Vampire
Vampire Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
The winner is the player who collects the most vampires.
Contents
- 96 Vampire cards (in 6 colors, each color has 11 cards with 1 vampire head and 5 cards with 2 vampire heads in the corners of the cards)
- 10 Carriage cards (played as Jokers with 1 vampire head in each corner)
- 6 Place cards
- 1 Rule booklet
Preparation
- Find the 6 place cards and put them next to each other in the middle of the table.
- Next find 1 vampire card with 1 head in each corner of each color. Place these below their corresponding places. The Vampires of the 6 colors only gather (may be played) in specific places:
- Green: The Pub
- Lilac: The Castle
- Gray: The Docks
- Red: The Madhouse
- Yellow: The Church
- Orange: The Graveyard
- Shuffle the remaining vampire and carriage cards together and deal 4 to each player face down. These are the players' starting hands.
- Place the remaining cards face down next to the place cards as a draw deck.
- If you choose to play a set of games, use paper and pencil to record the scores from each game.
Playing the Game
The player with the longest eye-teeth begins; play continues in clockwise order.
On a player's turn, he takes cards either:
A. from the face-down draw deck or B. from one of the six vampire gathering places.
A. Draw From the Face-Down Draw Deck
When a player takes cards from the draw deck, he takes the 2 topmost cards, adding them to his hand.
Then, he must either:
- play 1 card from his hand to one of the six vampire gathering places or
- go on a vampire hunt.
When a player plays a vampire card from his hand to one of the six gathering places, he places it face up below the card matching the card's color.
When a player plays a carriage card, he places it face up below any card he wants.
If there are other cards there, he places the new card so it overlaps the previous card. This allows all players to see how many vampires are gathered in each place. When a player chooses to play a card to a gathering place and has done so, his turn ends.
B. Take Cards From a Vampire Gathering Place
When a player takes cards from one of the six gathering places, he must take all vampire and carriage cards assigned to this place. The player may only take cards from one place on his turn.
Then he must go on a vampire hunt.
Going on a Vampire Hunt
When a player goes on a vampire hunt, he plays a set of at least three cards (vampire and carriage) face-up before himself on the table. The player displays the cards in the set together, overlapping each other so that all players can see the number and color of vampire heads that are in the set. All vampire cards in the set must be the same color. As the carriage cards can assume any color, the player may play as many carriage cards as he wants in a set, but there must be at least one vampire card in the set.
A player may only play one set of cards in a turn.
Example: It is Ben's turn. He has a gray vampire card in his hand. There are two vampire cards at "the Dock." Ben takes the two cards from "the Dock" and plays them together with the gray card and a carriage card from his hand face-up on the table. He has, thus, collected four gray vampires.
Once a player has played a set of cards, he may not add cards to the set in a later turn. However, he may play another set of the same color. If a player plays another set of a color he already played, he must discard his previous set of this color. He places these cards in the box; they are out of the game. When a player has finished organizing a hunt, his turn ends.
Game End and Scoring
The game ends when:
- a player draws the last card from the draw deck
- OR a player has played sets of vampires in all six colors.
Before scoring, the players discard the cards left in their hands as they are not used in scoring.
Next, the players compare their vampire sets by color. The players count the number of vampire heads (not the number of cards) they have in each color, including any carriage cards they have with the color. Cards with one head in each corner count 1; cards with two heads in each corner count 2. The player with the fewest heads in each color discards the cards in that set; they are not used in scoring.
If one or more players tie for the fewest vampire heads in each color, the tied players all discard their cards in that color.
If a player has not played a set in a color, he counts as the player with the fewest heads in that color, and no other player needs to discard a set of that color.
Once all colors have been examined and the player with the fewest heads in each color has discarded, the players score their sets. The players score one point for each vampire head they have remaining on the table. Cards with one head in each corner count 1 point; cards with two heads in each corner count 2 points.
Example: Chris and Dave have tied for the fewest vampire heads in green (the Pub). As the least players in green, they discard their green vampire cards and do not score them. Similarly, Anna discards her gray cards (the Docks) and Dave his orange cards (the Graveyard) as they have the fewest vampire heads in those colors. As one or more players have no cards in each lilac (the Castle), yellow (the Church) and red (the Madhouse), no player needs to discard cards in these colors.
The winner is the player with the most points. Instead of single games, you may want to play in sets of three games, adding the scores together to determine a winner for the set.