Bauer
Bauer Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
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Shuffle the deck and make a pile of 12 cards for each player. In a 5 player game, instead deal 10 cards to each pile.
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The card piles are placed to the right side of each player, these are your draw piles (1). The remaining cards are put in the middle of the table, forming the middle deck (2).
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Now you are ready to play!
(Diagram: setup for 3 players, showing each player's draw pile to their right and the middle deck in the center of the table.)
How to play
Bauer is played in a series of rounds where you do the following 3 steps at the same time as the other players.
Step 1. Draw 3 cards Each player draws the top 3 cards from their draw pile. (The pile to your right.)
Step 2. Choose 1 card From among these 3 cards, choose one of them to keep and put the remaining 2 cards on top of the next player's draw pile. (The pile to your left).
Step 3. Play your chosen cards When all players have completed step 2 you will now play your chosen cards by placing them on the table in front of you. Day cards are played face-up and Night cards are played face-down.
Day cards have a Sun icon in the upper right corner while Night cards have a Moon icon.
- Some cards have an effect when they are played so wait until all players have resolved their effects before starting the next round.
Repeat steps 1, 2 & 3 until only 2 cards remain in each draw pile. These cards will not be played. You will play a total of 10 rounds. (8 in a 5 player game.)
Game end After the final round, you reveal your Night cards. Use the scorepad to note your scores in each category and add them up for your final score. The player with most Victory Points wins. If there is a tie you share the victory.
How to score Victory Points
The 4 card types are: Event, Travel, Danger and Characters. They all have Day & Night versions and different ways to score Victory Points (VP). You also score VP from tags you collect.
1. Event Cards Each Event card score the number of VP shown in their upper left corner. They can score: 1, 2, 3 or 4 VP.
2. Travel Cards Travel cards score a total number of VP depending on how many you have: One=1 VP, Two=3 VP, Three=7 VP, Four=12 VP & Five=18 VP.
- Each Travel card beyond 5 score an additional 4 VP.
- Night Travel cards score an additional 1 VP each.
3. Danger Cards Danger cards have 1, 2 or 3 Sword icons in the upper left corner. The player with most Sword icons score 12 VP and 2nd most score 6 VP. You need at least 1 Sword to score any VP. If there is a tie for most, divide the total 18 VP evenly and no VP is given to 2nd place. If there is a tie for 2nd most, divide the 6 VP evenly. Round the scores up.
4. Theme Tags There are 5 different Themes: Blue Knight, Red Troll, Yellow Princess, Purple Witch, Green Beast.
Each Day Event, Travel and Danger card provide you with 1, 2 or 3 tags from these Themes. If you have at least 4 matching tags (4 tags of the same Theme), you score 1 VP for each of those tags. Example: If you have 4 Blue Knight tags & 5 Red Troll Tags, you score 9 VP.
5. Day Character Quests Quests are found on the bottom part of the Day Character cards. If you have the Theme tags that are indicated on the card, you have completed the Quest and score the VP shown. The same Tags can be used to complete Quests from more than one Character. Each Quest can only be completed once.
6. Night Character Awards Night Characters have unique ways to score you VP. See pages 14-15.
Character Rules reference
Some Day Characters have effects when you play them. If more than one effect would happen at the same time you resolve them in the specified order found on the cards under their names.
Uggel-Guggel (1st to resolve) When played, each player must shuffle their draw pile.
Witch of Hulta forest (2nd) When played, you may move each players draw pile around the table one step to the left or right. These become your new draw piles.
Brother Martin (3rd) When played, play the top card of the middle deck. Check if it is a Night card before revealing it.
Olle Niklasson (4th) When played, draw the top 2 cards of the middle deck. Choose 1 to play and discard the other.
To discard a card, put it face-down on the bottom of the middle deck. Do not reveal it to the other players.
Daga (5th) When played, you may discard another card you have played earlier. If you do, play the top 2 cards of the middle deck. If you do not discard a card when you play Daga, you can instead discard a card that you would play later and get the same effect. To discard a card on a later turn you must first choose a card to keep from your hand as usual, but instead of playing that card, you may discard it and play the top 2 cards of the deck that round. You must decide if you want to use this effect before the other players reveal their chosen cards.
- You can only use Daga's effect once. Turn the card sideways as a reminder.
- You can also use Daga's effect if you would play an extra card from Martin, Olle, Yule Goat or Vill.
- If you have copied a card with Bella, Adventure Boy or Humpe and discard the card they are copying, you also lose the copy. The copying effect can then be reused. You also lose the copy if you discard the Character that is copying the card.
The Yule Goat After the last round, you draw the 2 cards that are left in your draw pile. Choose 1 to play and discard the other.
Princess Bella (6th) can copy Day Event cards. Adventure Boy (7th) can copy Day Danger or Travel cards. Humpe (8th) can copy any type of Night card.
When you play one of these Characters, you may either copy a card you have played earlier, or you can wait, and copy a card you play later. If you wait, you decide each time you play a new card if you want to copy it or not. If you have not used the effect by the end of the game you do not get to copy anything.
- Place the Character next to the card you want to copy. A copied card is treated as two identical cards, including it's tags. You can not change which card you copy.
Vill-Vallareman If you have played this card in an earlier round, you may pick it up and put it into your current hand of cards. If you do, choose an additional card from your hand to play this round.
- You can not replay Vill the same round that you use his effect.
- You can also use Vill's effect if you have 2 cards in hand from Olle or the Yule Goat to play both cards in hand and discard Vill.
Tjovik Torgusson You can complete Tjovik's Quest an additional time for every set of all five Theme tags you have. Example: if you have 3 tags of each Theme, you score 15 VP.
Night Character Awards
Longleg Skutt Score 6 VP if you are the player with most Night cards. You do not score any VP if you are tied with another player.
Wing Mother Score 1 VP for each matching tag you have of one Theme of your choice.
The Silver Knight Score 1 VP for each card you have of one type. Choose between Event, Travel or Danger.
King Death Score 1 VP for each Sword icon you have on your Danger cards.
Jock the Giant Score 3 VP for each set of Adventure, Travel & Danger card you have. To have 1 set you need at least one card of each of those types. Both your Day and Night cards count.
Princess Tuvstarr Score 2 VP for each Quest you have completed.
- You score 2 VP from Tjovik's Quest for each time you complete it.
The Skogsrå Score up to 13 VP. Score 1 less VP for each Theme tag you have. You do not lose VP even if you have over 13 tags. Example: If you have 7 tags you score 6 VP.
Quick Rules summary
- Make a draw pile of 12 cards for each player. (10 in a 5 player game).
- Each player draws 3 cards, choose one to keep and puts the rest on the next players draw pile. Then play them.
- Night cards are played face-down.
- Resolve any effects from Characters. Repeat until only 2 cards are left.
Score Victory Points in six ways
- Event: 1, 2, 3 or 4 VP each.
- Travel: 1, 3, 7, 12, 18, +4. Night: +1.
- Danger: Most=12 VP, 2nd=6 VP.
- Theme Tags: 4 matching=1 VP each.
- Completed Quests: Day Characters.
- Night Awards: Night Characters.
Tip! If you want to play a longer game of Bauer you can add up your scores from multiple matches.