Overbooking Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Course of the Game
  • Phase 1 - Playing Cards
    • Back Door and Check-in Queue
  • Inn Card Explanations
  • Guest Card Explanations
  • Example of Cards Played in Phase 1 (3-player game)
  • Phase 2 - Checking Reservations
    • Examples for Phase 2 - Checking Reservations
• Inns: Special Check-in Rules
• Guests: Special Abilities
  • Phase 3 - Preparing for the Next Round
• End of the Game and Final Scoring

Object of the Game

Try to provide dinner and lodging in the inns to as many of your guests as possible. You will have to plan carefully which guests to add straight to the check-in queue so that they get a place to sleep, and which are better left at the back door, where the guests' special abilities can be activated, affecting who can check in to the inn and how. If there are too many guests, the inn will be overbooked and there will not be enough places for everyone! Try to guess which guests your opponents have played: a hint is the size of the coat of arms on the back of their cards. Also keep track of the value of your guests' cards, since at the end of the game they will bring you different numbers of victory points (VP).

Components

• 96 guest cards (4 decks of 24 cards in red, blue, green and orange: representatives of four families with different coats of arms)
• 16 inns (on 8 double-sided inn cards)
• 20 victory point (VP) tokens
• 4 scoring cards
• 4 reference cards of the guests' special abilities
• 1 first player marker

Setup

• Each player takes a deck of 24 guest cards in the chosen colour, shuffles it well and places it face down in front of them. Each player also takes a reference card and a scoring card. Agree which side of the scoring cards you want to use in the game: the beginner side or the expert side (with a crown symbol). If you like, you can play the first game without scoring cards.
• Take at random from the box as many inns as there are players.
• Lay the inns out in a column one below the other (as in the 3-player example in the picture) so that all players can reach them.
• Place 1 VP token to the left of each inn (that is, at the back door).
• Each player takes 9 cards from their guest deck into their hand.
• The player who most recently stayed in an inn becomes the first player and receives the first player marker.

Course of the Game

The game lasts 4 rounds. Each round consists of the following phases:

1. Phase 1 - Playing Cards
2. Phase 2 - Checking Reservations
3. Phase 3 - Preparing for the Next Round (except in round 4)

Phase 1 - Playing Cards

Starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, each player places one guest card face down next to an inn of their choice: to the right of it (in the check-in queue) or to the left of it (at the back door).

Place the first guest card directly next to the inn, the second card next to the first, and so on. The result is a long queue of guests.

Take turns placing one card at a time until each player has placed five cards. Exception: the player who goes last may decide not to place their fifth card.

Each player may look at their own previously placed face-down cards at any time. However, the game is more exciting if you decide not to allow this.

Back Door and Check-in Queue

Depending on which side you place a card, it serves a different function:

• Back door (to the left of the inn) - maximum 2 cards. Guests who will activate their special abilities in Phase 2 - Checking Reservations.
• Check-in queue (to the right of the inn) - maximum 4 cards. Guests who want to get a place in the inn.

The number on a guest card indicates the number of guests in that group. However, the number of places in the inns is limited. The Monk needs only one place, while all the other guests arrive in groups and therefore need several places.

At most two guest cards may be left at the back door of each inn. Placing cards there is optional. The guests' special abilities are explained on page 15 [the Guests: Special Abilities section below]. The first player to place a guest card at the back door of any inn immediately receives the VP token placed there. At the end of the game each token is worth 1 VP.

Note: in Phase 1, no more than four guest cards may be placed in the check-in queue of each inn. In Phase 2 - Checking Reservations - there may be more guests in the check-in queue. Inns with special rules that allow up to five guest cards in the check-in queue are an exception here.

Inn Card Explanations

The task is to find places in the inns for as many of your guests as possible. But you must also pay attention to their value (the number of coins on the guest cards)!

The number on each inn card shows how many places it has in total. How these places are distributed among the various guests waiting outside is explained in the section Phase 2 - Checking Reservations.

You should also try to lodge in the inns as many guests as possible from one family (that is, with the same coat of arms), because at the end of the game you will be awarded additional points for guests with identical coats of arms. The number of additional VP is given in the section on the end of the game and scoring. If you like, you can also play the first game without awarding additional VP.

An overview of all the inns' check-in rules can be found on page 14 [the Inns: Special Check-in Rules section below].

Inn card parts: places available in this inn; special check-in rules for this inn.

Guest Card Explanations

Card parts: required number of places; points (1 VP per coin); coat of arms; player colour; special abilities (activated at the back door).

• Small coat of arms: cards that need 1-3 places in the inn.
• Large coat of arms: cards that need 4-6 places in the inn.

Note: the back of a guest card shows a coat of arms of one of two sizes. The size of the coat of arms gives an idea of which cards your opponents may have played.

Details of all the guests' special abilities can be found on page 15 [the Guests: Special Abilities section below].

Example of Cards Played in Phase 1 (3-player game)

(Illustration only in the original; no rules text.)

Phase 2 - Checking Reservations

Otherwise proceed as follows. Start with the first inn:

1. Turn face up all guest cards lying to the right and left of the first inn. (Leave in place any cards already turned face up because of inns' special check-in rules.)

2. First apply the special abilities of the guests waiting at the back door (details on page 15 [see Guests: Special Abilities below]). Apply them one after another, starting with the card closest to the inn. A short summary of the special abilities is on the reference card in front of you.

3. Now check which guests get a place in the inn. Only count the guests in the check-in queue. First check whether any guests have priority, either thanks to the special abilities of Noblewomen at the back door or thanks to the special check-in rules of the inn itself. If so, start with the cards of those guests.

   Otherwise proceed as follows. Always start with the card closest to the inn that has the most guests needing places (the number on the card, from 6 to 1):

   • Does the inn have enough places for this card's requirement? Then places can be reserved for these guests. Slightly push the chosen card up out of the row. Immediately subtract the number of places these guests need (the number at the top of the card) from the total number of places in the inn. Then move on to the next card and keep reserving places as long as free places remain. If two guest cards have the same number, first reserve places for the card that is closer to the inn.
   • Does the inn not have enough places for this card? Then places cannot be reserved in this inn for this guest card. Instead, check whether there are enough places for the card with the next-highest number of guests, and reserve places in the inn if possible.

   If places can no longer be reserved for any of the cards, each player must discard those cards of their colour for which the inn had no room. These cards are no longer used in the current game: discard them. Each player lays the cards of theirs that found places in the inn in front of them. The VP shown on each card (yellow coins) will be added later, at final scoring. The coats of arms also bring VP at the end of the game (if you are playing with the scoring cards). Cards remaining at the back door are also discarded.

4. Repeat this process for all inns. Phase 2 is complete.

Examples for Phase 2 - Checking Reservations

Example 1. This inn has 13 free places and no special check-in rules. No guest card was placed at the back door.

Places are first given to the orange player's "Soldiers (5)" card, because it has the highest number (that fits within the limit of free places) and is closer to the inn than the other Soldiers card. After that, 13 - 5 = 8 free places remain in the inn. The card with the next highest or equal number is the blue player's "Soldiers (5)". Since there are enough free places, these guests also reserve them, leaving 8 - 5 = 3 places free. That is not enough for the card with the next highest number of guests, "Noblewomen (4)", so they cannot reserve places in this inn. But places are still left for the last, orange "Merchants (2)" card. Now all cards in this inn have been checked.

Example 2. This inn has 8 free places and a special rule that Monks reserve places first. In addition, thanks to a Merchants card at the back door, the inn has three more places than usual, so there are 11 places in total.

Thanks to the inn's special rule, a place is reserved for the Monk who is first in the check-in queue. That leaves 10 free places. After places are reserved for the blue "Noblewomen (4)" card, 6 places remain, which is enough for the "Maids (3)" and "Merchants (2)" cards. Thus all guests of this inn found places.

Example 3. This inn has 15 places available for guests, with the check-in rule that in Phase 1 - Playing Cards only two different coats of arms may be placed in the check-in queue (in this example, the bird and fish coats of arms). Other coats of arms may be placed at the back door and also placed in the check-in queue thanks to their special abilities.

First, the orange "Noblewomen (4)" card at the back door is activated. This allows the orange player to choose one of their cards in the check-in queue, which will receive places first (if enough are available). Since they have only one card in the check-in queue, "Maids (3)", they choose it. Next the blue "Monk (1)" card at the back door is activated. Thanks to its special ability this card is immediately placed at the end of the check-in queue.

Now the cards in the check-in queue are checked. After the orange "Maids (3)" card, which reserved places first thanks to the special ability of the "Noblewomen (4)" card, 15 - 3 = 12 places remain in the inn. Next the card with the highest number is allowed to reserve places: the green "Laborers (6)" card. Now 6 places remain in the inn. After it comes the green "Soldiers (5)" card. Places can be reserved for them as well. Now only one place remains in the inn, so there is not enough room for the blue "Noblewomen (4)" card. But that place can still be reserved for the blue "Monk (1)" card added to the check-in queue, since it needs only one place. All guests waiting to check in to this inn have now been checked.

Inns: Special Check-in Rules

No special rules. This inn has no special check-in rules. In Phase 2 - Checking Reservations, distribute places according to the normal rules.

Small groups only. In Phase 1 - Playing Cards you may add to this inn's check-in queue only guests who need 1, 2 or 3 places (Monks, Merchants, Maids). You may, however, place other cards at the back door.

Monks first. In Phase 2 - Checking Reservations, Monks in this inn's check-in queue always get a place first (if places allow), after which follow the normal reservation order.

Soldiers first. In Phase 2 - Checking Reservations, Soldiers in this inn's check-in queue always get a place first (if places allow), after which follow the normal reservation order.

Large groups only. In Phase 1 - Playing Cards you may add to this inn's check-in queue only guests who need 4, 5 or 6 places (Noblewomen, Soldiers, Laborers). You may, however, place other cards at the back door.

No Soldiers. In Phase 1 - Playing Cards you may not add Soldiers to this inn's check-in queue. You may, however, place their cards at the back door so that they can get into the inn with their special ability.

Back door closed, but up to five cards may join the check-in queue. In Phase 1 - Playing Cards you may not place guest cards at the back door (no VP token is placed there either), but up to 5 guest cards (instead of 4) may be added to the check-in queue.

First card face up. In Phase 1 - Playing Cards the first guest card in this inn's check-in queue must always be placed face up.

Second card face up. In Phase 1 - Playing Cards the second guest card in this inn's check-in queue must always be placed face up.

Only two different coats of arms (families). In Phase 1 - Playing Cards you may place in this inn's check-in queue guest cards of only two different families (with two different symbols on their coats of arms). As soon as cards of two different families have been placed, a third family can no longer be added. You may, however, still place cards of other families at the back door.

Guests: Special Abilities

(These abilities are activated only in Phase 2 - Checking Reservations.)

Note: special abilities of guests activated at the back door always take priority over the inn's special check-in rules. For example, in an inn where Monks check in first, other guests can reserve a place before the Monks thanks to the special ability of a Noblewomen card at the back door.

Noblewomen (4). You may choose any guest card of your colour in the check-in queue to reserve places for that card before all others (provided enough places are available). Slightly push the chosen card up out of the row so that it is clearly visible.

Note: if there is a second Noblewomen card at the back door, the player whose Noblewomen card is closer to the inn is first to choose a card in the check-in queue. The owner of the second Noblewomen card chooses a card in the check-in queue after them.

Monk (1). Move this card from the back door to the end of the check-in queue. Now the Monk has a chance to reserve a place under the normal rules.

Merchants (2). The inn at whose back door this card was placed now has three extra places (for example, an inn that had 8 places now has 11).

Note: if there is a second Merchants card at the back door, the number of places in the inn increases again. However, if Laborers and Merchants cards are both placed at the back door, their special abilities cancel each other out.

Soldiers (5). You may replace with this card a "Laborers (6)" card in the check-in queue of this inn (your choice: your own or another player's). Immediately discard the "Laborers (6)" card you replaced. This works only if there are Laborers in the check-in queue; otherwise the Soldiers do nothing and are discarded.

Maids (3). You may replace with this card another card of your own guests in the check-in queue. Immediately discard the card you replaced.

Laborers (6). The inn at whose back door this card was placed now has three fewer places (for example, an inn that had 8 places now has 5).

Phase 3 - Preparing for the Next Round

1. Turn the inn cards over to the other side so that the new inns are visible. Place a new VP token at each back door. If a VP token remains there from the previous round, do NOT add another. Before the third round, replace all inn cards with new random inn cards that have not yet been used in this game, so that in the third and fourth rounds you have different inns.
2. Pass the first player marker to the next player (clockwise).
3. Each player takes five cards from their deck. The next round begins.

After the fourth round, skip this preparation and go straight to scoring.

Note: by the end of the game you will have drawn all 24 cards from your deck, but you will have played at most 20 of them (or fewer, if you do not place a fifth card when you are the last player of a round).

End of the Game and Final Scoring

The game ends after the fourth round. Each player counts the victory points (VP) they have collected:

• 1 VP for each coin shown at the top of the collected guest cards
• 1 VP for each VP token obtained by placing the first card at a back door

Add additional VP for collected coats of arms depending on which side of the scoring card you are using (the size of the coat of arms does not matter):

Beginners:

• 2 points for each set of 4 cards with the same coat of arms
• 4 points for each set of 5 cards with the same coat of arms
• 6 points for each set of 6 cards with the same coat of arms

Experts (the side of the scoring card with the crown):

• 2 points for each set of 4 cards with the same coat of arms
• 5 points for each set of 5 cards with the same coat of arms
• 10 points for each set of 6 cards with the same coat of arms

The player with the most VP wins. If several players tie with the same number of VP, the winner is the one with more cards with three coins. If the tie remains, the players share the victory.