Kablamo
Kablamo Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
This game includes:
- 5 Revolvers
- 20 Live Bullets (yellow)
- 67 Action Bullets (white)
- 13 High Velocity Bullets (red)
- 1 Ammunition Bag
- 1 Rules booklet
Revolver
A Revolver consists of a number of different parts.
Cylinder: The round rotating board that holds six Bullets. When firing, you normally rotate the Cylinder one step clockwise.
Chambers: The six circles on the Cylinder where you place the Bullets. You place the Bullets face down in the Cylinder.
Hammer Position: The position at the top of the Cylinder where you fire Bullets. When firing, you normally flip a Bullet face up to reveal it after rotating the Cylinder.
Safe Position: The position left of the Hammer Position. Only the owner of the Revolver may manipulate a Bullet in this position.
Bullets
The Bullets come in a number of different types with different effects.
Live Bullets: These Bullets are yellow and exist in two variants. The ones with the word "Kablamo" written on them indicate that you were just eliminated from the game. The ones with the word "Click" written on them indicate that you can continue playing.
Action Bullets: These Bullets are white and exist in thirteen different variants. They all have effects that you can use to affect the game. You can choose to assign the effect of a Bullet to yourself or another player.
High Velocity Bullets: These Bullets are red and exist in thirteen unique variants. Unlike other Bullets, you can play them directly from your hand instead of firing them from the Revolver. Apart from that, you treat them just like Action Bullets.
Bullets shown on the rules page
- Stockpiling (Action): Draw a new Bullet and reload your Revolver with it. Draw another Bullet to keep as a Spare Bullet.
- Greased Cylinder (Action): Rotate the Cylinder of a Revolver three steps.
- Triple Action (Action, timing number 20): Swap the positions of three Bullets in at least two Revolvers.
- Wet Powder (Action, timing number 80): Discard all your Spare Bullets and draw an equal number of new Bullets.
- Lights Out (High Velocity, timing number 12): Swap two players' Revolvers. Those players may then rotate their Cylinders any number of steps.
- Bolshevik Rules (High Velocity, timing number 6): The next turn, all Kablamos eliminate the player to the left.
- Someone Is Cheating (High Velocity, timing number 19): For the rest of this turn, all active Bullets except Live Bullets are discarded.
Bullets named in the rules
The rules booklet refers to the following Bullets by name in its examples. Their full card text is not printed in the rules PDF, so only what the examples say is given here.
- Test of honor: Reloads another player's Revolver. The owner of the Revolver that fires it decides whose Revolver is reloaded, or may assign the effect to another player, who then decides.
- Speed load: Reloads your Revolver with six new Bullets.
- Hammer malfunction: A delayed effect, placed in the upper corner of the affected Revolver.
- Trigger happy: A delayed effect, placed in front of the affected player. When the affected player has fired an additional Bullet as ordered, discard it.
- Cylinder malfunction: A delayed effect, telling the owner of the Revolver to rotate the Cylinder counterclockwise the next time the Revolver is fired.
- Sleight of hand: Swap one of the Bullets in your Revolver with a random Spare Bullet of your choice from one of your opponents.
- Marquis of Queensbury rules (High Velocity): If played at the beginning of a turn, all Kablamos that turn are ignored.
- Ratchet malfunction: Named in the rules examples; its effect is not described in the rules PDF.
Setup
- Place a Revolver in front of each player.
- Put the Bullets in the Ammunition Bag.
- Deal each player eight random Bullets face down.
- Each player places six of his Bullets face down in his Revolver in any order he wishes. As long as there's at least one Chamber left empty in any player's Revolver, he may rearrange the Bullets freely and look at them. As soon as all players have placed their sixth Bullet, no one may look at, or rearrange their Bullets again. Note that the Bullet in the Safe Position is the first to be fired.
- Each player places his two remaining Bullets face down on the table next to his Revolver. These are the Bullets in his hand, referred to as Spare Bullets. He may look at these whenever he wants to.
Turn Sequence
All players act simultaneously throughout each turn unless otherwise stated. Each turn consists of the following phases:
Rotate
All players rotate their Cylinders one step clockwise, moving the Bullet in the Safe Position to the Hammer Position.
Reveal
All players flip the Bullet in the Hammer Position face up to reveal the effect. Once a Bullet is flipped, it's active and can't be removed from its Chamber until it's resolved.
Resolve
All players carry out the effect of each Bullet in accordance with the timing number printed on each Bullet. The lowest number goes first, the second lowest second, and so on. You can choose to assign the effect of a Bullet to yourself or another player. Put the used Bullets in a Discard Pile unless they are Live Bullets; these you return to the Ammunition Bag. For more information on how to resolve Bullets, see "Resolving effects" below.
Repeat
If an Action Bullet or a High Velocity Bullet calls for additional Bullets to be fired, fire them now. Rotate the Cylinder, reveal the Bullet in the Hammer Position and resolve the effect. If several players have to fire additional Bullets, they fire them simultaneously and resolve the effects using the timing rules. Repeat this phase if necessary.
Replace
All players draw as many Bullets from the Ammunition Bag as they have empty Chambers in their Revolver and add them to their Spare Bullets.
Reload
All players reload their empty Chamber(s) with Bullets from their Spare Bullets. If a player is short of Spare Bullets, he reloads as many empty Chambers as possible and leaves the remaining ones empty. He's free to choose which ones to leave empty.
You may play a High Velocity Bullet from your hand at any time during the turn.
Resolving Effects
The following rules always apply when resolving the effects of Bullets:
Kablamo - you're out!
Live Bullets always take effect immediately before all other Bullets when they are fired. This means that once you've flipped a Kablamo, the player that the Revolver points at (normally the owner of the Revolver) is eliminated from the game. The only way to neutralize a Live Bullet is by playing certain High Velocity Bullets in advance. You can't neutralize a Live Bullet retrospectively.
Example: If a player plays the High Velocity Bullet "Marquis of Queensbury rules" at the beginning of a turn, all Kablamos that turn are ignored. If a player plays it after the regular round has been fired, any Kablamo just fired will still have eliminated the player that the Revolver pointed at. Additional Bullets being fired afterwards, on the other hand, will not eliminate any players.
An effect can be assigned to any player
When resolving the effect of an Action Bullet or a High Velocity Bullet, the owner of the Revolver from which the Bullet was fired decides who should be affected, either himself or another player. The affected player may then make any decisions involved in applying the effect. You can't choose whom a Live Bullet should affect. It always affects the player that the Revolver points at.
Example: The Bullet "Test of honor" tells you to reload another player's Revolver. You can use the effect yourself and decide whose Revolver to reload. You can also assign the effect to another player, who may then decide whose Revolver to reload. That player may even decide to reload your Revolver.
Most effects can be either positive or negative depending on the circumstances. Therefore, you'll sometimes assign the effect of an Action Bullet or a High Velocity Bullet to yourself, and sometimes to another player.
Example: The Bullet "Speed load" tells you to reload your Revolver with six new Bullets. Early on in the game it may be a good idea to get rid of any Kablamos in your Revolver by using this effect yourself. Later in the game it may be a better idea to assign this effect to another player, since all Kablamos are constantly returned to the Ammunition Bag, thereby increasing the risk of drawing Kablamos.
Delayed effects
Some effects don't affect the target immediately, but at a later stage such as the next turn. Place these Bullets face up in front of the affected player or in the upper corner of the affected Revolver to make sure that they are not forgotten. Discard them as usual when the effect has taken place. Some effects target players while others target their Revolvers. The difference is that effects that target Revolvers always stay with the Revolver, regardless of which player owns it.
Example: If a player plays the Bullet "Hammer malfunction" on you, place that Bullet in the upper corner of your Revolver. If a player plays the Bullet "Trigger Happy" on you, place that Bullet in front of you. When you have fired an additional Bullet as ordered, discard the Bullet with the delayed effect. If a player plays the High Velocity Bullet "Lights out" on you before you fire the additional Bullet, you must swap Revolvers with another player. The Bullet "Hammer malfunction" will then go with your old Revolver, relieving you of it, but the Bullet "Trigger Happy" will stay in front of you.
Delayed effects are cumulative. If you assign several delayed effects of the same kind to a target, the target must carry out and remove the effects one at a time.
Example: If one or more players assign several "Cylinder malfunction" Bullets to you during the same turn, place them in the upper corner of your Revolver on top of each other. The next time you fire your Revolver, follow the instructions on "Cylinder malfunction", telling you to rotate the Cylinder counterclockwise. Thereafter, discard the top "Cylinder malfunction" Bullet. Repeat this every time you fire the Revolver until no "Cylinder malfunction" Bullets are left.
The owner of a Revolver controls the effects
It's the owner of a Revolver that controls the effects of the Bullets fired from it. In other words, even if you point your Revolver at another player, you still make any decisions concerning the Bullets fired from it. If the ownership of a Revolver changes, the new owner controls the effects.
Example: If a player plays the High Velocity Bullet "Lights out" on you and another player, swap Revolvers with that player. If your new Revolver has an active Bullet, you resolve its effect, not the old owner. If your old Revolver has an active Bullet, the new owner resolves its effect, not you.
Instant effects
Some effects tell you to perform a certain action without stating when to do so. When this occurs, perform the action immediately even if you'd normally perform it during another phase.
Example: The Bullet "Stockpiling" tells you to draw a new Bullet and reload your Revolver with it, and then draw another one to keep as a Spare Bullet. You don't wait until the reload phase to do this but do it during the resolve phase according to the timing number. If you have several empty Chambers, choose which Chamber to reload. Any remaining empty Chambers you reload as normal during the reload phase.
If an effect can't be followed, the Bullet is a dud
If you fire a Bullet with an effect that's impossible to carry out for some reason, that Bullet is a dud and is discarded. However, if you have a choice in how to resolve the effect, you must always choose an alternative that can be carried out, if such an alternative is available. If the effect affects several players, those who can carry it out must do so even if some players can't. As long as at least one player can carry it out, the Bullet isn't a dud.
Example: The Bullet "Sleight of hand" tells you to swap one of the Bullets in your Revolver with a random Spare Bullet of your choice from one of your opponents. If no player has any Spare Bullets, the Bullet is a dud. The Bullet "Stockpiling" tells you to draw a new Bullet, reload your Revolver with it, and then draw another Bullet to keep as a Spare Bullet. You can only assign this Bullet to a player with one or more empty Chambers (Chambers with active Bullets don't count as empty). If no opponent has any empty Chambers, you must assign the Bullet to yourself since you're the only player with an empty Chamber.
If the Hammer Position is empty, there's no effect
If the Hammer Position for some reason is empty when you fire the Revolver, you don't have to resolve any effect.
Handling Bullets
The following rules always apply when handling Bullets:
Don't look at the Bullets
You may never look at the Bullets in the Chambers until you fire them unless a Bullet allows you to. If you can't remember where the Live Bullets are, that's your problem. If a Bullet tells you to swap the positions of Bullets, do so without looking at the Bullets. This applies to the Bullets in the Revolvers as well as other players' Spare Bullets. You may only look at your own Spare Bullets, and Bullets with which you reload a Revolver.
Don't manipulate other players' Safe Position
You may never manipulate the Bullets in other players' Safe Position. Only the owner of a Revolver may look at or move the Bullet in its Safe Position, and only when a Bullet allows him to. Also, only the owner may ever reload the Safe Position.
Don't move active Bullets
You may never move active Bullets (Bullets that have been revealed but not yet resolved). Once you have revealed a Bullet, it will stay in its Chamber until resolved. It's resolved when you have assigned the effect to someone, at which time you remove the Bullet from the Chamber. The only exception is if you die before resolving the Bullet - then it's not active any longer.
Example: The Bullet "Triple action" tells you to swap the positions of three Bullets in at least two Revolvers. This means that you may move three Bullets in two or three Revolvers so that they all end up in new positions. You may not move a Bullet in another player's Safe Position or an active Bullet, and you may not move Bullets into empty Chambers.
Every movement must be fully visible
Whenever you move Bullets around between different positions, you must carry out all changes slowly and clearly so that all players can see which Bullet went where.
High Velocity Bullets
High Velocity Bullets can be played from the hand
You may play High Velocity Bullets directly from the hand whenever you want to during a turn. Some High Velocity Bullets take effect immediately; others take effect at a later stage such as the next turn. When you play High Velocity Bullets from the hand, the timing numbers are irrelevant.
High Velocity Bullets can be played from the Revolver
Since you can play High Velocity Bullets directly from the hand, you should not place them in the Revolver. However, sometimes you will be forced to do so, or you may want to play a High Velocity Bullet from the Revolver for some reason. When this happens, High Velocity Bullets are treated exactly as Action Bullets, and normal timing rules apply.
Spare Bullets and Winning
There's no hand-limit to the Spare Bullets
Any Bullets you hold, exceeding the six ones in the Revolver, are considered your Spare Bullets. The number of Spare Bullets you hold during the game may vary a lot. There's no upper or lower limit to the number of Spare Bullets you may hold.
The game gets progressively more deadly
Put all Live Bullets that are fired, discarded or found among an eliminated player's Bullets directly back into the Ammunition Bag. Thus, the game becomes more deadly as you go along, ensuring that the game won't go on forever. However, if a Bullet tells you to discard Bullets and draw new ones, you don't have to put any Live Bullets back into the Ammunition Bag until you have drawn the new Bullets.
Winning
The player who's left when everyone else has been eliminated from the game is the winner. If several players are eliminated simultaneously, leaving no one behind, no one wins.
Optional Rules
The social gamer
This version of Kablamo is suitable for people who like social chit-chat when playing and want a less mind-boggling game. Also, this version is even more humorous than the original one as it makes it easier for all players to anticipate what's going to happen.
Give each player a unique set of tokens. The tokens could, for example, be coins of a certain value or small pieces of paper in a certain color. At the beginning of the game, all players mark the Bullets in their Revolvers with their tokens. During the game, they continue to mark all Bullets with which they reload their own or other players' Revolvers. This way, it becomes easier for players to keep track of their Bullets and to see which Bullets in their Revolvers originate from other players and therefore shouldn't be trusted.
The hardcore strategist
This version of Kablamo is suitable for people who play for keeps and enjoy the mastermind aspect of the game. It will make the game faster, deadlier and more strategic.
Remove all High Velocity Bullets from the Ammunition Bag. The High Velocity Bullets are very powerful and make the game more haphazard. Also, during setup, deal each player one Kablamo before putting the Bullets in the Ammunition Bag. Then deal each player seven random Bullets.
Mulliganovski
During the setup, if you're not happy with you're [sic] first eight Bullets, you may discard them and draw seven new Bullets. Again, if you're not happy with these, you may discard them as well and draw six new Bullets. These you must keep.