (Bohn Camillo action cards), 1 collection field for "Aktionskarten Pebbohne" (Pebbohne action cards), 23 action cards (comprising a total of seven different actions), and the rules of the game.

Bohn Camillo is a purely two-person game, and it can only be played with the Bohnanza card game from AMIGO Spiel + Leisure. The following explanations assume knowledge of the original rules of Bohnanza.

Additions to Game Setup

Remove the "3. Bohnenfeld" cards from the base game, because they are not needed for Bohn Camillo. Shuffle the action cards separately, and place them nearby as a separate deck. Shuffle the Heilig-Geist-Bohnen into the bean deck from the Bohnanza base game. The players decide who plays Bohn Camillo, and who plays Pebbohne. Each player has 4 bean fields from the start, plus a collection field for his action cards. As in the base game, each player begins the game with 5 bean cards in his hand, and he may not change their order. Special rules are identified and explained where appropriate.

Additions to Bohnanza

All the Bohnanza rules apply, with the following additions:

A player turn consists of four phases.

Phase 1

Plant 1–2 of your foremost hand cards onto your own bean fields. (If you have no cards in hand at the beginning of your turn, just skip to Phase 2.)

Phase 2

Reveal the top 2 bean cards from the deck. The two revealed cards must be either planted, or given to your opponent (trading is not allowed); however, you can only offer your opponent types of beans that your opponent is currently growing. Your opponent must accept these gifts, and must reciprocate by giving you one bean of a type that you are growing. He chooses the reciprocal gift from his hand. If he can't give you a gift in return, he must prove it by revealing his hand. He still keeps your gift.

If you want, you can give your opponent both of the revealed bean cards, one after the other. You may not give away your hand cards on your turn.

Phase 3

Draw 3 bean cards to the back of your hand.

Phase 4

Play any number of separate action cards. How you come to have action cards is explained in the following section.

Harvests and Playing Action Cards

Fields may be harvested at any time, including during Phase 4 of a turn. Every time you harvest a bean field, which earns at least two bean thalers (see note 3 below), draw one additional card from the action card deck, look at it, then place it face-down on your collection field. Once you reach Phase 4 of your turn, you can perform any number of actions from not-yet-used action cards. Place used action cards face-up on your own collection field.

If your opponent plays an action card in his Phase 4, the action is executed first: You may not thwart your opponent's action by hurriedly harvesting a bean field that he is eyeing.

Tip: Bean fields with Gartenbohnen (garden beans) are frequent targets of enemy attacks. Therefore, it is always recommended to harvest them early.

If the action card deck is used up, no more new action cards will come into play.

Rote Bohnen (Red Beans) and Heilig-Geist-Bohnen (Holy Spirit Beans)

Bohn Camillo cannot, and will not grow Rote Bohnen (red beans). As soon as one reaches the front of his hand in Phase 1, or he reveals one in Phase 2, he must immediately give it to the communist (see note 4 below) Pebbohne, who in turn must immediately plant it in one of his bean fields, even if it means Pebbohne has to harvest a bean field in order to do so.

Similarly, if a Rote Bohne (red bean) reaches the front of Pebbohne's hand in Phase 1, or he reveals one in Phase 2, he must immediately plant it.

Conversely, Pebbohne must always give Heilig-Geist-Bohnen (Holy Spirit beans) in the same situations to Bohn Camillo, because he cannot and will not grow pious beans.

The Heilig-Geist-Bohnen (Holy Spirit beans) have the same beanometer as the Rote Bohnen (red beans), and like Rote Bohnen (red beans), there are eight of them in the game.

Rote Bohnen (red beans) and Heilig-Geist-Bohnen (Holy Spirit beans) do not require reciprocal gifts.

Accountability

You may always ask your opponent to specify how many bean cards they have in their hand — regardless of the game phase.

"Trading" Variant

The two revealed bean cards can be given away or traded, just as in Bohnanza. The players should agree at start the game whether they want to play this variant.

End of the Game and Winner of the Game

Play through the deck three times, just as in the base game. If the deck runs out for the last time in Phase 2 or 3, finish out the phase. Then harvest all the bean fields one last time. In the last harvest, action cards can no longer be earned, and may no longer be played.

Then the game ends. The player with the most bean thalers wins. In a tie, whoever has more action cards on his "Aktionskarten" collection field wins.

The Action Cards

Schlagabtausch (6×) — Squabble

"Each player secretly chooses 3 bean cards from his hand. The showdown begins. The more valuable card wins (in a tie → discard pile). Either plant or discard won cards."

The challenged player starts the altercation with the first insult: He reveals one of the 3 beans he selected. The other player responds by revealing one of her 3 beans. The player who played displayed the greater insult (the more valuable bean) takes both cards, and starts the second round, which works the same way; and the same for the third round. Wait until after the dust settles to decide whether to plant or discard the beans you won. Valuable bean cards "trump" less valuable ones. The Gartenbohne (garden bean) is the most valuable; the Blaue Bohne (blue bean) is the least. The Rote Bohne (red bean) and the Heilig-Geiste-Bohne (Holy Spirit bean) are of equal value. In the case of a tie (identical beanometer), put both beans in the discard pile, and switch who is delivering the insult first.

Quertreiber (3×) — Obstructionist

"Choose any one of your opponent's bean fields, which he must now harvest. He receives no action card for the harvest, but he still earns the bean thalers."

You may even target bean fields with only one bean card.

Bohnendieb (3×) — Bean Thief

"Steal 1 bean from each of 2 of your opponent's bean fields, then immediately plant or discard each of them."

Spitzel (3×) — Spy

"Look at the cards in your opponent's hand. Steal 1 bean from his hand, then immediately plant or discard it."

Kuhhandel (3×) — Horse-Trading

"Give your opponent a bean card from your hand, of a variety that he is growing. In exchange, he gives you 2 bean cards of your choice; immediately plant or discard each of them."

Your opponent decides whether to give you the requested beans from his hand, his fields, or both — if he has them at all.

Tip: You may request 2 beans that your opponent is not growing on his bean fields, which he will have to provide from his hand. If he lacks one or both of the requested beans, he must prove it by revealing his hand. Your opponent must hand over the beans you requested if he has them; however, you risk getting nothing in return. On the other hand, you find out how strong or weak your opponent's hand is. If it's a weak hand, it would be the perfect time to play a Schlagabtausch (Squabble).

Gottes Bohn (2×) — God's Bohn

"God's Bohn is with you. Immediately prevent an action that your opponent wants to play. This action card is playing during your opponent's Action Phase."

The action card that you negated goes face-up on his "Aktionskarten" collection field as if he'd played it successfully.

Süße Rache (3×) — Sweet Revenge

"Steal any action card your opponent already played, which you may use immediately or keep for later."

The card you stole goes on your own action card collection field — face-down to be played later; face-up if you used it right away.

Translator's Notes

1. The title's tagline is the translator's own thematic play on words, acting as an equivalent of the tagline on the back of the box.
2. Sohn Gottes is German for "Son of God"; Bohn Gottes is, of course, "Bean of God". Perhaps you will prefer to think of it as meaning "God's offspring as a human bean"… or "God's offshoot".
3. The German word Thaler sounds like the English word taller (but with a harder T) — pretty similar to dollar, if that helps.
4. The German has kombohnistischen here, instead of kommunistischen, and the translator felt that combeanist was such a horrid pun on communist that it was left out for clarity, lest it look too much like it was intended to be some play on the word combination.
5. Surely you've caught on to the Sohn Gottes → Bohn Gottes / Gottes Sohn → Gottes Bohn joke by now.