Bankberfall

(Bank Robbery)
A game for 2 to 5 players
Ages 10 and up
Designed by Reiner Knizia
Manufactured by Piatnik
Contents
5 banks
85 coins
45 cards
7 action tiles
1 play figure
1 plastic stand
The game materials
The cards
There are two sorts of cards:
1. Money cards that the bankers can deposit into the different banks. After a robbery, the
booty can be distributed among them. There are 4 cards with the values 2, 3 and 4; 11
cards with the value 5; and 2 cards with the value 10. There are also 4 X cards, which
multiply the existing value.
2. People cards, which can affect bank robberies. There are 4 cards each of the following
people:
The seductive lady: She draws the attention of all men and diverts them from their
duties. Exception: If two or more ladies meet, they chat with one another and forget their
task!
The policeman: He guards the bank and defeats each robbery, if a lady does not divert
him. Exception: If two or more policemen meet, they forget their task, play cards, and see
and hear nothing going on around them.
The detective: He trails the thief and prevents his break-in attempt. However, a
detective can only pursue a thief. A detective does not disturb the bankers robberies, but
he makes everyone nervous and changes the method of distribution: Whoever offers the
most, gets the most.
The thief: He remains unobserved and steals everything that is not nailed down. He
even takes the bankers private money, along with the booty offered. He is never
disturbed, even if another thief shows up.
The coins
The coins are the bankers private holdings, gained partly from robberies on the side. By
offering their private coins, the bankers determine their share of the booty. There are also
red credit coins each player can take if their private holdings fall under the value of 10.
The action tiles
The 7 tiles determine the actions the players may take:
4 "Placement" tiles: A money or a people card is placed face down in front of a bank.
1 "Espionage" tile: Peek at one facedown card in front of a bank.
1 "Reveal" tile: Turn one card in front of a bank face up.
1 "Robbery" tile
Preparation
Each player receives 10 coins with a total value of 10 as starting money. The remaining
coins are laid out as a supply.
The 5 banks are set up in a circle. Each player uses one bank as a screen, in order to
store his private holdings behind it. (Note: The private holdings behind the screen belong
to the player and not the bank. In a robbery, they are not counted as booty!)
Shuffle the cards. Put one card face down in front of each bank.
Deal each player 5 cards. The remaining cards are set out as a facedown draw pile.
Put the 7 action tiles face down in the center of the table.
Play
Choose the starting player by drawing lots. Play proceeds in a clockwise direction. The
active player turns over an action tile and takes the appropriate action:
"Placement" tile: The player selects one of the cards in his hand and puts it face down in
front of any bank. Then he takes a new card from the draw pile and brings his hand back
to 5 cards, as long as there are cards in the draw pile.
"Espionage" tile: The player may peek at one facedown card in front of a bank. Then he
puts the card face down again.
"Reveal" tile: The player may turn over any one card lying face down in front of a bank.
This card remains face up, for all fellow players to see. (Note: There must always be at
least one facedown card in front of each bank. The last card may not be uncovered! If this
tile is chosen first, this action is not carried out.)
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"Robbery" tile: The player selects one of the 5 banks for all the players to rob. To start
the robbery, he puts the play figure in front of this bank.
After the 7th action tile is turned over and the action is carried out, all the tiled are mixed
up again and laid out face down.
The robbery
When the "robbery" tile is uncovered, all the players fight for their share of the booty.
Each player secretly takes any number of coins from his private holdings into his hand.
An empty hand is also permitted. (Note: Those who offer less are usually guaranteed a
safe portion, while those who are too greedy can come away empty-handed! See
"Distributing the booty," below.)
All players open their hands at the same time and reveal their coins for all to see.
Now all the cards in front of the bank being robbed are turned face up and examined for
people cards, following this sequence:
1. If there is exactly one lady, all people cards in the display are put in a discard pile.
Money cards remain in front of the bank. If there are two or more ladies, all ladies in the
display are put in the discard pile. All the other cards remain.
2. If there is exactly one policeman, all cards in the display are put in the discard pile.
There is no booty. All players who had nothing in their hands receive coins worth 5 from
the supply as a reward. If there are two or more policemen, all policemen from the
display are put in the discard pile. All the other cards remain.
3. If there are detectives and thieves in the display, a detective and a thief are discarded
together. If there is more than one pair of detective and thief, discard every pair that can
be made. All the other cards remain. If there are one or more detectives in the display and
no further people cards, the sequence for distributing the booty changes.
4. If there are one or more thieves in the display, and no further people cards, all cards are
discarded. There is no booty. Additionally, all players lose the coins in their hands to the
supply.
Note: If a players private holdings fall below the value of 10, he must lift his screen to
indicate this. He takes coins in the value of 10 from the supply and a credit coin, worth
minus 10 during the final scoring.
After evaluating the people cards, the values of the money cards are added up. If there is
one red X card among them, the money-card values are doubled. If there are two X cards,
the values are tripled, and so on. (If there are only X cards, there is no booty.)
The value of the booty is laid out in coins from the supply. The money cards are
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discarded. (Note: Players may not examine the discard pile!)
Distributing the booty
The portion each player gets is the same as what he offered. But note: There may not be
enough to go around!
Begin with the player who made the lowest offer. He receives coins in the value offered,
paid from the booty. Then the player with the second-lowest offer is paid off, etc. This
continues until all players have collected their share, or the total left in the booty is not
enough to pay a player. (Exception: If a detective lies in the display, begin with the player
who made the highest offer, then the next highest, etc. See robbery point 3.)
If there is not enough money to pay a player completely, he gets nothing at all. If two or
more players made equal offers, they are paid off at the same time, but only if there is
sufficient money. If that is not the case, none of these players receive anything.
Remaining coins in the booty go back to the supply.
Afterwards, each player puts all his money with his private holdings behind his screen.
After each robbery, a new card is placed face down in front of the robbed bank, as long as
cards remain in the draw pile.
Ending the game
The game ends if the draw pile is used up and a player lays down the last card in his
hand. Beginning with the bank in front of this player, and going clockwise, all banks are
now robbed, following the rules above. The player that collected the largest fortune wins.
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