World Championship Russian Roulette Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• What's in the Box?
• Setup
• Game Play
• The 6 Phases
  • Pocket Phase
  • Spin Phase
  • Bidding Phase
  • Challenge Phase
  • Trigger Phase
  • Point Phase
• Action Cards
• Dead Characters
• Game End
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Credits

What's in the Box?

• 6 pocket reference tiles
• 24 character tiles
• 42 victory tokens
• 30 action cards
• 6 bidding dice
• 55 gun cards

Setup

1. Each player chooses a color and takes all components that match their team's color. Then they should also take 1 BULLET card and 1 action card. Afterward, all players should have:
   • a) 3 TEAMMATE tiles and 1 CAPTAIN tile, color side up.
   • b) 1 six-sided bidding die of their color.
   • c) 1 pocket reference tile of their color, accusation side down.
   • d) 6 "CLICK" gun cards of their color & 1 BULLET "bang" gun card.
   • e) 1 action card, dealt randomly.
2. Each player should combine their CLICK cards with their BULLET card to create their gun deck. Each player should have 7 cards in their gun deck in total, only one of which is a BULLET card.

Game Play

Play happens simultaneously, so each player should go through each of the 6 phases at the same time.

Table etiquette dictates that someone at the game table should verbally announce the current phase of the game.

The 6 phases of the game are:

• Pocket Phase
• Spin Phase
• Bidding Phase
• Challenge Phase
• Trigger Phase
• Point Phase

The 6 Phases

Pocket Phase

Each player should look at their gun deck, making sure other players can't see the faces of their cards. Each player chooses 1 of their 7 cards to place facedown underneath their pocket reference tile. This gun card is considered "pocketed" and should be placed perpendicularly under the pocket reference tile so that players can see once a player has "pocketed" a card.

If a player places a BULLET card in their "pocket," this means that they are "cheating" within the game. Players who choose to do this now have 1 fewer BULLET in their gun than they should have. Careful: while tempting, getting caught cheating has consequences (see Challenge Phase for more details). Once all players have pocketed a card, move on to the Spin Phase.

Spin Phase

Each player should shuffle the remaining 6 cards of their gun deck. Any player may demand to "spin" the gun deck of another player during this phase. Proper sportsman etiquette is that players should not be douchebags and should not attempt to keep track of where BULLET cards are during shuffling.

Once a player is done shuffling their gun deck, they should place it facedown on the table in front of them. This is a visual indication to all the other players that they are done spinning their gun. Then, move on to the Bidding Phase.

Bidding Phase

Players should pick up their 6-sided bidding die and privately rotate it until the top face shows the number of trigger pulls they intend to attempt during the Trigger Phase. Once a player has selected their bid, they should cover up their die so that no other player can see their bid.

There is no such thing as bidding for 6 trigger pulls. It is possible, however, to bid for 0 trigger pulls. Why would a player ever bid 0 trigger pulls? Because points are still awarded for surviving (see Point Phase for more details).

Covering/hiding your die is a visual indication to all the other players that you are done placing your bid. Once all players have each covered their bidding die, all players should simultaneously reveal their bid and move on to the Challenge Phase.

Challenge Phase

If a player suspects another player of placing a BULLET card in their pocket (under their pocket reference tile), they may flip over their own pocket reference tile and indicate which player they are officially accusing of cheating. The accused player must then flip over their pocketed gun card, revealing it to all other players.

ACCUSED PLAYER REVEALS a CLICK:

• The accused player was innocent.
• The wrongly accused player gets one (1) action card.
• You must replace a CLICK card from your gun deck with a BULLET card and then reshuffle your deck.

ACCUSED PLAYER REVEALS a BULLET:

• The accused player has been caught.
• The judge shoots and kills the cheating player.
• You draw three (3) action cards as your reward.

Flipping over your pocket reference tile when accusing a player of cheating serves 3 purposes. First of all, each player only gets 1 accusation per round and a flipped over pocket reference tile indicates that you've exhausted your accusation. Secondly, the action of flipping over your pocket reference tile makes the accusation "official." This prevents any accusation confusion or fake-outs. Finally, the back of the pocket reference tile describes the consequences of correct or incorrect accusations...which are as follows:

If the accused player flips over a BULLET card:

You caught a cheater! As a reward for catching that player, you instantly receive 3 action cards. The player who got caught cheating gets their brains blown out by the judge, flips over a character tile to the dead side (see Dead Characters for more details), and is eliminated from the current round.

Note: As long as the CAPTAIN was not the character killed, an eliminated player may still accuse another player during the Challenge Phase.

If the accused player flips over a click card:

You accused incorrectly! The wrongly accused player gets to draw 1 action card as a result of being insulted. As a punishment for your wrongful accusation, you must pick up your gun deck, look at the cards within, and replace one of your click cards with a BULLET card. This provides you with an extra BULLET in your gun that can't be removed until one of your characters dies (see Dead Characters for more details). After swapping in a BULLET card for a click card, reshuffle the gun deck.

Once table talk has died down and no players appear to be accusing any other players, anyone at the table may ask for a last call for accusations. If after at least 10 seconds there are still no more accusations, move on to the Trigger Phase.

Protip: At Tuesday Knight Games, we place our discarded CLICK cards in the center of the table under the pool of victory tokens. This way, everyone can see who has extra bullets in their gun and the discarded CLICK card is not accidentally mistaken for one that is in play.

Trigger Phase

All players should place one hand on their gun decks. The other hand should be made into a gun shape with the barrel aimed at each player's own temple.

A player should announce the current trigger number and then count down from 3. For instance, for the first trigger pull, someone should announce, "First trigger pull. Ready? 3, 2, 1, PULL!" When the word "PULL" is announced, all players should flip over the top card of their gun deck so that all may see. If you flip over a BULLET card, your current character dies (see Dead Characters for more details) and you are eliminated from the current round. If you flip over a click card, your character is still alive and you continue to the next trigger pull.

A player only participates in as many trigger pulls as the number they bid (see Bidding Phase for more details). For instance, if a player bid 2 trigger pulls and survived the first 2 trigger pulls, they should not participate in the 3rd trigger pull.

Once all players are either dead from drawing BULLET cards or have pulled the trigger as many times as they bid, move on to the Point Phase.

Point Phase

If a player lost a character during the course of any of the other phases, they do not earn any victory tokens. There is no glory for the dead.

Silver victory tokens are worth 1 point and gold victory tokens are worth 5 points.

For the players that did not lose a character during any of the previous phases, they earn 1 point for every trigger pull they bid, plus 1 point for surviving.

Example: Boris survives with a bid of 0 trigger pulls and earns 1 point (1 silver victory token). Natasha survives with a bid of 4 and earns 5 points (1 gold victory token).

Proper sportsman etiquette is that players should not be douchebags and should trade up their silver victory tokens to gold victory tokens when possible. This makes it visually easier to tell who is winning.

If any player has 15 or more points AND more points than any other player, then that player wins the game (see Game End for more details). If more than one player has 15 or more points AND is tied for the most points, then play continues with ALL living players. Move onto a new Pocket Phase.

Action Cards

Action cards remove many of the luck-based aspects of the game. They are earned by dying, catching players cheating, and/or being wrongly accused of cheating.

Here are a few items to remember about action cards:

1. Action cards may only be played when specified. Each action card specifies exactly when it can be played and what its effects are.
2. A player can have any number of action cards.
3. Any number of action cards may be played each phase.
4. If a card refers to choosing any player, you may choose yourself.
5. If you play a card that allows you to aim your gun at another player, you are permitted to aim at a dead player.
6. Some action cards may be played even if a player has been eliminated from the current round (or the game). These action cards have the skull icon printed on them.
7. The most recently played action card takes effect, and may change the effects of a previously played action card.

Example: Boris plays "Air Gun" which allows him to aim his gun into the air for the next trigger pull. Then Natasha plays, "Everyone Bang Someone!" which allows all players to aim their gun at a player of their choice for the next trigger pull. Boris must stop aiming his gun into the air and instead chooses to aim his gun at Yuri.

Dead Characters

Your CHARACTERS will die during this game by shooting themselves, getting shot by other players, or getting shot by the judge after getting caught cheating. It isn't until your last character, your CAPTAIN, dies that you are truly eliminated from the game.

Any time a character dies, flip over the character tile to the dead side to indicate you are down a teammate. When a teammate (not your team captain) dies, be sure to:

A. Draw 1 action card. This is a severance package for losing a teammate.

B. Reset your gun deck. This means take all 7 cards from your gun deck into your hand. Make sure that all but 1 of these cards is a Click card. If you have more than 1 bullet card in your gun deck, replace any extra bullets with your original Click cards.

Game End

The game ends when one of the following 3 conditions has occurred:

1. The moment all but 1 team captain is eliminated. The surviving team captain wins.
2. After a Point Phase in which a single player has 15 or more points and has more points than all other players. That player is the winner.
3. The moment all team captains are eliminated. Nobody wins because everyone is dead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What if 2 players accuse the same player at the same time during a Challenge Phase?

A: This typically doesn't happen. But when it does, both players experience the same risks and rewards just as though they accused the player alone. So if the accused player reveals a bullet, then both accusing players get 3 action cards apiece. If the accused player reveals a Click, the accused gets 2 action cards (1 for each simultaneous accusation) and each accusing player swaps a Click card from their deck with a bullet card.

Q: What if I am the last player not eliminated from the game, but I haven't finished my trigger pulls for which I bid?

A: Traditionally, YOU WIN! You don't have to complete your trigger pulls. However, if you want a more incredible story to tell the world, finish your trigger pulls and risk a game in which nobody wins!

Q: When I play "PEEK THE BOO," can I choose a player that has already peeked at his or her cards?

A: Absolutely!

Q: Everyone is already dead for the round when I play "I BANG YOU!" or "EVERYONE BANG SOMEONE!" Can I play the card?

A: Yes. You can always choose to shoot a corpse.

Credits

Created By Anthony Burch

Rulebook Development: Alan Gerding Editing: Michelle Mazala

Creative Team Art direction: Sean McCoy Character art: Weberson Santiago Artwork & graphic design: Adam P. McIver

Special Thanks Ben Eckman, Board with Life, Okratron 5000, Phillip Winn, everytown.org, AFSP.org

Playtesters Anna Niederriter, Ashly Burch, Bob, Ben Eckman, Benjamin Kanelos, Brian Karrigan, Brittany Leigh Smith, Casey Barteau, Chris Bryan, Crystol Gerding, Daniel Lee, Diana Nabring, Donald Shults, Grant Alberts, Grant Cushman, Gregory Harshmann, Hannah Linville, Jackson Leventhal, Jeremiah Isley, Julie DiPadova, Justin Yngelmo, Kellen Voss, Leanne Karrigan, Michelle Mazala, Mike Ellek, Niki Shults, Phil Grunauer, Rachel Wright, Reid Larson, Solomon Kim, Tamara Bruketta (and her parents), The Tuesday Knighters, Ulisses Gurgel

Check out http://worldchampionshiprussianroulette.com for tutorials and more!

Copyright © 2016 Tuesday Knight Games