Gold Thief
Gold Thief Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal
To collect the exact number of gold listed on your secret Goal Card, and score it face up. When you have flipped three Goal Cards face-up, you win!
Contents
40 Action cards (Gold Coin on back), 16 Goal Cards (Treasure Chest on back), 8 blank cards (Tear into little pieces and use as gold if you have no tokens!)
Starting the Game
Deal out one Goal Card and three Action Cards to everyone. Each player starts out with 5 gold. Gold can be anything: tokens, coins, candy—you name it, it's your gold! Place the leftover cards in separate piles. Then, randomly choose someone to play first.
Goal Cards
These cards represent the exact number of gold you must have in your hand at the start of your turn in order to score. Each Goal Card has two numbers on it, such as [4 or 10]. If, at the start of your turn, you match one of those numbers exactly, flip up the card—you've just scored! Keep your Goal Cards secret from the other players—face down in front of you. During the Draw Cards part of a turn, if any player is out of Goal Cards, deal an additional one to everyone.
Action Cards
Each card has an action that can be performed on your own turn, and an "anytime" action that can be used at various times depending on the card.
Thief (14 in deck): Play during your turn to steal 2 gold from another player. On someone else's turn, if they just played a Thief, play one of your own to raid and steal 1 gold from them while they're busy pillaging.
Guard (10): Play during your turn to give away 1 gold to anyone. Play anytime to cancel a Thief played to steal or raid gold, or to cancel a Witch played as an extra Thief, even if they're not stealing from you.
Witch (10): Play during your turn to steal a card from another player's hand (their choice). Play anytime as an extra Thief after one has been played. The Witch steals from and gives to the same players as that Thief.
Faerie (4): Play during your turn to put one of your Goal Cards at the bottom of the pile, and draw a new one. Play anytime to cancel a Guard or Witch just played.
Ninja (2): Play during your turn to immediately draw 3 extra Action Cards. Also allows you to score one of your Goals at the start of another player's turn if you match one of its gold numbers, before they have a chance to. (Yes, this means you can win the game before they have a chance, as Ninjas are awesome.)
Turn Sequence
On your turn, perform the following actions in order:
- Score Goal Cards: Flip over any Goal Cards that match exactly how many gold you have (you may have more than one to flip!). If you have more than 10 gold at the start of your turn, pick any one of your Goal Cards and flip it face up (Big pile of gold is good!).
- Draw Cards: Draw Action Cards from the pile until you have three. If the deck is empty, reshuffle it and keep drawing. After this, if any player has no face-down Goal Cards left, deal one to each player.
Play Your Action Cards
You may play as many Action Cards as you want! However, be wary—the other players may use their Action Cards to interrupt as you go along! When you choose to stop playing cards, your turn is over, and play passes to the next thief in line.
Winning
When you flip over your third Goal Card, you win! Victory dances and other taunting actions are encouraged, as you are the Master Thief, and therefore vastly superior to all of your friends in every way.
No tokens? Tear the blank cards included into little pieces, and give 5 to each player. Not pretty, but it works — that's what they're there for!