Captain Cool Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• About the Game
• Game Preparation
• Course of the Game
  • 1. Positions – Placement of Family Members
  • 2. Affray – Gaining and Scoring of Gangster Cards
  • 3. The Big Deal – Placement of Gangster Cards on the Board and Scoring
• End of a Round
• End of the Game
• Tactical Hints
• Advanced Rules

Contents

• 99 cards:
  • 50 Gangster cards valued 1–10 (upper corner)
    • Including 35 "plain" Gangsters (light background)
    • and 15 Gangster Boss cards: 5 Captain Cool (blue), 5 Tom (red) and 5 Edward (green). Some special rules apply for the Gangster Boss cards in the third phase of the game. On some "plain" Gangster cards round icons show good connections to the Gangster Bosses.
• 49 action cards:
  • 4 pub cards for each player
  • 3 character cards for each player:
    • 1 Captain Cool (blue symbol)
    • 1 Tom (red symbol)
    • 1 Edward (green symbol)
• 42 Family Members (6 wooden figures of 7 colors each)
• 7 score markers (in 7 colors)
• 1 board:
  • Three main character fields in the middle
  • A Big Deal circle around them consisting of 10 spaces for cards
  • 4 locations in the 4 corners of the board
  • A rank counter at the sides of the board

About the Game

During the game, players try to achieve majority in the four pubs and with the three Gangster Bosses as often as possible. The goal is to get Gangster cards and also to gain influence at the three Gangster Boss fields. Players can then use these to have as much leverage as possible in "The Big Deal." There is a Big Deal at the end of each round, where Gangsters line up on the 10 Gangster fields.

Game Preparation

The player that bears the most resemblance to Captain Cool is designated the Game Master. He prepares the game and makes sure that the players follow each other in the proper order.

Each player gets 7 action cards: the 4 locations and one of each of the characters.

Each player chooses a color and the figures (Family Members) of this color. The Game Master places the players' score markers on the fields numbered 1., 2., 3, etc. on the scoring track in a random.

The Game Master selects and separates the 5 (blue) Captain Cool, 5 (red) Tom and 5 (green) Edward cards from the rest of the Gangster card deck. Three separate piles are formed of these 3 different Gangster Boss cards (5-card decks for each Gangster Boss) and a fourth pile that consists of the rest of the deck (35 cards). The Game Master shuffles the decks separately and places the four decks face down next to the board.

As an initial situation the 3 Gangster Bosses and a handful of Gangsters appear in 4 different pubs. The Game Master draws one card from each one of the 4 decks and, without looking at them, places these 4 cards face-up on 1-1 card spaces in the pubs in the four corners of the board in a random order. There are now three Gangster Bosses and another Gangster on the board. After doing this, the Game Master draws 14 further cards from the large Gangster deck. Four of these cards are placed randomly onto the 4 empty card spaces in the pubs face-up; the rest (10 cards) are distributed evenly among the players (2 players get 5 Gangster cards each; 3 players get 3, 4 or 5 players get 2, 6 or 7 players get 1). The spare cards (if there are any) are placed on the board on the corresponding (numbered 1 to 10) card spaces of the Big Deal circle. In case there are spare cards of the same value, the Game Master randomly chooses one of them and places it on the corresponding card space of the Big Deal circle. The other card(s) with the same number is placed face-up next to the board, creating a discard pile.

Course of the Game

The game is played in 5 rounds. Each round is played in 3 phases, the phases being:

1. Positions – placement of Family Members on the board.
2. Affray – gaining and scoring of Gangster cards.
3. The Big Deal – placement of Gangster cards on the board and scoring

Note: The points are shown on the rank track (the ranking marker is moved each time the player gets points). Two marker cubes of the same number are not allowed on the same space. If a marker lands on the same space with another marker, the marker being moved simply jumps over the other marker and is placed on the next free number on the track.

1. Positions – Placement of Family Members

In this phase, players place their 6 Family Members on the board. They place the Family Members in the four pubs in order to get cards, or on the Gangster Boss fields in the middle of the table in order to get bonus points for use in the third phase. Those who have the majority in a pub at the end of Phase 1 can choose which card to take away first. Those who place the most Family Members on one of the Gangster Bosses gain bonus points according to the influence signs on their cards.

The placement of each player's 6 Family Members is determined by their 7 action cards that represent the 4 pubs and the 3 Gangster Bosses. Players simultaneously choose one of the action cards in their hand and place them face down in front of them. The cards are revealed simultaneously, and the players simultaneously place one of their figures on the place determined by the chosen action card. Those who have chosen a Gangster Boss card (Captain Cool, Tom or Edward) place their figure on the given character in the middle of the board. Those who have chosen pub cards place their figure in the corresponding pub (pubs are identified by their symbols on the pub cards and on the board; they also have a number that shows the order they will be evaluated in the affray.)

The players place the action card they have played back in their hands and once again, following the same procedure described above, they choose one of these cards and they place one figure on the board in just the same way. Players repeat this until they have placed all their 6 figures on the board. After the 6th figure was placed on the board, it's time for the Affray.

2. Affray – Gaining and Scoring of Gangster Cards

During the Affray, players can obtain some (or none) of the 8 Gangster cards in the pub. The majorities are evaluated first in pub nr. I., then pub nr. II., III. and finally IV. When a player obtains a card, they immediately receive as many points as the value of the given card (1 to 10 points) and move their scoring marker on the scoring track accordingly.

During the evaluation of a pub the number of the different players' Family Members located in that pub count. There are two possibilities: 1) one player has majority in a pub or, 2) two or more players are tied.

Dominance rule: The player who has the majority with their Family Members in a pub chooses one of the two Gangster cards in the given pub and places it in their hand. The other Gangster card goes to the player who has the majority among the remaining Family Members in the pub.

The Captain Cool trick: If 2 or more players are tied in majority (two or more players have placed the same amount of Family Members) in a pub, the lowest scored player involved in the tie wins: this player gets BOTH Gangster cards in this pub! In case there is a tie for the second card (the first card having been won by Dominance rule), the remaining card goes to the player who has a lower score on the scoring track.

Scoring of the Gangster cards gained: The player who wins one or two Gangster cards (Gangster Bosses or other Gangsters) immediately receives as many points as the value of the given card (1 to 10 points) and moves their scoring marker on the scoring track accordingly. If the player won two Gangster cards, they can decide which card to score first and which one second.

Loser of the affray: Players who have Family Members in a pub but can't gain any cards there get 2 charity points for each figure placed. Their scoring markers are moved on the scoring track accordingly (with the number of family members placed there multiplied by 2) immediately after the players who gained cards have moved their markers. If there are more players who get charity points, they get these points in ranking order (highest rank first).

Note: During the scoring of a pub each player who has Family Members there gets points: they get the points for the cards or charity points if they receive no cards.

Special case: It might happen that there are one or two Gangster cards remaining in the pub (no one won them). For example, if a player was standing alone in a pub at the beginning of the scoring, they could choose only one of the cards in the pub; and if no one placed any figures in a pub then both cards are left there. In this case these are placed on the corresponding card spaces of the Big Deal circle and no one gets any points for them. If there is already a card placed on the given spaces, then the card is discarded (put on the discard pile).

3. The Big Deal – Placement of Gangster Cards on the Board and Scoring

During the Big Deal, players place their previously obtained Gangster cards on the corresponding card spaces on the Big Deal circle in the middle of the board and score for them.

Placement of Gangster cards: In this phase, players place their cards in ranking order so the player with the highest current rank begins. They must place each card they can on the Big Deal circle and immediately move their scoring marker accordingly for each card.

There are two restrictions when placing a Gangster card.

1. A Gangster card can be placed only on an empty field of the corresponding value (1 to 10).
2. There can be only one of each Gangster Boss card in the Big Deal circle.

Gangster Boss cards can be recognized by their background color (blue, red, green). In case there's already a blue Captain Cool card on one of the 10 Gangster card spaces, no more Captain Cool cards can be placed (and the same is true for the red Tom and green Edward cards). It's true only for the blue, red and green Gangster Boss cards. There can be several gangsters having influence of the same Gangster Bosses, therefore more than one Gangster card showing the same icon at the bottom can be placed.

For example, you can place these cards in the same round.

Note: During the placement of the Gangster cards, there can be only one blue Captain Cool, red Tom and green Edward card in the Big Deal circle.

If a player has more than one card that can be placed, they can freely choose the order they are placed. Each card placed must be evaluated immediately and the scoring marker must be moved accordingly (see below).

In the event the active player is not able to place any more cards in the Big Deal circle, but still has cards in his hand, he must show these cards to the other players. After all the other players have seen them, the cards are placed back in his hand. The player with the second highest rank then takes his turn, and so on until each player has placed their appropriate cards in the Big Deal circle (or, in the event it happens sooner, until the Big Deal circle is full – there is one card on each of the 10 card spaces). In a special and very rare case it might happen that no player can play any Gangster Cards in a turn – in this case there is no Big Deal, and the round is ended (according to End of the Round, see page 4).

Evaluation: The player who places a Gangster card on the Big Deal circle immediately gets points. The number shown on the cards (and the card spaces) does not matter in this scoring, only the number of cards that are next to each other. Each player scores according to the number of cards in an unbroken chain in the Big Deal circle. Cards can connect to each other anywhere in the Big Deal circle. A single card (that is, the card with no cards on either side of it) is worth 1 point. A card that is placed between two single cards is worth 3 points, and so on (good relations are important in the Big Deal). The player who places more than one card gets the points for the actual length of the chain each time. Previously placed cards are counted in the chains even if they were placed by other players.

Examples: Say four cards, with the values of 8, 9, 10 and 1, are placed next to each other, making a 4-card-long chain. If someone places either a value 7 card beside the 8 or a value 2 card beside the 1, they receive 5 points as the chain has now become 5-cards long. (Picture 1.)

If a value 5 card is placed between the single cards on the spaces numbered 4 and 6, then a 3-card-long chain is created, so the player gets 3 points. (Picture 2.)

Bonus points for good relations: During scoring, players get some advantage from their connections to the Gangster Bosses. During his turn a player gets 3 extra points for each card placed that has the Captain Cool, Tom, or Edward icons shown on them (round symbols showing the relationships of the Gangsters – on the Gangster Boss cards as well!), but only if they have placed at least one figure on the corresponding character in the middle. If they place a card that depicts a character where they have the majority, they get 3 further extra points for the card. In case of a tie, only the lower-ranked player can get 6 bonus points (3 for their presence at the given Gangster Boss and 3 for the majority). If the card has more than one character shown, and the player has placed figures on both of the corresponding characters in the middle, the player gets the appropriate extra points for each character.

Example: Red has majority with 3 Family Members at Captain Cool, so Red gets bonus 6 points for each Gangster Boss card that Red places that show the symbol of Captain Cool. Red also has a majority at Tom with 1 Family Member, so Red gets 6 extra points for that as well. When placing a card that shows both the symbols of Captain Cool and Tom, Red receives 12 extra points. Black also has some Family Members on the Captain Cool field, but there are less black figures than red figures here, so each time Black places a Captain Cool card, Black wins 3 bonus points. (Picture 3.)

Note: Whenever a Gangster card is placed, you have to evaluate the score it is worth for the given player and then immediately move the player's scoring marker accordingly.

End of a Round

When no players can place any more Gangster cards on the Big Deal circle, the round is over (whether there are 10 cards placed or not). The Game Master returns the Family Members to the players, takes all the Gangster cards off the Big Deal circle, and discards them on the discard pile.

As a preparation for the next round, the Game Master draws one card from each one of the 4 draw decks and randomly places these 4 cards on 1-1 card spaces in the pubs in the four corners of the board. After doing this, the Game Master draws 4 further cards from the large Gangster deck and places them randomly onto the 4 empty card spaces in the pubs.

End of the Game

The game ends at the end of the 5th round, at the end of the Big Deal. If any player has cards in his hand that can't be placed, they do not get any points for these. The winner is the player with the highest score at the end of the game.

Tactical Hints

• You should try to take your actual position into consideration when using your Family Members. It is an advantage to have a lower rank in the first part of the game and try to go for the ties in locations where the opponents have higher scores than you do, because this way you can get 2 cards with the Captain Cool trick in a pub.
• You can get more points in the Big Deal if you have a lower score: the later you place cards in the Big Deal circle the longer chain you can create. This way you can collect more points with a few cards; at the same time it can be dangerous as you can't play your cards if the given Gangster Card fields are already occupied.
• It is useful to focus on collecting cards (especially with influence icons) for one or two rounds, then gain majority at the Gangster Bosses when you have a few usable Gangster cards for the Big Deal so you can get more bonus points in the same round.
• The more Gangster cards with the same value or (colored) Gangster Boss cards a player has in his hand, the more points it is possible to earn later in Big Deal circle scoring (as these can't be placed in the same round). But take care: you can't get scores for the cards you could not place by the end of the game.

Advanced Rules

The rules of the basic game are used with the following extra rules.

The three Gangster Boss cards can be used in two ways:

1. According to the basic rules, or
2. They can be used for a special action once in a round by each player.

The player playing a Captain Cool, Tom or Edward card may decide to activate its special ability. After using the special ability of the character, the card stays on the table face-up and you can only use the other action cards in the current round; after this you can't even use this card according to the basic rules in this round.

The special abilities of the Gangster Bosses are the following.

• Tom (red symbol) allows you to place 2 figures instead of one on any fields of the board (you can choose to place both to the same field or on two different spaces; you can also place the figures on the Tom space).
• Captain Cool (blue symbol): you may place a figure on the Captain Cool field (it's not compulsory), and in addition you can exchange any two figures (others' or your own) between any two different places. These Family Members can be standing in pubs and/or Gangster Boss spaces.
• Edward (green symbol): you can place a figure on the Edward field (it's not compulsory) and in addition you can replace up to two of your figures from one or two spaces to one or two different spaces of your choice.

When the special abilities are activated, the figures that you moved by using the special ability must be placed lying down, which shows these figures cannot be moved using another special ability of any card in this round.

As soon as a player has played a Gangster Boss card in his round, the players who have played pub cards are the first to place their figures. Then the rest of the players place their figures: the highest-ranked player announces if he wants to execute a special action, and if he does he executes it immediately. (If he doesn't, he places the Family Member onto the field of the given Gangster Boss as in the basic rules.) Then the second-highest ranked player takes his turn, and so on.

As a result of the special actions it is possible for a player to run out of figures before the other players. In this event, this ends the round to place figures, and the 2nd phase (Affray) is automatically started. When this happens it's possible that some players will not use all their figures in this phase.