Batman: Gotham City Mystery Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Object of the Game
• Set Up
  • Playing with Less than 5
• Villain Mission Cards
• Hero and Villain Command Cards
  • Hero Cards
  • Villain Cards
• Playing the Game
  • The Basics
  • As the Villain
  • Winning as the Villain
  • As the Heroes
  • Winning as the Heroes
• Gotham City Locations
• Notes from the Batcave

Contents

• 1 Gameboard
• 10 Villain Mission Cards
• 17 Hero/Villain Command Cards
• 4 Hero movers (Batman, Robin, Nightwing and Batgirl)
• 5 Minion movers
• 36 Item cards
• 1 die
• 1 Bat-computer
• Instruction Booklet

Object of the Game

For the Villain: Collect the ten items you need to carry out your plan against Gotham City and escape the city before Batman discovers who you are.

For the Heroes: Discover the identity of the Villain behind the thefts in Gotham City before they escape.

Set Up

1. Open the game board in the centre of the playing area.
2. Place the four Heroes on the spaces with the Batman symbols at the four corners of the board.
3. Place the five Minions on the purple manhole covers.
4. Separate the Hero and Villain cards into two different piles. The Villain Command cards are red and the Hero Command cards are blue.
5. Separate the item cards by building and place them into the twelve slots in the game tray.
6. Choose who will play the Heroes and who will play the Villain.

Playing with Less than 5

While the optimum number of players is five you may still have a great game with four, three or two. Since one player always plays the Villain, a game with less than five players only affects the Hero side.

• 4 Players - One player plays two Heroes or the players may take turns moving the extra Hero.
• 3 Players - Two players control two Heroes.
• 2 Players - The Hero player rolls once for all four Heroes.

Villain Mission Cards

Each Villain Mission card pictures one of Batman's greatest foes. These cards also list ten items and their locations in Gotham City. These are the items each Villain needs to collect in order to destroy Gotham City. The Villains are:

Joker, Ra's Al Ghul, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, Penguin, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Poison Ivy.

Hero and Villain Command Cards

These cards give the Heroes and Villains special tools and abilities to help them combat or perpetrate evil. Only one Hero or Minion may play a card per turn. After a card has been played, place it face up to start a discard pile. Cards can only be used once per game. You may draw one new Hero or Villain Command card per turn.

Hero Cards

• Rooftop Jumping - This card allows one Hero to move twice his or her roll.
• Re-roll - This card allows you to re-roll the die once. You must take the result of the roll even if it is lower than your first roll.
• Batwing - This card allows you to fly from where you are to any building in Gotham City. Only one Hero at a time may use this card.
• Interrogation - This card allows one Minion, of your choice, without an item to be placed in the Police Station for one turn.
• Batmobile - Allows one hero to move in a straight line along any street until the street ends or you've captured a minion.

Villain Cards

• Re-Roll - This card allows you to re-roll the die once. You must take the result of the roll even if it is lower than your first roll.
• Jetpack - This card allows one Minion to move twice his roll.
• Set Off Alarm - This card allows the Villain to send one Hero to the building of the Villain's choice.
• Smoke Bomb - When this card is played, a captured Minion does not have to show the Hero the stolen item he is carrying.
• Hostage - This card allows a Villain to place one Hero in Crime Alley. The captured Hero must remain in Crime Alley until another Hero rescues him by entering Crime Alley and remaining there for one turn.

Playing the Game

The Basics

1. One player plays the Villain - the remaining player(s) are the Heroes. The Villain moves first followed by Batman, Robin, Batgirl and Nightwing.
2. Before the game starts, Hero or Villain cards are drawn according to the number of players in the game. Example: If there are three players in the game, the Heroes each draw one card and the Villain draws two because there are two players against him.

Once the game begins the Villain and Heroes draw one card at the beginning of every turn.

3. Roll the die and move up to that number of spaces. Although you do not have to move your full roll you must move at least one space. You do not have to roll the exact number to enter a building or capture a Minion.
4. Minions are captured when a Hero moves onto the Minion's space. When a Minion is in a building, a Hero must only enter the building to capture the Minion. Capturing a Minion ends the Hero's turn.
5. Enter the buildings at the spaces marked with arrows.
6. All Minions move on one die roll. Example: If the Villain rolls a six, all the Minions move up to six spaces.
7. Heroes move in this order Batman, Robin, Batgirl and Nightwing.
8. A Minion may move through a Hero without being captured and a Hero may move through a Minion without capturing him.
9. Playing a Hero or Villain card does not count as your move. Example: If you play the Batwing card, you may fly to your chosen destination and still move the number of spaces that you rolled.

As the Villain

1. Without letting the other players see, choose which foe of Batman you wish to play. You may choose one from the following Villain Mission cards:

   Joker, Ra's Al Ghul, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, Penguin, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Poison Ivy.

   Place the remaining Villain Mission cards face down.

2. The Villain you have chosen needs to collect ten items to initiate the evil scheme. The items he needs to collect and their locations are shown on the Mission card. It's your Minions' job to spread throughout Gotham City and return with these items.

YOU MAY GO INTO ANY BUILDING, BUT IF THE BUILDING DOES NOT CONTAIN ITEMS FROM YOUR VILLAIN MISSION CARD, YOU MAY ONLY TAKE A RED HERRING CARD.

A RED HERRING CARD IS AN EMPTY BOX.

3. Once a Minion enters a building, they may take 1 item and place it in their backpack. Minions may only carry one item in their backpack at a time. Note: The game tray has five "backpack" slots that correspond to the number of the Minion. When a Minion steals an item, the item is placed into that Minion's slot. If a Minion travels off the board without being captured, the Villain removes the item from the backpack slot. If the Minion is captured, the Hero removes the item from the backpack slot.
4. Move the Minions in order 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
5. If a Minion can exit the board with an item before you are caught, Batman will lose a valuable clue to your identity. If a Hero catches a Minion and takes their item it is still considered "collected" and can be checked off your list.
6. A Minion may exit the board anywhere a road leaves the board. When a Minion exits the board however, his turn is over. Minions do not have to re-enter the board at the same place they exit.
7. Minions may not take items that are not on their Villain's list. They may however, take a red herring card from a building to throw the Heroes off. Note: The red herring cards show an empty box.
8. Minions may travel through the sewers by landing on a space with a manhole cover. They may exit the sewers on any other space that has a manhole cover. Simply standing on a manhole cover does not mean you are in the sewer and thus protected from the Heroes. Note: Moving from one manhole cover to the next counts as one space. You may continue your move when you exit the sewer.

Winning as the Villain

As the Villain you must collect all ten items that are on your card. If you can collect these items before the Heroes discover your identity, you win the game.

As the Heroes

1. Each player draws a Hero Command card. These cards may be played on your turn to increase your chances of defeating the Villain's dastardly plan. The Heroes are: Batman, Robin, Batgirl and Nightwing.
2. Each Hero rolls the die and moves the appropriate number of spaces.
3. If a Hero captures a Minion with an item before the Minion exits the board, the Hero may see the item that was stolen. Each item is a clue to the identity of the Villain.
4. An item captured from a Minion may be placed into the Bat-computer for analysis. If the item corresponds with a particular Villain it will show up yellow in that Villain's slot. If the item shows black in a Villain slot that Villain may be eliminated as a suspect. Note: Some of the items are associated with more than one Villain. Make sure you have eliminated all suspects before guessing the identity of the Villain.
5. The Heroes may guess the identity of the Villain at any time after catching a Minion but they only get one guess. Guess wrong and the good guys lose. Note: This is a collective guess - each hero does not get a guess.

Winning as the Heroes

If the Heroes can reveal the Villain's identity before the Villain's Minions collect the ten items and exit the board, the Heroes win. Note: A Hero must capture a Minion before they guess the identity of the Villain.

Gotham City Locations

The printed booklet shows a map of Gotham City with these locations labelled: Airport, Zoo, Pharmaceutical Company, Arboretum, Center for Disease Control (CDC), Wharf, Antique Store, Warehouse, Police Station/City Hall, Electronics Lab, Nuclear Power Plant, Machine Factory, Museum and Crime Alley. The entry to each building is marked with an arrow on the map.

Notes from the Batcave

The entry to each building is marked with an arrow.

A Minion may move through a Hero without being captured. A Hero may move through a Minion without capturing him.