Mustang
Mustang Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
Box contents:
- 5 ranch cards (each consisting of a corral and a stable)
- 47 mustang counters: 10 stallions, 15 mares, 20 foals, 1 Black Prince and 1 Snow White Mare
- 1 dealer's counter
- Cowboy Deck (49 cards)
- Event Deck (6 cards)
Before the Game Starts
Each player places a ranch card in front of him. A ranch card consists of a corral and a stable. Then divide the mustang counters into groups (stallions, mares, foals), shuffle each group and pile them in the middle of the table. Draw one counter from each pile, uncover it and place it beside the pile. Put the Black Prince's and Snow White Mare's counters next to the piles. The place where the counters are is called the prairie.
The player who is the last to ride a horse gets the dealer's counter. He shuffles both decks and deals 6 cards from the cowboy deck to each player (including himself).
The Game
The dealer starts the game, and then other players follow clockwise.
During each round you can do one of the following:
- Swap the cards. Give one or two covered cards to the dealer and in return you get the same amount of cards from the deck. The dealer puts the swapped cards under the deck without checking them.
- Catch a mustang. Play a sequence of cards from your hand and move one of the mustang counters from the prairie to your corral.
- Steal a mustang. Play a sequence of cards from your hand. Then take a mustang from one of the other players' corrals and put it in your own corral unless the owner plays a stronger sequence of cards.
- Take a mustang to the stable. Move a mustang counter from the corral to the stable.
The played cards go to a separate pile of used cards. If a player plays any cards during his round, he receives from the dealer the same amount of new cards from the top of the deck right after the action is performed. The dealer cannot, obviously, check the cards he deals!
Example: Will the Kid steals a foal from Skinny Frank's corral. He plays two cards to do it. Skinny Frank is prepared for the attack: he beats Will with his two cards. The action is over. Both Will the Kid and Skinny Frank get two new, covered cards from the dealer.
The Cowboy Deck
The cowboy deck consists of cards valued from 1 to 8 in five suits and 9 cowboy cards. Cowboys are jokers - they can replace any card, of any value and suit.
Catching a Mustang
To catch a mustang you must play one of the following combinations:
- One pair (two cards of the same value) to catch a foal;
- Three of a kind (three cards of the same value) to catch a mare;
- Four of a kind (four cards of the same value) to catch a stallion;
- Straight flush (five cards in sequence, all of the same suit) to catch the Black Prince and the Snow White Mare.
When you play any of these combinations, you can either take a corresponding uncovered mustang from the prairie or draw a covered counter from the top of a corresponding pile. Then place the counter, already uncovered, in your corral. If an uncovered counter has been taken from the prairie, a new one is put in its place.
Example: Will the Kid wants to catch a mare. To do that, he plays two sixes and a cowboy from his hand - the cowboy stands for the lacking six. Since he has played three of a kind, he can either take the uncovered mare counter or take a covered counter from the "mare pile" and then put it, already uncovered, in his corral. Finally he discards the two sixes and the cowboy he has just played, and gets three new cards from the dealer.
Stealing Mustangs
To steal a mustang you must indicate a particular counter in your opponent's corral and then play a combination of cards required to do that: one pair to steal a foal, three of a kind for a mare, four of a kind in case of a stallion and straight flush to steal the Black Prince or Snow White Mare.
The corral owner can try to prevent theft - to do that he must either play the same combination of cards but of higher value, or play any other higher ranking combination. If, for example, an opponent is using a pair of threes, and the ranch owner wants to spoil his plan, he must play a pair of fours or higher valued cards, three of a kind, four of a kind or straight flush (careful, poker players: in "Mustang" there is no straight. Cards in sequence but of different suits are not considered a possible combination!).
If the theft has been successful, you can take the indicated counter. Otherwise you must discard all the cowboys from your hand.
After the stealing is over both players (or only the thief, if the owner has decided not to defend his ranch) get the same amount of cards from the dealer as they have used (including the discarded cowboys).
Example: Will the Kid steals a foal from Skinny Frank's corral. He plays one pair of twos. Skinny Frank is prepared for it and plays one pair of sixes. The foal remains in its corral and Will the Kid must discard the cowboy he had in his hand. Will the Kid gets three cards from the dealer (one pair plus the cowboy), Skinny Frank - two cards.
Taking Mustangs to the Stable
You can also take a mustang to the stable. To do that you must move one counter from the corral to the stable. You do not have to play any cards. A mustang cannot be stolen from the stable.
Events
When the cowboy deck is over, shuffle the used up cards to make a new deck out of it. Then uncover the top event card and introduce it into the game.
The possible events are:
- A Rotten Gate: Each player must set one mustang free from his corral and put its counter, uncovered, on the prairie.
- The Indians Take the Pride of the Herd: Remove the uncovered mustang counters that are on the prairie from the game. The same refers to the Black Prince and the Snow White Mare, if they are still on the table. Uncover new counters to replace them.
- Heavy Rain: Each player can immediately take two mustangs from his corral to the stable.
- Delivery: Every player who has a stallion and a mare in the stable takes a covered foal counter from the prairie and puts it in his corral.
- A Sunny Day: Nothing happens.
The End of the Game
The game ends in two cases:
- If one of the mustang piles is over (the last stallion, mare or foal is taken to a player's corral).
- If any of the players has a herd in his stable, that is one stallion, two mares and three foals.
Score
When the game is over the players count the points for all the mustangs in their stables and corrals, getting:
- 5 points for the Black Prince or Snow White Mare
- 3 points for each stallion
- 2 points for each mare
- 1 point for each foal
You also get bonus points:
- 2 points if you have a stallion and at least one mare of the same suit in your stable.
- 7 points if you have the whole herd in your stable (i.e. a stallion, two mares and three foals), all of the same suit (ATTENTION! In this case you do not get the bonus points for the stallion and the mare of the same suit).
- 3 points for finishing the game (for the player who has put the last mustang from the herd in his stable or has caught the last mustang of a particular kind).
The winner is the player who gets the highest score. In case of a draw, the winner is the player who has the Black Prince or the Snow White Mare. If this does not solve the problem, the player with more stallions in the stable wins.
Required Combinations
- Foal - one pair (e.g. 2, 2)
- Mare - three of a kind (e.g. 2, 2, 2)
- Stallion - four of a kind (e.g. 2, 2, 2, 2)
- The Black Prince and the Snow White Mare - straight flush (e.g. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 all of the same suit)
A cowboy stands for any card. There is no straight in the game (five cards in sequence but of different suits are not a possible combination).