Rubbish Auction Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Overview
• Preparations
• Flow of a Round
• Scoring
• Game Hints

Components

• 25 money cards (5 colours)
• 7 geek cards
• 7 item cards
• 1 first bidder / next auctioneer card
• 2 fame score sheets
• 5 fame markers (5 colours)

2-5 players, 15 minutes, ages 8 and above.

Game Overview

You are newly rich, with the hobby of participating in auctions for curiosities. The items seem to be rubbish, but you still have money with you to show off.

Each round, all players hold face down any number of money cards that they bid. When all have done so, everyone reveals their bid simultaneously.

• The highest bidder gets the item, and loses as much fame as the money they spent.
• The lowest bidder is regarded as a cheapskate and does not gain (or lose) any fame at all.
• The other bidders gain as much fame as the money they spent.

When all 7 items have been auctioned out, the game ends. But the items actually do have a value. Each player has a hidden identity, dealt to them at the start of the game. Each player who manages to get the item which is destined to their identity earns 30 fame points. The winner is the player with the most fame points at the end.

Preparations

1. Everyone takes a set of money cards.
2. Everyone places the fame marker of that same colour on 30 on the track.
3. Shuffle the Geek cards, and deal 1 to each player. They look at them, not showing them to the others. Each Geek card has 2 destined items.
4. Shuffle the item cards, and place them in a face up deck.
5. The player who most recently bought some junk (or whatever you deem fit) gets the First Bidder card with the black side (Next Auctioneer) up.

Flow of a Round

The following is repeated until all 7 items have been auctioned out or been removed from the game.

1. The First Bidder takes an item of his choice from the item deck and puts it in the center for all to see. He then flips the card to its white (First Bidder) side and gives it to any player of his choice (himself, if he wants to).
2. The First Bidder takes any number of money cards from his hand and holds them out, face down. Everyone should see how many cards there are.
3. The next player now chooses one of the cards the previous player holds out, and secretly looks at it. However, if it is just 1 card, he instead looks at one of the non-used cards of that player. Then, after looking, he repeats the process, by choosing one or more of his cards, holding them out face down.
4. When everyone has decided how much to bid, all cards are revealed at the same time, seeing who won the auction. In case of a tie, closeness to First Bidder is the tie breaker.
   • The highest bidder gains the item and loses as many fame points as his bid (divided by 1,000). Fame cannot go below zero, but if it technically should, then the item is discarded. He cannot use the highest money card they played, next turn. Don't return it to hand; leave it face up.
   • The lowest bidder gets the First Bidder card with the Next Auctioneer side up.
   • The rest gain as many fame points as their bid (divided by 1,000), and cannot use the highest money card they played, next turn. Don't return it to hand; leave it face up.

Scoring

1. Everyone reveals their Geek card. For each destined item that they have managed to win, players gain 30 fame points.
2. The player with the highest fame wins. In case of a tie, the amount of won items breaks the tie. If it is still a tie, it is a shared victory.

Game Hints

Calculate the points of the item cards.

• Winning a destined item is worth 30 points. But if you bid 15,000 to get it, you'll lose 15 points, and you risk that the other players gain up to 15 points each. Take this into account when bidding.

Guess the bid of others.

• There are only 5 money cards. They total 20,000.
• Based on the cards your opponent can't use, and how many he bids, you can guess easily.
• For example, if a player can't use the 10,000, and bids 3 cards, it can either be 5,000 (1+2+2), 8,000 (1+2+5) or 9,000 (2+2+5). If you have seen a 1,000 or a 5,000 at this point, you'll know pretty surely.

Look at the max others can bid.

• If no one but you can use 10,000, their max bid is 10,000 and you get a good chance of cheaply getting what you want.
• If one can't use a 5,000, and you pull out an item that he/she wants, his/her max will be 15,000 with all cards. Then everyone will bid 15,000. Then being last will be the "lowest bid", so take care on who will be the First Bidder.

Don't be lowest several times in a row.

• There are 7 auctions.
• Mostly, you won't lose points, but there will be 7 times where someone gains 0.
• This number will never divide evenly, regardless of number of players. You need to see to it that you're not lowest more times than the others.
• Being lowest several times in a row means you're not using your money well.
• Being lowest the final round is of no benefit at all. Avoid.