Home Alone Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Playing the Game
  • 1. Draw Phase
  • 2. Loot Phase
  • 3. Kevin Phase
  • 4. Bandit Phase
  • 5. Clean-Up Phase
• Ending the Game
• Playing with 3 or 4 Players
• Card Clarifications

Setup

• Decide who will play as Kevin and who will play as a Bandit.
• Place the Kevin Board in front of Kevin and the Bandit Board in front of the Bandit.
• Shuffle the Loot cards and the Kevin cards separately and create face-down draw decks on the designated spaces on the Kevin Board.
• Shuffle the Bandit cards and create a face-down draw deck on the designated space on the Bandit Board.
• Leave room for discard piles off to the sides of both boards.
• Place the Paint Bucket Die on the designated space on the Kevin Board.
• Place the three location tiles in a row between the players.

Playing the Game

The game is played in rounds. Each round has five phases, performed in this order:

1: Draw 2: Loot 3: Kevin 4: Bandit 5: Clean-Up

1. Draw Phase

Each player draws cards from their deck until they have six cards in their hand.

IMPORTANT! NONE of the card decks in the game are replenished if they run out.

If Kevin runs out of cards, the game continues, but Kevin will have no more Traps to play to protect the house.

If the Bandit runs out of cards, they will no longer be able to break in to the house or pay Penalty Costs. And if the Loot deck runs out, there will be no more Loot for the Bandit to steal.

2. Loot Phase

Kevin draws the top three Loot cards and turns them face up so they are visible to both players. These are the Loot cards that the Bandit may attempt to steal this round.

Kevin secretly decides where to put each Loot card and places one card face down at each of the three locations (Front Door, Downstairs Window, Upstairs Window). The Bandit should not know which Loot card is at each location.

3. Kevin Phase

Kevin sets Traps in the house to prevent the Bandit from stealing the family's Loot. Each Trap card features several symbols that denote what happens to the Bandit if they encounter the Trap and what they must do to get past it.

• Bulbs — Bulbs indicate what card(s) the Bandit must play in order to disarm the Trap (explained in the Bandit Phase).
• Paint Bucket — Traps with a Paint Bucket symbol give Kevin a chance to hit the Bandit with a Paint Bucket (explained in the Bandit Phase).
• Penalty Costs — These numbers indicate the Penalty Cost the Bandit must pay if they cannot disarm the Trap, but still wish to get past it (explained in the Bandit Phase).
• Special Abilities — Some Traps have a special ability that is noted on their tag.

Placing Traps

Kevin may place up to three Trap cards (or Decoys) in each location, placing them face down between the location tile and the Loot card.

Each location may have a different number of Traps. A location is not required to have any Traps.

Kevin is not required to use all of the Traps in his hand. To avoid running out of Traps, Kevin should place fewer Traps in rounds with less valuable Loot.

When Kevin is done placing Traps, play moves on to the Bandit Phase.

IMPORTANT! During the game, Kevin may look at any of the face-down cards in the house (Trap cards and Loot cards) to remember what cards have been played at each location.

If the Bandit forgets what Loot cards are in the round, Kevin must tell them, but Kevin should NOT tell the Bandit where each Loot card is located. That's a secret!

Decoys

Decoys are cards that Kevin sets as if they are Traps, but if they are revealed by the Bandit, they are immediately discarded with no need to be disarmed (explained in the Bandit Phase).

Kevin can use Decoys to bluff that a location has more Traps than it actually does.

4. Bandit Phase

Now the Bandit gets to go after the Loot!

IMPORTANT! The Bandit player is not required to break in to any location in a round. At any time, they may end the Bandit Phase and move to the Clean-Up Phase.

Choosing a Location & Paying the Break-In Cost

The Bandit announces which of the three locations they would like to break in to and pays the Break-In Cost required to enter that location. Location Break-In Costs (and Penalty Costs, explained later) are paid by discarding cards, according to the symbols shown:

• For a plain numbered symbol, the Bandit must discard the number of cards shown, and the cards must be discarded from their hand.
• For the numbered symbol with the arrow/deck icon, the Bandit must discard the number of cards shown, but each card may be discarded either from their hand or from the top of the Bandit deck.

For example: If the Bandit would like to break in to the Upstairs Window, they must pay the Break-In Cost by discarding two cards: one card must be discarded from their hand, and the other card may be discarded from either their hand or the top of the Bandit deck.

Disarming Traps & Paying Penalty Costs

After the Bandit pays the Break-In Cost to enter a location, Kevin turns over the first Trap (closest to the location tile). When the Trap is revealed, the Bandit has two options for getting past the Trap: they may either disarm the Trap or "take the pain" (pay the Penalty Cost).

• Disarm the Trap — To disarm the Trap, the Bandit must discard a card (or cards) from their hand that contain the bulbs shown on the Trap card. For example: if a Trap shows a blue bulb and a green bulb, the Bandit must discard a card (or cards) from their hand containing a blue bulb and a green bulb.
• "Take the Pain" (Pay the Penalty Cost) — Instead of disarming the Trap, the Bandit may pay the Penalty Cost by discarding the required number of cards, according to the symbols shown on the Trap (using the same discard rules as Break-In Costs above — some cards must come from hand, others may come from hand or the top of the Bandit deck).

After the Bandit either disarms the Trap or "takes the pain" (pays the Penalty Cost), the current Trap is discarded, the next Trap is revealed, and the Bandit faces the same options as before.

If a Decoy is revealed, it does not need to be disarmed. The Bandit simply moves right past it. Immediately discard the Decoy and reveal the next Trap at the location.

Retreat

The Bandit may retreat from a location at any time. The Bandit must retreat if a Trap is revealed that the Bandit cannot get past by disarming or "taking the pain."

After retreating from a location, the Bandit may choose to enter a different location by paying its Break-In Cost, or they may end the Bandit Phase and move on to the Clean-Up Phase. Once a Bandit has left a location, that Bandit may NOT return to the same location in that round.

NOTE: Even if the Bandit has no more cards in their hand, they may continue moving through a location. They are not required to retreat until they encounter a Trap that they are not able to get past.

Action Cards

The Bandit has six Action cards. At any time during the Bandit Phase, the Bandit may play an Action card by performing the action described on it and discarding the card. There is no limit to the number of Action cards the Bandit may play.

Action cards may be discarded to pay location Break-In Costs and Penalty Costs, in which case the actions are ignored.

The Action cards are:

• Case the Place! — Turn any two cards (Loot or Traps) in one location face up.
• You Missed Me! — Disarm any one revealed Trap.
• Silver Tuna! — Kevin must look at the top of the Loot deck and place it face down to a location of his choice.
• Crowbars Up! — Draw 2 cards from the deck.
• Crowbars Up! — Draw 2 cards from the deck.
• Peek In Window! — Kevin must turn the Loot card(s) with the lowest base value face up.

Paint Bucket Traps

If a Trap is revealed that has a Paint Bucket symbol, Kevin immediately rolls the Paint Bucket Die to attempt to hit the Bandit with a Paint Bucket.

The Bandit may NOT retreat before Kevin rolls the die.

If the die comes up blank, Kevin misses the Bandit and nothing happens.

If the die shows a Paint Bucket, the Bandit must discard one card from their hand that has a bulb of the color rolled (even if the card also has a bulb of another color).

If the Bandit does not have a card with a bulb of the color rolled, they must show their hand to Kevin, but they do not have to discard a card and the Paint Bucket has no effect.

NOTE: The Paint Bucket Die is resolved independently of the Trap. Discarding a card due to a Paint Bucket hit does not contribute toward getting past the Trap.

Take the Loot

If all of the Traps in a location have been discarded, the Bandit successfully steals the Loot and places it in the van, face up so that both players can see how much Loot has been stolen by the Bandit.

After taking the Loot, the Bandit may choose to break in to a different location (by paying its Break-In Cost), or they may end the Bandit Phase and move on to the Clean-Up Phase.

5. Clean-Up Phase

In the Clean-Up Phase, all Loot and Trap cards that are still in the house (whether revealed or not) are discarded and the next round begins, starting with the Draw Phase. Any cards in the players' hands are kept and carried over to the next round.

NOTE: Unrevealed Trap cards should be discarded face down so the Bandit does not know what they were.

Ending the Game

If the Bandit steals $2,000 worth of Loot, the game ends and the Bandit wins.

If the Loot cards run out or if the Bandit player runs out of cards (in both their hand and deck) and cannot continue moving through a location, the Bandit is arrested and Kevin wins.

NOTE: Because of the "Silver Tuna" Action card, it is possible that there may be only two Loot cards left for the final round. If this happens, simply play the round as normal using only the two Loot cards and two locations of Kevin's choice.

Playing with 3 or 4 Players

In a 3- or 4-player game, one player plays as Kevin, while the other players are Bandits who play as a team against Kevin. The game plays the same as a 2-player game, with the following changes:

• In a 3-player game, the two Bandits must collectively steal $2,200 worth of loot to win. During the Draw Phase, each Bandit draws cards from their deck until they have four cards in their hand.
• In a 4-player game, the three Bandits must collectively steal $2,400 worth of loot to win. During the Draw Phase, each Bandit draws from their deck until they have three cards in their hand.
• During the Draw Phase, Kevin still draws until six cards are in hand.
• Bandits may show their cards to each other and discuss strategy.
• Bandits break in to the house one at a time, in any order of their choosing. At any point, a Bandit may retreat from a location and another Bandit may enter the same location (without paying the Break-In Cost, which was already paid). However, once a Bandit has left a location, that Bandit may NOT return to the same location in that round.
• Paint Bucket Die rolls only affect the Bandit in the location when the Paint Bucket Trap is revealed.
• Only one Bandit can discard cards to get past each Trap, whether to disarm the Trap or "take the pain." For example, if a Trap shows a green bulb and a red bulb, it can NOT be disarmed by having one Bandit discard a green bulb and another Bandit discard a red bulb. Both cards must be discarded by the same Bandit.

Card Clarifications

Case the Place!

If using Case the Place reveals a Trap with a Paint Bucket symbol, that symbol is ignored; Kevin does NOT roll the die for that Trap, even if the Bandit breaks in to that location.

If Case the Place reveals a Christmas Ornaments Trap, the Trap's ability is ignored; Kevin may NOT add a new Trap.

Peek In Window!

If two or more Loot cards are tied for the lowest base value (the dollar amount shown at the bottom of the card), Kevin must reveal all of the tied cards.

Christmas Ornaments

If Kevin decides to add the top card of the deck, this must be done without Kevin looking at the card. Kevin must decide whether to add a new Trap before the Bandit disarms Christmas Ornaments or "takes the pain."

Fan & Feathers

The Fan & Feathers Trap can only go back into Kevin's hand if it is disarmed. If the Bandit "takes the pain" to get past Fan & Feathers, it is discarded.

Ladder

The Ladder is worth $100. However, if the Bandit has stolen it, they may choose to discard it at any time to break in to the Upstairs Window without having to pay the Break-In Cost.

$200 Cash

The Cash is worth $200. However, if the Bandit has stolen it, they may choose to discard it at any time to gain extra cards. To do so, the Bandit shuffles their discard pile face down, randomly chooses three cards, and adds them to their hand. In a 3- or 4-player game, the Bandits may distribute the extra cards amongst themselves however they wish.

Safe and Key

By themselves, the Safe and Key are worthless, as each has a base value of $0. However, if the Bandit steals both cards, they unlock the Safe and discover $600 inside.

Stereo Components

There are three Stereo Components (one Console and two Speakers). Each Component has a base value of $200. However, if the Bandit steals any two Components, they are worth $600 ($300 each) and if the Bandit steals all three Components, they are worth a total of $1,200 ($400 each).