Nutty Business Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Turn Structure
  • 1. Place a Card on One of the Piles
  • 2. Apply the Effects of the Top Cards of the Piles
• End of the Game
• Card Effects
  • Contraband — "Nuts are everything!"
  • Bank — "Our bank is the best place for your nuts. No questions asked."
  • Police Raid — "Nothing slows down competitors' business like a good police raid."
  • Customs — "Nothing to declare? Open your suitcase, please."
  • Robbery — "Put that bag of nuts down on the ground, buddy. And no sudden moves."
  • Hideout — "Every now and then it is useful to take a break."
• Example of a Player's Turn

Goal of the Game

Have more nuts than any other player by the end of the game.

Components

• 40 cards (5 sets of 8 cards, distinguished by the color and symbol on the back).
• 75 nut tokens (42 tokens worth 1, 21 tokens worth 5, 12 tokens worth 10).

Setup

1. Each player receives a set of 8 cards (with backs of one color and the same symbol).
2. Place the nut tokens in a general supply in the center of the table.
3. Each player's play area includes room for 2 piles of cards.
4. Each player chooses a card from their hand and places it face down on any pile in front of them. Then all players simultaneously reveal the cards they placed. The effects of these cards are not applied now.

Turn Structure

Players take turns in clockwise order. The first player is the one who most recently ate nuts.

On their turn, a player must perform 2 actions, in this order:

1. Place a card on one of the piles.
2. Apply the effects of the top cards of the piles.

If a player has only one pile in front of them (as at the start of the game), they may place the chosen card on it or start a new pile by placing the card beside it.

A player cannot have more than 2 piles!

1. Place a Card on One of the Piles

The player chooses one card from their hand and places it face up on one of their piles.

2. Apply the Effects of the Top Cards of the Piles

The player must apply, in any order, the effects of both top cards of their piles.

Important! The effects of the Bank and Customs cards are applied during the turns of other players (see page 3 for details).

End of the Game

When one player plays the last card from their hand, every other player takes one more turn. The top cards of the piles of the players who made their last turn remain active until the end of the game.

The game ends immediately when the turn passes to a player who has no cards in hand. The effects of the top cards of that player's piles are not applied.

All players count the nuts they have collected during the game. The player with the most nuts wins!

In the event of a tie, the player with the highest sum of numbers on the contraband cards remaining in their hand wins. If the tie persists, the player with the highest sum of numbers on the contraband cards lying on top of their piles wins.

Card Effects

Contraband — "Nuts are everything!"

If this card is on top of your pile, then on your turn you receive from the general supply the number of nuts shown on the card (2, 3 or 5).

If you played a Contraband card from your hand, you must pay the opponents who have an active Customs card. You pay only with the nuts you receive from the general supply thanks to the Contraband card played this turn.

The player must pay the nuts to the maximum number of customs officers, distributing the nuts received between them as they choose.

Example. Sergei plays a Contraband card worth 5 nuts. Four other players have an active Customs card. Sergei must hand over all the nuts he receives: he pays 1 nut to each of three of them, and pays 2 to the fourth of his choice.

Bank — "Our bank is the best place for your nuts. No questions asked."

If this card is on top of your pile, then during other players' turns it protects you from the effects of Customs and Robbery cards (you give nothing).

Police Raid — "Nothing slows down competitors' business like a good police raid."

If this card is on top of your pile, then on your turn choose a player who has 2 piles of cards in front of them. Take one of that player's piles and place it on top of their second pile (they are left with one pile instead of two).

You cannot choose an opponent who has only one pile.

If the top card of the pile you cover was a Bank card, receive 2 nuts from the general supply.

In all other cases, receive 1 nut from the general supply.

Customs — "Nothing to declare? Open your suitcase, please."

If this card is on top of your pile, then during other players' turns:

• a player who places a Contraband card worth 2 or 3 nuts must pay 1 nut to each opponent with an active Customs card;
• a player who places a Contraband card worth 5 nuts must pay 2 nuts to each opponent with an active Customs card.

If a player does not have enough nuts received from Contraband to pay all the customs officers in full, they distribute the nuts between them as they choose, so as to pay the maximum number of opponents.

Robbery — "Put that bag of nuts down on the ground, buddy. And no sudden moves."

If this card is on top of a pile, then on your turn each player must give you 1 nut for each Contraband card lying on top of their piles (maximum 2 nuts).

Hideout — "Every now and then it is useful to take a break."

When you play a Hideout card from your hand, place it on one of your piles (even if the pile has no cards). If the pile has cards, take them into your hand, and leave the Hideout in their place.

This card can be used only once per game.

Example of a Player's Turn

First turn. During setup, Sergei reveals a Contraband card, and his opponent reveals a Robbery card. On his first turn, Sergei places a Bank card, which will protect him from the robbery. He places this card on a new pile, so as not to cover the Contraband card, thanks to which he receives 3 nuts.

Second turn. A player cannot have more than two piles, so Sergei must cover one of the cards lying in front of him. Wanting to get rid of his opponent's Robbery card, Sergei places a Police Raid card on top of his Bank card. When applying the effects of his top cards, Sergei first activates the Police Raid, covering his opponent's pile with the Robbery card and receiving 1 nut for it, and then receives another 3 nuts by activating the Contraband card.

Third turn. There is no Robbery card left in the game, but the opponent has played a Customs card. Nevertheless, Sergei decides to play his Contraband card worth 5 nuts. He receives 5 nuts for the card just played, but must give 2 of them to the opponent with an active Customs card. Then Sergei receives 3 nuts for his other Contraband card, paying nothing to customs, since that card was placed not this turn.

Fourth turn. Sergei plays a Hideout card from his hand and takes all the cards from his right pile into his hand. He places the Hideout card in their place. For the top Contraband card in his left pile, Sergei receives 3 nuts.