La Casa de Papel: El Juego de Roles Ocultos

La Casa de Papel: El Juego de Roles Ocultos Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Contents

1 results board
1 red game piece
13 character cards
- 9 Gangster cards (red): 8 Gangster cards and 1 special Professor card
- 4 Hostage cards (blue): 3 Hostage cards and 1 special Raquel card
52 action cards
- 27 banknote cards: 12 normal banknote cards, 10 banknote cards +250, 5 banknote cards +500
- 25 sabotage cards: 13 normal sabotage cards, 8 sabotage cards -250, 4 sabotage cards -500

Note: The special character cards (Professor and Raquel) have a special ability. They are recognisable by the star in the upper right corner of the card.

Goal of the Game

This is a bluffing game in which two teams with opposing goals compete against each other.

The Gangster team (the robbers and the Professor), in red: before the end of the 5th round, they must have produced a certain amount of money with the printing press.
The Hostage team (the hostages and Raquel), in blue: they must thwart the plan so that the Gangsters do not reach their goal, and to this end they sabotage the printing press.
In addition, Inspector Raquel has the goal of unmasking the Professor, so that the robbers' loot is smaller at the end of the game.

In this game, all players pretend to belong to the Gangster team and want to print as much money as possible. But in reality, some players belong to the Hostage team: they do not want this goal to be reached at all, and in reality do not work toward it. Whom can you trust?

Who Wins?

The Gangsters win the game if, at the end of the 5th round, they have printed a certain amount of money. The amount depends on the number of players.

Gangster goal

Number of players	Goal
4, 5 or 6 players	2,000
7 or 8 players	2,500

Note: All amounts are in millions of euros.

Setup

Everyone sits at the table so that the results board in the middle of the table is visible and accessible to every player. The red game piece is placed on space 0 of the results board.

Forming the Teams

The character cards are prepared depending on the number of players.

The character cards Professor and Raquel must always be dealt, because they have a special ability attached. Note: To get to know the game, you may play the first time without these special abilities.
The teams are completed on the basis of the table of further character cards (at the players' discretion). These cards are placed alongside the character cards Professor and Raquel.
The remaining character cards are not used in this game and are returned to the box.

Number of players	Gangster team (including the Professor)	Hostage team (including Raquel)
4*	3*	2*
5	3	2
6	4	2
7	4	3
8	5	3

The character cards assembled for the game are shuffled. Each player receives one of these cards face down and looks at it in secret.

* Preparation for 4 players: In a game of four, one of the character cards is not dealt and set aside. This raises the tension over who belongs to which team.

To ensure that the Professor and Raquel cards come into play, proceed as follows:

The Professor and Raquel cards are placed face down on the table together with any one Gangster card.
One further Gangster card and one Hostage card are shuffled together; then one of these cards is drawn blindly and likewise placed face down with the three other cards.
In this way, two secretly assembled teams arise: either two Gangsters (including the Professor) against two Hostages (including Raquel), or three Gangsters (including the Professor) against Raquel.

Dealing the Action Cards

The action cards are prepared depending on the number of players. The banknote cards and the sabotage cards together form a deck, which is shuffled. Each player receives 5 cards from this deck face down. The players look at their cards in secret.

Number of players	Banknote cards: normal	Banknote cards: +250	Banknote cards: +500	Sabotage cards: normal	Sabotage cards: -250	Sabotage cards: -500
4	6	4	1	5	3	1
5	7	4	2	7	4	1
6	8	6	2	8	4	2
7	8	7

Choosing the First Game Leader

The player who was the last to rob a bank becomes the Game Leader for the 1st round. If no player has ever robbed a bank, the players choose a Game Leader in any way they like.

How to Play

The game is played over five rounds, each consisting of five phases:

Choosing an action card
Discussion
Card selection by the Game Leader
End of the round and scoring
Appointing the next Game Leader

1. Choosing an Action Card

Everyone can be sent to the printing works. Each player starts with 5 action cards and plays 1 card in each round. At the end of the game, each player has therefore played all of their action cards.

At the beginning of each round, each player chooses one of their action cards and places it face down in front of them on the table. In the next phase, all players will try to influence the Game Leader so that they:

choose their banknote card, to start the printing press,
choose their sabotage card, to stop the printing press,
do not choose their card, because it works against their own goal.

The players may not talk to one another before they have chosen their cards. The Game Leader may not give any instructions at the beginning of the round.

In the 4th round, the Professor uses his special ability at the end of this phase and before the discussion: he looks at the character card of one player (see the section SPECIAL ABILITIES).

2. Discussion

Not all players are sent to the printing works. Of the cards laid face down, only those that the Game Leader selects (see the section CARD SELECTION BY THE GAME LEADER) are taken into account at the end of the round. The other cards are discarded and come out of the game unseen.

It must always be clear who played which card. The cards that were not selected remain provisionally on the table in front of the players.

Each player is asked by the Game Leader for their arguments. Players may both give a concrete answer and answer evasively.

If a Gangster wants a sabotage card to be discarded, he might say: "Do not select my card, because it is a sabotage card and I want it discarded."
If a Hostage wants their sabotage card to be selected, they can say: "If you select my card, we can print money together! I have chosen a +500 banknote card."

CAUTION! To reach their goal, the players must adapt their arguments, their bluffs and their deception strategy to the Game Leader, because he may belong to the opposing team.

In the 2nd round, Raquel uses her special ability at the end of this phase and replaces one selected card with a card that was not selected (see the section SPECIAL ABILITIES).

Number of players	Selected cards
4, 5, 6	3
7, 8	5

3. Card Selection by the Game Leader

On the basis of all players' arguments, the Game Leader decides whom to send to the printing works. The Game Leader MUST always select their own card and may not discard it. The Game Leader selects further action cards until the required number is reached, and places them face down next to the results board.

The Game Leader selects the action cards from the cards played in phase 1. The number of cards to select depends on the number of players (see the table in phase 2).

4. End of the Round and Scoring

The action cards that were not selected come out of the game unseen. The selected action cards are shuffled and revealed. The round now ends, and the points are counted. The result of the round is determined by majority:

If there are more banknote cards, the printing press is running and the Gangsters' loot automatically increases by 500.
- BONUS: If the majority of banknote cards also includes bonus cards (+250, +500), the loot increases beyond the 500 by the total amount of these bonuses.
If there are more sabotage cards, the printing press is stopped and the Gangsters' loot does not increase.
- DEDUCTION: If the majority of sabotage cards also includes minus cards (-250, -500), their total amount is deducted from the loot.

The result of this round is then recorded on the results board by moving the game piece forwards or backwards accordingly.

The bonus or minus cards of the card category that is less common do not affect the result. They only count if they belong to the category of which there are more cards.
The loot decreases only if the sabotage cards are in the majority AND minus cards are among them. A majority of normal sabotage cards is not sufficient.
The loot can never be less than 0 euros.

Examples

Game with 4, 5 or 6 players / 3 cards selected by the Game Leader (at least 2 cards are required for a majority)

Majority of normal banknote cards: The loot increases automatically by 500 (+250 bonus).
Majority of normal sabotage cards (with 1 minus card): The printing press is stopped, and the loot decreases by 250.

Game with 7 or 8 players / 5 cards selected by the Game Leader (at least 3 cards are required for a majority)

Majority of banknote cards with 2 bonus cards: The loot increases by 1000 (500 + 2 x 250 bonus). The -250 deduction does not count, because this card does not belong to the card majority.
Majority of sabotage cards with 2 minus cards: The loot decreases by 500 (2 x 250). The +500 bonus does not count, because this card does not belong to the card majority.

5. Appointing the Next Game Leader

On the basis of the result of the previous round, the players state their theories about who in their view belongs to which team. Who lied? Who told the truth? The Game Leader appoints a successor, and then the next round begins.

The Game Leader

The Game Leader has an important role, because they decide which cards remain in the game and which do not. They may ask for advice, but in the end they are the one who makes the decision.

The Game Leader MUST always select their own card and may not take it out of the game.
The role of Game Leader changes in every round. In the first round, an arbitrary player is designated Game Leader, but after that each Game Leader appoints their successor for the next round themselves.
Caution! The Game Leader may not appoint as their successor a player who has already been Game Leader (except in a 4-player game; in this case one player becomes Game Leader twice).
The Game Leader is appointed before the players choose their card for the next round.

Special Abilities

Two people use their special ability during the course of the game:

Raquel, the police inspector (in the 2nd round)
The Professor, the brilliant mastermind behind the heist plan (in the 4th round)

Both special abilities are used under the same conditions: the Game Leader announces that there has been a power cut in the banknote printing works. All players, including the Game Leader, close their eyes. The Game Leader asks the person concerned to use their ability in complete secrecy, and allows them 15 seconds for this. During this time, the players may make noises so that it remains secret who is manipulating the cards.

Note: To get to know the game, you may play the first time without these special abilities.

Raquel's Special Ability in the 2nd Round

The 2nd round is played normally, except for phase 3 (card selection by the Game Leader). This phase proceeds as follows: After the card selection by the Game Leader and before the end of the round, Raquel may exchange one selected card for a card that would otherwise be taken out of the game (including her own card).

Note: The phase 2 section above says Raquel uses this ability "at the end of this phase" (the discussion), while this section places it after the Game Leader's card selection. Both timings are reproduced as printed in the German rulebook.

On the basis of the players' arguments in the discussion phase, Raquel may pick out one of the cards that were not selected, so that it is not discarded. She looks at this card and then decides which selected card she wants to replace with it. However, she may not look at the selected card.

Raquel does not have to use her ability. If she does not use her ability, she may not look at any cards. A card that she has looked at must be brought back into the game.

Note: The cards selected by the Game Leader are moved to the results board. The cards that were not selected and are taken out of the game remain lying on the table in front of the players. Raquel must always be able to tell whose card is whose.

Example

Game with five players: 3 cards selected, 2 cards not selected.

The Game Leader has selected 3 cards, including Raquel's card (a sabotage card). For the sabotage cards to be in the majority, one more sabotage card is required. Raquel is sure that the other two cards are banknote cards. However, one of the players whose card was not selected said during the discussion that they had a minus card (therefore also a sabotage card). Raquel decides to look at this player's card.

Is the card a minus card? Fantastic! She decides to replace this card with a selected card that, in her opinion, is a banknote card. In this way, a majority of sabotage cards with one minus card arises, which reduces the Gangsters' loot.
Is the card a banknote card? Oh no! Then Raquel was misled during the discussion. However, because she has looked at the card, she must bring it into the game and exchange it for a selected card. She cannot create a majority, but she can do something to keep the loot as low as possible by replacing this card with a selected card that, in her opinion, is a bonus banknote card.

The Professor's Special Ability in the 4th Round

The 4th round is played normally, except for phase 1. This phase proceeds as follows:

After the players have played their card face down and before the discussion begins, the Professor may look at the character card of one player. He uses this information to influence the discussion. However, he should do so as discreetly as possible, so that he is not unmasked by Raquel at the end of the game.

Raquel's Card Not Selected

If Raquel's card is not selected by the Game Leader, she may decide to bring this card back into the game and exchange it for a selected card.

End of the Game

The game ends after the end of the 5th round, when the players have played all their action cards.

They must, however, continue to keep their identities secret!

Final Result

If the loot is lower than the goal amount, the Gangsters have lost. In this case, the Hostages and Raquel have won.
If the loot is as high as the goal amount or higher, the Gangsters have not yet won, because Raquel can still play her last trump card to defeat the Gangsters.

Raquel's Last Trump

At the end of the game, Raquel reveals her identity and names the player whom she believes to be the Professor.

If Raquel has named the right person and thereby arrests the Professor, the Gangsters' loot is reduced by 500.

If the loot falls below the goal amount as a result of this deduction, the Gangsters lose. Otherwise, the Gangsters have still won!