Caramba! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Content
• Game Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Phase 1: New Crates
    • Crates in play
  • Phase 2: Making Bids
  • Phase 3: Splitting Loot
    • Two Tie all Tie
  • Phase 4: Stashing Crates
    • Bid Bonuses for Crates in Play
  • Phase 5: The Draw
• End of the Game: and Determining the Winner
• Special Cards
  • Manos arriba!
  • Estoy de vuelta!
  • Fuera!
  • En securidad!

Content

• 60 bid cards: 15 per band (Bandidos, Soldados, Gringos and Indios).
• 4 special cards.
• 1 "First Player" card.
• 24 crate tokens worth 2, 3 or 4 points (8 for each type of treasure).
• 1 cloth sack.
• 1 game rules.

Game Setup

• Each player takes and shuffles the cards belonging to his band; either Bandidos, Soldados, Gringos or Indios. The players then place their decks face down in front of them and draw 4 cards from the top, making their initial hand. The remainder of each deck is kept face down and becomes the players draw.
• The special cards are shuffled and placed in a separate pile. Each player draws one card. For games with less than four players, the extra cards are put aside without revealing which cards were not drawn.
• The crate tokens are placed in the cloth sack and the contents are then shaken.
• The player with the most impressive moustache starts. Place the "First Player" card in front of him.

Playing the Game

A game is made up of several turns. Each turn is divided into 5 phases that take place in sequential order. The phases are:

1. New Crates.
2. Making Bids.
3. Splitting Loot.
4. Stashing Crates.
5. Draw.

Phase 1: New Crates

The Crates contain three highly coveted types of treasure all sought heartily by the player's band: gold (yellow), ammunition (green), and dynamite (red). Their value varies from 2 to 4.

At the beginning of each turn, the first player draws crate tokens until at least one of each type is pulled out of the sack.

The Crate tokens are then placed in the center of the table.

Pancho plays first. He pulls crate tokens out of the sack one at a time until he gets at least one of each type. As chance would have it, he pulls out two gold crates (worth 3 and 4) and three ammunition tokens (worth 2, 3 and 4) before finally pulling out a crate of dynamite (worth 3). Pancho must stop drawing now because the necessary conditions have been met, and the bands are eager to get to the loot. At least one of each type of crate is present for bidding.

Crates in play

At the beginning of the 2nd turn it's possible that some players will have crates still in play, either because they chose not to stash them or they weren't able to do so (See "Stashing Crates" below). These crates are placed face up in front of the players. The crate type in presence is taken into consideration during the New Crates phase. For example, if a player at the beginning of a turn has a crate of ammunition in play in front of him, only gold and dynamite are needed to start the Making Bids phase, and crates are pulled out of the sack until at least one of all three types are present.

NOTE: It is very well possible that, because of this rule, it is not necessary to pull new crate tokens out of the sack at all. In this event, none are drawn.

Phase 2: Making Bids

During this phase, players bid, one after the other using the bid cards in their hand in order to win the various types of treasure. Each bid card has two distinct pieces of information: the type of treasure that can be acquired and the value bid for that given treasure. (Players do not have to bid higher than the value of cards already bid by other players in order to have the right to bid. They must simply have a corresponding card for that type.)

This card allows a player to bid for gold or ammunition. Its value when used to bid for gold is 3, and its value is 4 when used to bid for ammunition.

The first player starts the bidding, followed by the player to the left, and the round continues in clockwise fashion. When the bid comes to them, each player may either bid or pass.

• A player bids by placing a card from their hand directly face up with the treasure type bid for pointed towards the center of the table.
• Only one card can be played per bid.
• If a player passes they withdraw completely from all fights: they may not bid again during the turn.

There is no limit to the number of rounds during a bid: the bid continues for as long as one player continues to bid. The bid stops when all the players pass.

Players continue to bid for as many types of treasure as they wish: it's up to them to manage their hand as best they can, weighing their cards played against the crates on the table.

The first player may not pass during the first round of a bid phase; a card must be played. As soon as the bid comes back around, the first player may pass.

The cards are placed so that the color of the treasure type being bid for faces the center of the table: yellow for gold, green for ammunition, and red for dynamite. As new cards are bid they are staggered on top of cards already bid by the player so that their values are always in plain sight.

Phase 3: Splitting Loot

Bid winners are determined for each type of treasure during the Splitting Loot phase. Each player adds up the values of the cards they played and any bonuses. The player who has the highest total wins all of the treasure for that type, including treasure of that type that was kept in play by opponents. (Crates "in play" are those that have not been placed aside during the Stashing Crates phase.) Crate tokens won are placed face up in front of each winner. A player may well have won more than one type of treasure.

The players then discard all cards that were used successfully to win a type of treasure, but take back up into their hand the others. Discarded bid cards are placed face up beside the draw pile, forming a discard pile.

Pancho, Emiliano, Porfirio and Dolores start a game. At the end of the Making Bids phase, Pancho made the highest offer for the gold and won two crates of gold, while Dolores came away with three crates of ammunition and Emiliano a crate of dynamite. Porfirio is the big loser for this turn, but, in consolation, he picks back up all of his cards for the next turn. The others must discard those that they used successfully to win crates.

Two Tie all Tie

If there's a tie, no one wins in that treasure category and all players pick back up their cards used to bid for that type. Moreover, if any player has crates of that type in play, (crates that have not yet been stashed) they are lost; they are placed back in the center of the table.

Phase 4: Stashing Crates

During this phase, players who have crates in front of them, having won them earlier in the game, may stash one, and only one, away in a safe place. This is done by turning the crate face down: it is now considered definitively won.

Even if the player wins more than one type of treasure during a bid phase, only a single crate may be stashed away.

Stashing away a crate is not a mandatory action: players may choose to keep crates that were won "in play" in front of them to form a line of defense (see "Bid Bonuses for Crates in Play" below).

Crates that have been stashed away are kept secret from others. Opponents may ask a player to show the amount of crate tokens stashed, but not to reveal their values.

Pancho and Dolores chose to stash their crates with values of 4: both turn them face down in front of them. Emiliano follows suit and turns his dynamite crate over, stashing it away.

Bid Bonuses for Crates in Play

Crates won that have not been stashed away give a bonus to their owner during the bid phases of future turns. During the bid phase, the players count their highest valued crate of each type and add it to the tally of the corresponding category. In short, players might be able to gain a free bonus to their bid of 2, 3 or 4 for a given treasure type corresponding to crates that they have left in play.

On the second turn, Emiliano plays first. The only treasure that is missing on the table is dynamite, since a crate of gold is in play, face up, in front of Pancho and two crates of ammunition are in play in front of Dolores. During the New Crates phase, Emiliano pulls out a crate of gold (worth 2) and a crate of dynamite (also worth 2). Now that at least one of each type has been found the phase is over and the two new crates are placed in the center of the table. When the bidding phase starts, Pancho starts with a bonus of 3 gold and Dolores a bonus of 3 ammunition.

During the Stashing Crates phase, Emiliano turns his crate worth 3 gold face down. It is now safe. Porfirio does the same with his dynamite. During the next bid phase on the next turn, Emiliano will start with a 2 gold bonus.

At the end of the bid phase, Emiliano made the highest offer for the gold, Porfirio the highest for the dynamite but he has tied Dolores for the ammunition. Emiliano wins the two crates of gold, both the one in the middle and the one that belonged to Pancho. Porfirio makes off with the crate of dynamite. Because of the tie, the crates of ammunition that belonged to Dolores are placed back in the center of the table for the next bid phase: they are now up for grabs.

Phase 5: The Draw

Players end the turn by drawing 2 cards each from their respective draw piles.

When a draw pile has been exhausted, the discard pile is shuffled and a new draw pile is made from those cards.

There is no limit to the number of cards a player may have in their hand.

The turn ends after the draw. The player to the left of the "first player" becomes the new "first player" and starts the next turn by pulling crates from the sack, if necessary.

End of the Game: and Determining the Winner

The game ends immediately when, during the New Crates phase, there are no longer enough crates to make a valid bid phase, meaning at least one of each type (gold, ammunition and dynamite). The players then count up their total points. The crates in the center of the table and those still "in play" are not counted.

Players tally only the values of the crates that were stashed away: all the treasure types are weighted equally for the total sum. The player with the most points wins the game. In the case of a tie, the tying player with the most cards still in hand wins.

Special Cards

Each player starts the game with a special card. The special cards can only be played once and are put aside after they have been played until the end of the game.

Manos arriba!

This card announces a hold up and closes the bidding phase immediately: players pass to the Splitting Loot phase. This card cannot be played during the first round of bidding, and can only be played during the Making Bids phase.

Estoy de vuelta!

This card allows the player that plays it to pick up any one card from their discard pile and place it in their hand. It can only be played during the Making Bids phase.

Fuera!

This card allows the player who plays it to protect a type of treasure crates that are in play. The player places the card next to the crates that are to be protected, and is certain that they cannot be lost during this turn regardless of the results of the Splitting Loot phase.

NOTE: this card must be played before the start of the Making Bids phase. Once the phase has been started, the player must wait until the next turn to use the card.

En securidad!

This card allows the player that plays it to turn over, during the Stashing Crates phase, as many crates as desired, up to a maximum of 6 total value. They need not be all of the same type.

For example, it is possible to stash one crate of ammunition worth 4 and a crate of dynamite worth 2.