Crash! (2021)
Crash! (2021) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 56 vehicle cards
- 1 scoring pad
- 1 pencil
Note: the printed rulebook lists 56 vehicle cards, but its text states "55 vehicle cards". This is a discrepancy in the source and is reproduced as printed.
Goal of the Game
Play vehicle cards so that you do not cause a crash! Avoid penalty points! The player who collects the fewest penalty points wins.
Cards
The game contains 55 vehicle cards! Each vehicle has its name (at the top of the card), its value (in the top left corner), and its symbol set (on the left side).
Game Procedure
Setup
Shuffle the vehicle cards and place one face-up in front of each player. The player who received the vehicle card with the highest value starts the game. If there is a tie, deal another face-up card to the tied players. Repeat this until the starting player has been chosen.
Once the starting player is decided, players take the cards lying in front of them into their hand. Then deal the remaining cards face down so that each player has 7 cards.
Note: in a 6-player game, players start the game with 5 vehicle cards!
Gameplay
The game consists of several rounds. In each round, players play cards onto a pile. The player who ends a deal starts the next one.
A round ends when one of the players has finished three deals, or after a deal after which at least one player has no cards left in hand.
Deal
The player starting the deal plays a face-up card from their hand onto the table. They read the name of the vehicle card and choose the player who must play a card next. Note: they cannot choose themselves.
The chosen player must play a card they own (from their hand, or from the table in front of them). That card must meet two conditions:
- Its value must be equal to or higher than the value of the previously played card.
- It must have a matching symbol with the previously played card.
After a card is played, the player chooses who is to play the next card.
Players continue in this way through the round until the chosen player cannot play a card that meets both conditions. A "crash" then occurs. The player who caused it places the cards from their hand, face up, in front of themselves on the table.
The player who played the last card ends the deal and takes all the cards lying on the pile, and places the pile in front of themselves so that the last vehicle card played is visible. Then they play a card onto the table, starting the next deal.
Note: a player cannot be chosen to play a card if they have no cards in hand and none of their cards lie face up on the table, or if none of their cards meets both conditions.
If a player cannot choose anyone, or has played the Meteor card with a value of 400, that player wins the deal, takes all the cards lying on the pile, and places the pile in front of themselves.
Big Traffic Jam
If after a deal, face-up cards lie on the table in front of all players, deal each player 4 vehicle cards. Players take these cards into their hand. When they are chosen to play a card, they may decide whether to play a card from the table or from their hand.
If a player causes a "crash", they must add cards from their hand to the face-up cards lying in front of them on the table.
Note: the rulebook's section title "Wielki korek" literally means "big traffic jam"; the title is translated accordingly.
End of Round
A round ends after a deal after which:
- one player has 3 piles of vehicle cards in front of them (they have ended a deal three times), or
- only one player or no player has vehicle cards in hand or lying face up in front of them, or
- the player who won the deal has no vehicle cards left.
Each pile of vehicles symbolises an accident caused by a careless driver. The last vehicle card played lying on the pile shows how many penalty points the holder of the pile receives. All players add up their penalty points from all the piles they have "collected" and record them on the scoring pad. The Meteor card with a value of 400 does not give any penalty points.
Note: a player may prevent receiving penalty points by buying insurance. To do so, they must place on the pile a card from their hand with the same or a higher value than the last card lying on it. The symbols on the cards may differ. Each pile insured in this way does not give penalty points.
The player who has 3 piles of vehicle cards in front of them receives an additional 100 penalty points for being careless (regardless of whether those piles are insured or not).
After all players have bought insurance, each player counts how many unplayed cards they have with a value lower than 10. The player or players with the most such cards receive an additional 100 penalty points for slowing down traffic, for each such card.
After the points have been counted, play the next round. The round is started by the player who ended the deal last in the previous round.
End of Game
The game ends after the round in which one of the players reaches (or exceeds) 1000 penalty points. The winner is the player who has accumulated the fewest penalty points in total. In the event of a tie, play one more round to determine the winner.