Bank or Bust
Bank or Bust Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 98 Number cards (1 of each number 2 - 99)
- 18 Power cards (2 +/-20 Modify, 6 +/- 10 Modify, 6 Cover, 4 Double)
- 6 Discard cards
- 6 sets of player cards (1 and 100)
Set Up
Give each player a set of player cards: a 1 and a 100. Place the 100 above the 1 to form the start of 2 rows, leaving plenty of space for cards to be added to the right. Set aside the 6 Discard cards and any unused player cards. Keep the Discard cards within reach of all players.
Shuffle together the 98 Number cards and 18 Power cards (Modify, Cover, and Double) into one deck. Place the deck within reach of all players.
The player who most recently visited a bank goes first.
How to Play
Bank or Bust is played over multiple rounds until 1 player reaches 50 points. In each round, players take turns drawing cards, or banking their points, until each player has Banked or Bust.
On your turn, choose either:
- Draw a Card
- OR Bank your Points
Draw a Card
Take 1 card from the top of the deck. If there are no cards remaining in the deck, shuffle all the discarded cards to create a new deck.
Number Cards
If you draw a Number card, place it face up in either of your 2 rows, immediately to the right of the previous card.
All cards in the top (100) row must be lower than the previous placed card.
All cards in the bottom (1) row must be higher than the previous card.
BUST! If your Number card cannot be placed in either row, you bust. You are out for the remainder of the round, score 0 points, and immediately discard all previously placed cards. Then, draw 1 Discard card from the supply.
You may play this on any future turn to discard the card you drew and draw another card. You may only have 1 Discard card at a time and must use it before you can draw another.
Power Cards
If you draw a Power card, play it immediately for the effect shown below. If you cannot, or do not want to, play a Power card, discard it and draw a new card. Power cards do not count towards your Number Card Tally points.
MODIFY (+/-20 or +/-10)
Tuck a Modify card behind the Number card at the end of either row. The value of this Number card is increased or decreased by the amount shown. A Modify card can change the value of a Number Card above 100 or below 1.
Remember: You only Bust if you can't place a new Number card. A Modify card can never make you Bust, even if it changes the value of a card to be lower or higher than the previous card.
Remember: Multiple Modify cards can stack behind one Number card.
COVER
Place a Cover card over the Number card at the end of either row. The value of this Number card is ignored. Instead refer to the card placed before it on the row when placing your next Number card.
You can place more than one Cover card in a row. If the end card of the row is already covered, instead cover the card immediately to its left.
Remember: A covered card is still there, and still counts towards Number Card Tally, Pairs, and the Longest Row.
DOUBLE
Place a double card to the left of your 1 or 100 card. Double the number of points earned for the Number Card Tally of this row at the end of the round.
Remember: Only 1 double card can be played per row. You cannot double a row twice.
Remember: Double cards only double the points earned for the Number Card Tally of that row. They do not count toward scoring for Longest Row or Pairs.
DISCARD
Discard cards are not shuffled into the deck, and are only collected when a player Busts.
A Discard card may be played after drawing a card to discard the drawn card. This may be used to prevent a player from busting.
Remember: You may only have 1 Discard card at a time.
Bank
Banking is how you secure your points each round. It also means you can no longer play that round.
If you chose to Bank, flip your 1 and 100 cards over to the Banked side. Once you are Banked you cannot take any more turns this round and are skipped until all other players have Banked or Bust.
Turn End
At the end of your turn, play continues clockwise, skipping any player that has already Banked or Bust this round.
Round Scoring
Once all players have Banked or Bust, record how many points each player has earned that round.
Players earn points from each Number card placed (Number Card Tally), whoever has the most cards in one row (Longest Row), and from having cards in both rows (Pairs).
Number Card Tally
Earn points for each Number card played in each row. This does not include the 1 or 100 card.
Example: Liam has 3 Number cards in each row when he Banks. He also has a Double card on his bottom row, so earns a total of 9 points for his Number Card Tally.
Longest Row
The player with the most Number cards in either of their rows this round will score a bonus 5 points.
In the event of a tie, no player scores these bonus points.
Example: Liam has 4 Number cards in his top row, Caezar and Kuly have both banked with only 3 Number cards in a row. If Liam stops now, he will win the Longest Row and score 5 bonus points.
Liam draws another Number card, a 42. This doesn't fit in either row so he busts! Since Caezar and Kuly are both tied for Longest Row, neither of them score the bonus points.
Pairs
If a player has at least 3 Number cards in both of their rows, they will score bonus points.
- 3 Number cards in each row = 5 Bonus Points
- 4 Number cards in each row = 15 Bonus Points
- 5 Number cards in each row = 50 Bonus Points
Remember: The 1 and 100 cards are not Number cards and do not count towards Pairs.
Example: Caezar has 3 Number cards in his top row, and 2 Number cards in his bottom row. As he has a -10 modifier card attached to his 63, if he can draw a Number card higher than 53, he can place it in the bottom row and score 5 bonus points for a set of 3 in each row.
Game End
At the end of each round, check if one player has scored a total of 50 points or more. If so, they win the game.
If multiple players have scored more than 50 points, the player with the higher total is the winner.
Points Summary Reference
- 1 Point Per Number Card
- 3 Number cards in each row = 5 Bonus Points
- 4 Number cards in each row = 15 Bonus Points
- 5 Number cards in each row = 50 Bonus Points
- 5 Points for the Longest Row