Kids of London
Kids of London Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components (Matériel)
- 45 "Street Child" cards (Enfant des Rues), 9 of each colour. The card backs show the Kids of London logo.
- 9 "Character" tiles (Personnage) plus 1 "Character reminder" tile (Rappel des personnages). The character tiles have a back showing the Kids of London logo.
- 60 coins:
- 5 coins of value 10 (gold)
- 10 coins of value 5 (silver)
- 15 coins of value 3 (copper)
- 30 coins of value 1 (copper)
Goal of the Game (But du jeu)
Be the second richest player at the end of the game.
Setup (Mise en place)
- Each player chooses a colour and takes the nine cards numbered 0 to 8 of that colour. These represent the nine street children of their gang.
- The nine "Character" tiles are shuffled and placed in the centre of the table to form a face-down draw pile.
- The coins are placed next to the pile, forming the supply (réserve).
Gameplay (Déroulement)
The game is played over nine turns, each representing one hour of the day.
1. Who's There? (Qui va là ?)
The first tile of the draw pile is turned over: this character is the one the street children have spotted for this turn. The number of coins the character holds is shown on their tile.
Example: during this turn, the character to steal is a jeweller. She has 6 coins on her.
2. Street Child (Enfant des rues)
Each player secretly chooses the "Street Child" card they will play for this turn and places it face down in front of them.
3. The Theft (Le vol)
Once all the "Street Child" cards have been chosen, they are turned face up simultaneously.
- The player who played the "Street Child" card of highest value steals the character of this turn: they take from the supply the number of coins shown on the character's tile.
Remark: If several players played the card of highest value, they share the number of coins shown on the character's tile, rounding down to the lower unit. They carried out this theft together (except for card 8: see "Street Child cards").
- The player who played the "Street Child" card of lowest value goes off to steal elsewhere in London: they take from the supply a number of coins equal to the value of their card.
Remarks:
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If the value of their card is 0, this player takes no coins.
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If several players played the card of lowest value, each of them takes a number of coins equal to the value of their card. They each carried out their theft on their own.
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The other players, who played neither the card of highest value nor the card of lowest value, take no coins. They did not steal anything during this turn.
Example: during this turn, the character to steal is a jeweller with 6 coins. Bastien played a "Street Child" card of value 4, Roméo a card of value 6, Louis a card of value 7, and Marjolaine a card of value 8. Marjolaine, having played the card of highest value, steals the jeweller: she takes the 6 coins. Bastien, having played the card of lowest value, goes off to steal elsewhere in London: he takes 4 coins (the value of his card). Roméo and Louis take nothing.
4. The Clock Ticks On... (L'horloge tourne…)
The "Street Child" cards and the "Character" tile used during this turn are discarded face down. Then the players move on to the next hour, that is, to the next turn.
Important: Each player must always keep their coins in front of them, visible to all.
End of the Game (Fin de partie)
The game ends after nine turns, that is, when all the "Street Child" cards have been played and the pile of "Character" tiles is exhausted.
Each player counts their gains: the player with the most money is stripped by the neighbourhood boss and must give everything back (they discard it all and therefore finish last). Thus, it is the second richest player who wins the game!
Remarks:
- If several players have won the highest amount of money, they all discard it.
- If several players are second, they are tied and all win the victory.
The "Street Child" Cards (Les cartes « Enfants des Rues »)
- The "Street Child" cards are numbered 0 to 8, each number being represented exactly once.
- The card of value 8 is special: it represents the gang leader. It is the strongest card, but if several leaders are played during the same turn, the police arrive and arrest them: they are immediately discarded, without being able to steal anything. In this case, the player who played the card of highest value after the 8s takes the number of coins shown on the character tile of the turn.
Example: during this turn, the character is a banker with 7 coins on him. Roméo plays a "Street Child" card of value 8, Louis also 8, Bastien a card of value 5, and Marjolaine a card of value 1. The leaders of Roméo and Louis are arrested by the police, so Bastien's card of value 5 becomes the highest: he takes the banker's 7 coins. Marjolaine, having played the card of lowest value, takes 1 coin (the value of her card).
Remark: If during a turn only one player's card remains in play, because all the other players were leaders arrested by the police, that card represents both the highest and the lowest value. This player then chooses the sum they prefer to take: the value of their card, or the character's money.
The "Character" Tiles (Les tuiles « Personnage »)
- Merchant (×2): 4 coins.
- Left priest (×1): 5 coins to the left. Right priest (×1): 5 coins to the right. When a priest is robbed, the player takes 5 coins from the supply and gives them to their left neighbour (for the left priest) or to their right neighbour (for the right priest).
- Jeweller (×2): 6 coins.
- Banker (×1): 7 coins.
- Prince/Comedian (×1): 8 or 0 coins. When the prince/comedian is robbed, the player chooses either to take 8 coins (in which case it was a prince) or to take none (it was only a comedian).
Remark: In case of a tie for the theft of the prince/comedian, each player chooses whether they prefer to steal 0 or 8 coins. The players who choose the 8 coins share that sum, divided by the number of tied players and rounded down to the lower unit.
Example: Marjolaine and Roméo are tied for the theft of the prince/comedian. Marjolaine chooses the comedian (0) and Roméo chooses the prince (8). Marjolaine takes no coins, and Roméo takes 4 coins: the 8 coins divided by 2, since he is tied with Marjolaine.
Special case: If the prince/comedian is drawn during the last turn of the game, it is automatically a prince, so its theft is worth 8 coins.
- Beggar (×1): minus 3 coins. The player who steals the beggar loses three of their coins if they already have that many in front of them; if they have fewer, they lose all of their coins.
Variant for 2 Players (Variante à 2 joueurs)
The two-player variant brings a different approach to the game, a little more tactical still.
In a two-player game, a fictitious player (joueur fictif) makes an appearance.
- Setup (Mise en place): During set-up, the nine "Street Child" cards of one colour are shuffled and placed face down near the "Character" pile. This is the street gang of the fictitious player.
- Gameplay (Déroulement): The game proceeds in the same way. However, during each turn, just after the "Character" tile is revealed, the first "Street Child" card of the fictitious player is turned face up before the two players have chosen their own "Street Child" card: it is up to them to take this information into account when choosing their own card.
- Important: Coins won by the fictitious player are placed visibly next to their pile of cards.
- End of the game (Fin de partie): At the end of the game, each player counts their money, and one of the two players also counts the money of the fictitious player. It is still the second richest player, fictitious player included, who wins.
Remark: If the fictitious player is the second richest player, it is they who win the victory. The two "real" players have lost!
Special cases:
- When the fictitious player steals the prince/comedian, they always choose the prince and take 8 coins.
- If during a turn only the fictitious player's card remains in play (the two "real" players each played their gang leader, and both were arrested by the police), the fictitious player always chooses to steal the character.