Chance It
Chance it Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Set Up
- Shuffle the 30 market cards and form a face-down pile. Lay out 4 of them face up as the market. A discard pile is placed next to the market.
- Place the action board in the middle of the table and place the stakes sheet that corresponds to the number of players right next to it. Each of the 3 double-sided stakes sheets shows the number of players it is used for.
- All players take the 3 guide cards IN, OUT, and CHANCE IT into their hand. (There are 18 guide cards in total.)
- The first player to reach out for the 5 dice gets the starting-player marker.
- Of the 37 coins (25 small, 12 big), each player gets 1 big coin and 3 small coins (total value: 8).
- Of the 36 hearts (24 small, 12 big), each player gets 1 big heart and 3 small hearts (total value: 8).
- There are 44 stars (25 small, 19 big).
- The remaining coins and hearts as well as all the stars form the supply. You may exchange 5 small tokens (value 1) for 1 big token (value 5) of the same kind at any time.
Play
Play proceeds in game rounds. Each game round consists of the following steps.
1. Roll the Dice
The starting player rolls all 5 dice and places them, sorted by value, to the left of the action board.
2. Choose a Guide Card
Each player decides whether to participate in the upcoming action round by placing a guide card face down in front of them. Then all players reveal their card simultaneously:
- If you play IN, you take part in the action round.
- If you play CHANCE IT, you are also "IN" – i.e., you take part in the action round.
- If you play OUT, you do not take part in the action round.
▶ If 2 or more players have chosen CHANCE IT, these players must play the guide card IN in the next game round. To indicate this, these players put their IN card underneath their already-laid-out CHANCE IT card.
▶ If only one player has played CHANCE IT, he is not affected by this! In the next round, he may choose from all three guide cards again.
3. Pay or Collect the Stakes
Count how many of you overall ...
... have played OUT.
- These players take coins from the supply – each of them gets as many as indicated on the stakes sheet for this number of players.
- If all players have played OUT, each player has to put one heart back into the supply. In this case, nobody obtains any coins.
Example: The stakes sheet in the five-player game shows that Eva, as the only OUT player, obtains 4 coins from the supply.
... have played IN or CHANCE IT.
- These players have to pay coins into the supply – each of them pays as many coins as indicated on the stakes sheet for this number of players.
- Players who run out of coins have to pay hearts (of the respective value).
Example: The 4 players who have played IN or CHANCE IT pay 3 coins each and participate in the action round. Bridget, Lea, and Tom must play IN in the next round.
Stakes sheets. The stakes sheets are printed on the physical product. The English pages of the rulebook reproduce them for the four-player and five-player games only, as follows:
| Stakes sheet | Number of players who played OUT | Coins each OUT player takes | Number of players who played IN or CHANCE IT | Coins each IN or CHANCE IT player pays |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four players | 1 out | 4 | 1 in | 1 |
| 2 out | 2 | 2 in | 2 | |
| 3 out | 1 | 3 in | 3 | |
| 4 out (all players OUT) | none: each player puts 1 heart back into the supply | 4 in | 3 | |
| Five players | 1 out | 4 | 1 in |
Note: The 3-player and 6-player stakes sheets are not reproduced in the English pages of the source PDF. Those values are printed only on the physical stakes sheets and have not been transcribed here.
4. The Action Round
All players who have chosen IN or CHANCE IT join the action round. Any players who have chosen OUT don't take part in this action round; they are not affected by any of these actions.
The players involved in the action round carry out one action for each laid-out die at the action board, from top to bottom. For all participants, action 1 is followed by action 2; then, for all, by action 3, and so on. Finally comes the CHANCE IT action, carried out only by those players who have chosen the guide card CHANCE IT for the current game round.
The Action Board
For each die lying at the action board, the players involved carry out the associated action:
| Die on the action board | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 (reroll icon) | The starting player rerolls every "1" until no die shows a "1" any more, and places it to the left of the new value. |
| 2 (heart icon) | All players involved take 1 (small) heart from the supply. |
| 3 (two broken hearts icon) | All players involved put 2 (small) hearts back into the supply. |
| 4 (star icon) | All players involved take 1 (small) star from the supply. |
| 5 (coin icon) | All players involved take 1 coin (value = 1) from the supply. |
| 6 (buy or discard icon) | All players involved, in turn order, buy or discard 1 card from the market. |
| CHANCE IT action | All players involved who have chosen the guide card CHANCE IT take 2 coins from the supply. |
Action 6 is carried out in turn order, beginning with the starting player. Actions 1–5 are resolved simultaneously.
The Market Cards
Cards that you buy from the market allow you to carry out additional actions.
These symbols tell you when you may use the card you have bought. Here you find the action(s) that the card allow(s) you to do.
When you buy cards, you put coins of this value back into the supply.
The card symbols mean:
- Flash symbol: Carry out this card immediately after the purchase and then put it on the discard pile.
- Die symbol: Do not carry out this card yet. Place it face up in front of you for the time being. Use its action when you carry out the corresponding die action or CHANCE IT action.
- CHANCE IT symbol: Do not carry out this card yet. Place it face up in front of you for the time being. Use its action when you carry out the corresponding die action or CHANCE IT action.
- Heart symbol: Take as many small hearts from the supply as depicted.
- Coin symbol (value 1 on the card): Take coins of the value indicated from the supply.
- Star symbol: Take as many small stars from the supply as depicted.
- Knife symbol: All the other participants of the action round (NOT YOU) have to put a small heart back into the supply.
- Buy or discard symbol: Discard or buy another market card! You may not use this card in the action round in which you have acquired it!
- Red-ringed coin symbol (bottom right of the card): When you buy the card, you pay the complete amount of coins as indicated at the bottom right of the card. Market cards may never be paid with hearts.
Discard Market Cards
If you are not able or willing to buy a market card, you pay nothing but you must put one card on the discard pile without using it. Only when there is no card left at the market do you lay out another 4 cards from the market pile, face up.
Using Market Cards
A. Cards with a flash symbol
These cards grant you a strong one-time action that you carry out right after the purchase. After that, you put this card on the discard pile.
B. Cards with a die symbol
After buying these cards, you lay them out in front of you. They remain there until the end of the game and grant you recurring actions.
Example: With die action 2, all players involved receive 1 heart (for the die lying there). But Bridget receives 1 additional heart, since she has a market card for this.
You carry out these cards along with the corresponding die action.
Example: All players involved lose 4 hearts, since die action 3 is carried out twice (once for each die there).
Example: For the first die, John's card grants him 1 heart and 1 coin. For the second die, he may not use this card again.
Per round, you may use each card only for 1 die.
Example: All players involved obtain 1 coin for the laid-out "5." Tom has to choose which of his two value-5 cards to use, since there is only one "5" lying at the action board.
For each die, you may use only 1 card.
You use cards with die symbol 1 before the starting player rerolls the dice that show a "1." For any other "1s" he rolls now, you don't carry out a card action.
C. Cards marked CHANCE IT
Just like cards with a die symbol, you put CHANCE IT cards you have bought in front of you and use them recurringly. When you carry out the CHANCE IT action you take 2 coins, and you additionally may use the action of one of the cards lying in front of you that shows CHANCE IT. This can even be a card that you have bought in the current action round.
Whoever Is Heartless Is Eliminated
If you lose your last heart – for whatever reason – you are immediately out of the game. Put all your coins and stars back into the supply. Lay your market cards on the discard pile.
Yes, you read it correctly: You are no longer involved in play and thus, unfortunately, don't have a chance of winning! Therefore, do whatever it takes to avoid losing your last heart! If you don't manage this time, you might succeed in the next game! There is always a new CHANCE IT…!
If somebody has been eliminated, exchange the stakes sheet before you start the next game round. Always use the stakes sheet that corresponds to the current number of players!
The Next Game Round
Take the guide cards you have chosen for the current game round back into your hand. BUT: If several players have chosen CHANCE IT in the previous round, these players now leave the IN card face up in front of them. This card has already been determined as their guide card for the upcoming game round!
The next player in clockwise order gets the starting-player marker and rolls the dice for the next round.
The Game Ends – and the Stars Decide!
The first player to collect 20 (or more) stars after a die action ends the game. Among all players (who have not been eliminated), the one who now possesses the most stars wins the game.
In case of a tie, the tied player with the most hearts prevails. If there is still a tie, the tied player who has the most coins wins.
The game ends also if, after a die action, there is only one player with hearts left; this player wins.
If all players are heartless and thus out of the game, nobody wins.