Looting London
Looting London Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 72 Witness cards (18 each of Yellow Waif, Green Organ Grinder, Blue Bobby, Red Dame)
- 25 Evidence Tiles (each color corresponds to a 'case' that must be solved)
- 5 Bonus disks (Green 2, Orange 3, Yellow 4, Blue 4, Purple 5)
- Rules
Setup
Place 5 Bonus Disks in a row face-up. Shuffle Evidence Tiles and place them randomly, face-up, in a 5x5 grid below the Bonus Disks. Each Bonus Disk should have a column of 5 Evidence Tiles below it.
Variant: for a more balanced game, ensure the color of the top Evidence Tile matches the color of the Bonus Disk it is immediately under.
Shuffle the Witness cards. Place 4 face-up cards in a row near the Evidence Tiles and place the remaining deck as a draw pile.
Game Play
Choose a start player; play proceeds clockwise.
Optional Step 1: Melding
At the start of your turn (only) you may meld cards (turn in a matching set to the discard pile). Turn in a number of cards matching the number of a Evidence Tile at the bottom of one of the 5 columns. The figure on the cards must match the figure on the Evidence Tile (Waif, Organ Grinder, Bobby, Dame). Take the corresponding Evidence Tile & place it face-up in front of you.
Only the bottom tile in a column may be taken.
Jokers
Turn in a pair of identical cards as a joker to replace one needed card to obtain a tile. Use any number of joker pairs per meld.
Destroying Evidence
Before melding, you may discard 2, 4, 6, or 8 identical cards of any one type to destroy 1, 2, 3, or 4 Evidence Tiles in a single column (the figure on the discarded cards does not have to correspond to the figure(s) on the destroyed Evidence Tiles). After destroying evidence, you MUST immediately meld and take the next available card in that column. You may not destroy evidence if you cannot meld to take the next remaining Evidence Tile. Therefore, you may not destroy the last Evidence Tile in a column (the top one closest to the Bonus Disk) because then you couldn't meld to take a tile in that column. You also may not destroy an Evidence Tile that would end the game (see below) as you could not then meld afterwards.
A joker pair of identical cards may be used in the place of any required card used to destroy evidence.
Mandatory Step 2: Draw
Select either one of the four face-up cards, replacing it with the top card from the draw pile, or take the top card from the draw pile directly. If the four face-up cards are identical, you may discard them and reveal four new cards before drawing your card.
When the deck is exhausted, shuffle the discard pile into a new deck.
Game End & Scoring
When all tiles of a single color have been taken or destroyed from all columns, the corresponding case is solved. The player with the highest total of Evidence Tiles (sum the numbers on the tiles) in that color wins the Bonus Disk and places it face-up in front of him. In the case of a tie, the Bonus Disk is not awarded and is discarded.
The game ends after the fourth Bonus Disk is awarded (or discarded in the case of a tie). The fifth color remains 'unsolved' and all Evidence Tiles of that color are discarded and do not count for scoring! The players then sum their Evidence Tiles and Bonus Disks; high score wins.
Master Sleuth Variant
Play 3 games, combining points to determine the highest overall.