Burke's Gambit Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Components
Goal of Game
I.D. Cards
Role Cards
Parasite Cards
Setup
Play Overview
Player Death
End Game
Win Conditions
Die Symbols
Credits

Game Components

5 Deep Space Salvage Crew ID Cards
3 Acquisition Support Specialist (A.S.S.) ID Cards
13 Role Cards
1 Infected Parasite Card
7 Clean Parasite Cards
17 Health Tokens
21 Dice
1 Dice Bag

Goal of Game

If you are part of the Salvage Crew, your goal is to eject the infected player out of the airlock.

If you are an Acquisition Support Specialist (A.S.S), your goal is any of the following: to let the infected player reach Earth; to kill all other crew members, or to force a tied vote where nobody gets ejected out of the airlock.

I.D. Cards

# of Players	4	5	6	7	8
Acquisition Support Specialist (A.S.S.) ID Cards	1	2	2	3	3
Deep Space Salvage Crew ID Cards	3	3	4	4	5

ID Cards: ID cards state the affiliation of each player.

Role Cards

# of Players	4	5	6	7	8
Captain Role Card	1	1	1	1	1
Random Role Cards	3	4	5	6	7

Role Cards: These give players a special ability. They are placed face up in front of the player at the beginning of the game. A player can use their role ability at any time. Once a player uses a card's ability, the player flips their role card face down to show that it has been used.

Parasite Cards

# of Players	4	5	6	7	8
Infected Parasite Card	1	1	1	1	1
Clean Parasite Card	3	4	5	6	7

Infected and Clean Parasite Cards: If a player is infected with the parasite, this card will show it. A player can never look at their own parasite card.

Setup

Shuffle the A.S.S. ID and Salvage Crew ID cards, then deal one to each player face down. You may look at your own ID card at any time.
Shuffle the infected parasite card with the clean parasite cards and deal one to each player face down. Players may never look at their own parasite card.
Shuffle the role cards and deal one to each player. They are placed face up in front of the player. The player with the Captain role starts the game and has final say in all disputes.
Every player receives 2 health tokens. A player's health may not exceed 2.
Place all the dice in the dice bag.

Play Overview

After all players have looked at their ID cards, the Captain directs everyone to put their heads down, and then instructs A.S.S.'s only to lift their heads so they know each other. After a moment, the Captain tells the A.S.S.'s to put their heads back down, and then has all players lift their heads.

The game then proceeds in the following order, starting with the Captain:

Either use a reserve die or pull a die at random from the dice bag and roll it.
You may resolve the rolled result and then return the die to the bag or reroll the die one time and resolve that result, then return the die back to the dice bag. If you choose not to use the die, you can return it to the dice bag. You may also reserve it by placing it on your card without changing the face rolled. If you already have a reserved die, it will replace this reserved die, which goes back into the bag. You may only have one die reserved at a time.
If you roll an engine power-up (lightning bolt), your turn ends immediately and the die is left in the center of the table.
Pass the dice bag to the next player, clockwise.

Player Death

If a player loses all of their health, they are dead. Reveal the player's ID and parasite card. If that player was infected by the parasite, the dead player takes their infected parasite card along with the surviving players' clean parasite cards, removes one clean parasite card, reshuffles and deals the cards back to the surviving players.

Dead players are skipped over when resolving any effects and cannot vote during the end game phase. Dead players may not reveal any information they have to surviving players.

End Game

# of Players	4	5	6	7	8
Engine power-ups	3	4	5	6	6

The game ends when the ship reaches Earth. The number of engine power-ups needed to do that is based on the number of players.

Once the ship's engines reach full power, players have one minute to discuss and then vote on who they think is infected. On a count of three, all players point a finger towards the player they want ejected out of the airlock. The player with the most votes is forced out the airlock. If there is a tie and the Captain is still alive, then the Captain breaks the tie. If there is a tie and the Captain is dead, then no one is sacrificed.

Win Conditions

Players win in one of the following ways:

If you are a Deep Space Salvage Crew member, you win by causing the infected player to be forced out of the airlock by the vote at the end of the game.
If you are an A.S.S., you win by killing all of the Deep Space Salvage Crew, having a tied vote with the Captain dead or causing a clean player to be forced out of the airlock by the vote at the end of the game.

Die Symbols

Damage or heal (heart): Damage or heal a player for 1 health.
ID check (C): Look at anyone's ID card.
Parasite scan, left or right (P): Look at a parasite card to your left or right.
Insta-kill (skull): Kill any player.
Engine power-up (lightning bolt): Engine power increases by 1. Your turn ends immediately. You cannot re-roll. Place the die in the center of the table.
Quarantine (biohazard): Place a player in quarantine. They cannot be hurt or take any action for 1 round from the time the die was played.
Stall engines (lightning bolt with a slash): Cancels the next engine power-up. Place in the center of the table to use.
Cancel (circle with a slash): Can be used to cancel any dice action except engine power-up. Can be used at any time. Both dice are returned to the dice bag.
Reshuffle (spiral arrow): Cause all parasite cards to be reshuffled and passed back out.
Parasite scan, any (P): Look at any parasite card but your own.

Credits

Game Design: Rob Yates

Concept Artist: Anaisita Freeman

Lead Graphic Design: John Camacho

Additional Graphic Design: Patricia Verano

Editing: Summer Mullins

Playtesters: Ashleigh & Erik Whittiker, Amber "Berbersaur" Savoie, Jason "Goat" Greenleaf, Brian "The Horse" Mackay, Johnathon Witherford Mongoosington Stone the Third, Jim Deville, Anaisita Freeman, Gary Cox, Billy Martin, Wayne Freeman, Anais Freeman, Mike Lingefelt, Adam Savoie, Joel Ellison, Danny Markley, Mike Gust, Julian Filipe, Matt Hutcheson

Special Thanks: Patrick Havert & Danica Enyart