Joystick Heroes
Joystick Heroes Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What's In The Box?
- 8 Hero boards
- 8 Hero pawns (w/stands)
- 50 Prize chips
- 48 Games cards
- 44 Power cards
- 6 Reference cards
- 60 Arcade tokens
- 9 Scoring dice & 1 Game die
- 48 Tickets
- 60 Power cubes
- Starting Player marker (pizza slice)
Setup
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Build your arcade. Shuffle all the Games cards together (both silver and gold). Draw a number of cards based on player count and place them face up in the middle of the play area. Arrange them any way you like - in a square facing inward like the walls of an arcade, in 2 rows, in one long row, or in "islands" - it's totally up to you. Place the rest of the deck face down within reach.
- Solo = 4 Games
- 2 players = 6 Games
- 3 players = 8 Games
- 4 players = 10 Games
- 5 players = 12 Games
- 6 players = 14 Games
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Create your Hero. Choose a Hero board & matching pawn and take 6 red Power cubes. Place 1 cube in the bottom slot of all 4 white skillz columns - Joystick, Driving, Buttons and Shooting. Then place the others in the bottom slots of any 2 of the black genres columns - there's Adventure, Classic, Sci-fi and Sports. For example, the example Hero likes Classic and Sci-fi. We recommend picking genres you see a lot of in your arcade.
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Get Cards. Shuffle the Power cards and deal 3 to each player, face down. Place the rest of the deck face down within reach. If you get an "On The Button" card, follow the instructions and draw again. If you get an "All-Play Tournament" card, insert it randomly back into the deck and draw again. If it's your first time playing, take a handy player Reference card.
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Grab 10 Arcade tokens. Gotta feed the machines, dude.
How To Play
In Joystick Heroes, your objective is to win the MOST PRIZES. A game takes place over several rounds and ends following the round when all players have run out of tokens. Each round has 2 phases - a PLAY phase and a POWER UP phase.
1. PLAY Phase
Play a game and collect your winnings!
In turns clockwise, starting with the player with the pizza slice, move your Hero pawn to an unoccupied Games card in the arcade (unoccupied = no other player on it), insert coin (place a token above it), and play it! How? Read on...
First, check the 3 icons at the bottom of the card and locate those matching icons on your Hero board. For each red Power cube you have in those 3 columns, you get to roll 1 black Scoring die. The more cubes you have, the more dice you'll roll and the more points you can score. NOTE that the face values on a Scoring die are 0-100-100-200-200-300 (average 150), and the maximum number of Scoring dice you can roll at once is 9.
In addition to Scoring dice you'll also roll the white Game die, which can affect your score in various ways (see below). You can also use any number of your Power cards when they apply - just keep in mind that you only get to draw back 1 per round (more about this under Power Cards).
Example: our Hero wants to play Tbob, a Classic genre game that requires Joystick and Shooting skillz. Checking their board, we see that they currently have 2 red Power cubes in their Joystick column, 1 cube for Shooting and 1 for Classic. So they'll be rolling a total of 4 Scoring dice (2 + 1 + 1), plus the Game die.
Game Die
- Cherries (+200), Star (+100), Bomb (-200), Skull (-100): Add or subtract points from your score as indicated.
- Key: When you roll a Key, you may spend 1 of your Power cards to get what's shown in the upper left corner, instead of using its primary power. Immediately add those points to your Game score.
- Heart: Gives you an extra life. This means you get the option to roll 1 extra Scoring die to add to your score. When you do, also reroll the Game die, giving you the opportunity for more bonus points or even another extra life! You may wonder "why is this optional, it sounds like a no-brainer?" Well, what if you roll a zero and a bomb? Totally burned!
How To Play Standard (Silver) Games
Roll your Scoring dice and the Game die and add up your score. Win what's shown next to the highest score you tied or beat (it's not cumulative).
How To Play Premium (Gold) Games
In a Premium Game, you're trying to pass Levels. Roll your Scoring dice and the Game die and refer to the card's chart for Level 1 (L1). If you tie or beat it, you pass the level and get to roll all your dice again to try for Level 2 (L2). If you succeed again, try for Level 3 (L3). You always win what's shown next to the last level you passed (it's not cumulative). The Game die is rolled for each Level with its normal effects, with the exception of the Heart (extra life) - here, it applies only to your current Level roll (you don't get to keep rolling the extra scoring die for other Levels).
High Score!
Every Standard and Premium game has a High Score at the top. If you tie or beat it, ignore the card's chart and win what's shown to the right of the High Score instead. For Premium games, you get the High Score when your Level 3 score ties or beats it (in other words, you can't get the High Score unless you beat Level 3). To the left of the High Score you'll find the game's Difficulty icon.
IMPORTANT! After a Game is played 3 times OR its High Score is achieved, immediately discard (along with its tokens) and replace it with a new Game from the deck. The manager likes to keep the arcade fresh.
Multi-player Games Cards
Games cards with these icons at the top offer optional 2-player action:
- Versus mode: Before another player plays these games, you may take your turn early and challenge them. Spend 1 token and move your pawn to the card. You'll both play the game and keep your winnings, but the top scorer gets 2 extra tickets. In case of a tie, no extra tickets are awarded.
- Co-op mode: These games can be played solo, OR you may pay a willing player 1 ticket to borrow one of their skillz/genres' Power cubes to give you extra dice. If you get a High Score, that player gets 2 more tickets from the supply.
Ending Your Turn
After you've played a game and calculated your score, collect your winnings! Then be sure to keep your pawn where it is in front of the Games card (even if it was replaced with a new one). This shows that the Game is occupied, which means it can't be played by others. Also note that you can't play the same game (or in the same spot) twice in a row. In other words, you must always move to a new game to start your turn (unless permitted by a Power card). Later you may return to play your favorites again, but don't bogart the machines, dude!
2. POWER UP Phase
Get Prizes, Power cubes and Power cards!
After everyone finishes the PLAY phase, it's time for all players to simultaneously POWER UP. You can:
- Purchase Power cubes and add them to your Hero board for any of the skillz or the genre from your most recent game. Powering up one of your skillz costs 3 tickets, and powering up a genre costs 2 tickets.
- Purchase Prizes! The player with the most at the end of the game wins. Prizes cost 5 tickets.
- Draw Power cards. If you have less than 3 Power cards, draw 1 for free.
Then, if players still have tokens, pass the pizza slice clockwise to begin the next round!
All About Power Cards
Power cards can improve your scores and experience in the arcade in different ways. You get 3 to start and that's the max you can have at a given time, but there's no limit to the number of Power cards you can play on your turn. If you ever wind up with a card in your hand that you don't want, simply discard it during a PLAY Phase to make room for a new one. During a POWER UP Phase, if you have less than 3 cards, draw 1.
In addition to their primary power, most cards have a special Key power in the upper left corner. If you roll a Key on the Game die, you may immediately spend 1 of your cards for its Key power value to add points to your score.
When an "All-Play Tournament" Power card is drawn, a tournament is triggered at the end of the current Power Up phase. To start the tournament, draw the next Standard (silver) Games card from the deck. Everybody plays it for free in turn order and gets their winnings, and the top scorer wins 1 bonus Prize. You can use Power cards as usual. In case of a tie, the top scorers replay to decide the winner. NOTE that Tournaments can take some time, especially with 5-6 players. So if you feel like skipping them to shorten your game, go for it!
Game Over, Man
When all players are out of tokens after a PLAY phase, the arcade closes. Do the final POWER UP phase without drawing new Power cards, and then count your Prizes. The player with the most is the new Joystick Hero! The player with the least is the Joystick Zero. Everyone else... just played. If there's a tie, the tied player with the most tickets wins. If there's still a tie, those players draw the next Standard (silver) Games card and compete in one final, after-hours, winner-take-all tournament for all the glory.
Continue? (optional)
At setup, players may mutually agree to use the optional "Continue?" rule. This rule allows you to discard 2 tickets to continue the game you just played on your turn. When you do, you get to roll 1 Scoring die plus the Game die and add the results to your game or Level 3 score. If you ever come up juuust short of a high score, this move is killer!
Solo Mode
To play Joystick Heroes solo, create a 4-Game arcade at setup. Then simply remove the "Ticket Thief", "All-Play Tournament", and "On The Button" Power cards. Play to see how many Prizes you can collect - you've got the entire arcade to yourself, dude!