Saloon Showdown

Saloon Showdown Rulebook

Table of Contents

Two-Player Game and Simplified Game

To play in two, or even to play a simplified version (useful for learning to play or for playing with younger children), remove all cards containing the "Desperado" and "Mexican Standoff" symbols from the deck; they will not be used. Ignore any reference to these two rules. The rules for "Escape on Horseback" are slightly different.

All the rest of the rules remain valid.

Game Setup

The last player who watched a Western movie acts as the dealer and takes the corresponding token. He or She follows the instructions:

Shuffle the Duel deck and give 3 cards to each player, then place the deck in the middle of the table, facedown.
Turn over 4 cards from the Duel cards deck and place them face-up on the game board. They are called "public cards".
Turn over one Character Card (CC) to each player.
Each player is given $20, which must be placed in the "Loot" area of the CC and it represents the money available to the player.
Each player is given another $20, which must be placed in the "Bounty" zone of the CC and this represents the value of his/hers bounty.
Place the 4 colored guns and the bottle in the middle of the table, so that they can be reached by everyone.
Place the remaining banknotes near you, in a reserve that is called "Bank". The Bank is freely accessible to all players who need to change their banknotes.

Turns

The game is played clockwise in turns starting with the player on the left of the dealer. During their turn a player can choose one of these 3 actions:

A) DRAW A CARD;
B) CASH LOOT;
C) THREATEN SOMEONE.

Once one of the following actions has been performed, if a player finds themselves with the "Dealer" token, they must discard all the "public cards" and replace them with 4 new cards drawn from the deck. Also, if he finds himself without a Bounty, he must bring it back to $20. Then the player passes the hand to the next one, and so on.

Actions Explained

A) Draw a Card

The player can draw a covered card from the deck, or draw a card from the "public" ones and then replace it with one from the deck.

Note: if they draw a visible card, they must also take the "Dealer" token.

In both cases, immediately after drawing, they must discard one of their cards from their hand, to return to having three cards.

B) Cash Loot

The player can discard certain types of cards from their hand in order to collect Loot.

They can discard any number of "Booty" cards, then collect $10 from the Bank for each discarded card.
They can discard 3 (three of a kind) "Wanted Alive" cards to immediately collect the entire Bounty of another target player.

Note: if someone Threatens you (see below) while you have 3 "Wanted Alive" in your hand, you can reveal them and collect the Bounty of the threatening player (only their), ending their turn.

In both cases, once the cards have been discarded, the player draws as many cards from the deck as they can until they have 3 cards in hand.

C) Threaten Someone

The player may take a gun from the table and point it at another player. The threatening player takes a gun of his choice from the table and asks "Do you feel lucky?" to another player.

The threatened player can "respond" in two different ways:

They can doubt the threatening player and say "You're bluffing!" Then both players reveal their hand and count the total number of Bullet symbols on all their cards (each card can have from zero to three Bullet symbols). The player with the most Bullet symbols steals $20 from the Loot of the player with the least number of Bullets. If the player with the least number of Bullets does not have $20 in their Loot, they give as many dollars as they can, but in any case, the player with the most number of Bullets cannot take them from the Bank. In the event of a Bullets tie, the player who threatened wins. After that, both players discard their cards and draw 3 from the deck.

The threatened player can also use "Wanted Alive" (see "B - Cash Loot"), "Escape on Horseback", "The Law" and "Desperado". The Threat can also be interrupted with the Bottle. See below for related explanations.
If the threatened player answers "Do you?", the Duel begins (see below).

Russian Roulette Variation

This variation replaces the standard rule for "calling the bluff" and uses the dice included in the game.

If the threatening player is accused of bluffing, they reveal their hand and count the total number of Bullet symbols, after which they roll the dice to see if the shot is really in the chamber.

If the value of the dice is higher than the total number of available bullets, the gun fires empty: the threatening player gives up $20 from their Loot to the threatened player. ("Click!")
If the value of the dice is less than the total number of available bullets, the shot is fired: the threatening player steals $20 from the threatened player's Loot. ("Bang!")

The Duel

If they go to the Duel, players must exchange their cards in their hands without looking at them. At the dealer's "Go!" they can turn them over to look at them. Then the first player who shoots the other player correctly (see below), wins the Duel (see "Duel Outcome").

To shoot correctly, a player must guess 3 parameters:

the color of the gun to be picked up;
the area of the opponent's body to be hit;
the noise of the shot to be pronounced.

To guess a parameter, one must understand which element has the greatest majority on the three cards in front of him. In the case of equal parameters, the choice is at the player's discretion.

NOTE: during Duels, the symbols on the cards have no use!

Example 1

In this case, to correctly shoot the opponent you will have to:

TAKE THE BLUE GUN (BLUE COLOR MAJORITY);
IDENTIFY THAT THE TARGET AREA IS THE HEAD (MAJORITY OF TARGETS ON THE HEAD);
SAY "BLAM!" (NOISE MAJORITY - "BLAM!")

To win, the player must say: "Blam to the head!" after pointing the blue gun at the opponent... before he shoots!

Example 2

In this case, to correctly shoot the opponent, it will be necessary to:

TAKE THE YELLOW GUN (YELLOW - MAJORITY);
IDENTIFY THAT THE AREA TO HIT IS THE ARM (MAJORITY TARGET - ON THE ARM);
SAY ANY NOISE AMONG THESE 3 (BECAUSE THERE IS NO MAJORITY NOISE).

In this case, the player must say "Boom", "Bang" or "Blam", "on the arm!", after picking up the yellow gun.

The Bottle

There are two ways in which the bottle can be used. Its function remains the same: when you can use it, you must "hit" the target player by saying "Crash!"

A player can use the bottle if:

A. during their own Duel or a Standoff in which they are involved, the gun they were supposed to collect is no longer available (because another player took it). In this case they must still figure out the area to hit, even though they can ignore the color and the noise (by saying "Crash!"). If in this way they anticipate their opponents' move, they automatically win the Duel (in the case of a Standoff, to win they must be the last player to act).

B. they hold 3 cards of the same color as a gun with which any other player has just threatened someone by asking "Do you feel lucky?", or has entered a Standoff by saying "I don't think so". Simply hit the player who has the gun, saying "Crash!", without specifying the Area. In the case of the Duel, it will stop it. In the second case, it will make the player who hit, leave the Standoff.

In both cases, the player who used the Bottle must reveal their cards for inspection, then discard them and take 3 new ones; then they will collect $20 from the Bank as Loot.

Duel Outcome

Whoever loses the Duel takes 1 Wound token, which is worth -$10 at the end of the game. The winner of the Duel puts the defeated Player's Bounty in his Loot; they also increase his own Bounty by $10 from the Bank. If the defeated player does not have a Bounty, the winner does not get anything.

Note: whoever stops a Duel with the Bottle (case B) does not do any of this: they only take $20 from the Bank.

The cards of the dueling players are discarded, then both draw 3 cards from the deck.

Restore Your Bounty

A player who finds himself without a Bounty must reset it to $20 - by taking it from the Bank - at the end of his turn.

Other Symbols on Cards

Escape on Horseback - "See you!"

When you are threatened while holding at least one card with this symbol, you can escape without even having to "doubt" the threatening player. Discard the card and immediately draw another one, saying "See you!". If you do so, you must also decide on a new target for the player who threatened you.

However, if this second target also uses "Escape on horseback", then you must decide whether to go to the Duel or to doubt (see "Actions Explained").

Note: In a 2-player game, whoever uses "Escape on horseback" cancels the Duel and that's it.

The Law - "I am the Law."

If you are holding 3 cards with this symbol (three of a kind), you are impersonating the Law! If someone threatens you by saying "Do you feel lucky?", reveal your cards, answer "I am the Law", and throw him in the slammer! That player loses their turn, and you collect the value of his Bounty by taking money from the Bank. Then discard your cards and draw 3 cards from the deck.

When you are the Law and win a Duel, in addition to the opponent's Bounty, you also collect the same amount from the Bank!

Desperado - "I have nothing to lose."

If you are holding 3 cards with this symbol (three of a kind), if you choose the action "Threaten someone" on your turn, you can say "I have nothing to lose", hold two guns and threaten two different players. In this case, no one can interrupt with other symbols or special effects (e.g. with "Escape on Horseback", "The Law", using the Bottle or starting a Standoff).

The two threatened players are then forced to participate in a Truel! The players involved exchange cards, passing them to the player to their right (of those involved, of course).

The Desperado wins the Truel if he manages to correctly hit even only one of the two players before one of them correctly hits the Desperado. Otherwise, the two players win.

If he wins, the Desperado collects both of the two players' Bounty. If the other two players win, they share half of the Desperado's Bounty (if it is odd, the extra dollar stays on the Desperado's Bounty).

The loser of the Truel also receives 1 Wound token (both players who were challenged, if they lose). If you are threatened while you have 3 "Desperados" in your hand, immediately start a Truel with the player who was threatening you and another player of your choice.

Note: a Desperado must not reveal their cards before the Truel. Check them afterwards.

Mexican Standoff - "I don't think so!"

If you have in your hand at least 1 card with this symbol, at the moment when another player Threatens someone, you can discard one of them, take one of the guns left on the table and threaten the player who has just threatened, by saying "I don't think so!" This can happen several times, in a chain, as long as there are guns available: it is the so-called "Mexican Standoff". During a Standoff, as with "Desperado", no one can respond with symbols and special actions, except for the Bottle, which works both ways explained (see "The Bottle").

After all the players have played the "Standoff" cards they want to play, the first of the threatened players comes out of the Standoff unharmed and becomes the "Judge".

NOTE: if during this phase a player uses the Bottle, they eliminate the hit player from the Standoff, cash the $20 as per the rule, and the game continues with the remaining players still in the Standoff.

The other players in the Standoff draw as many cards as they can until they have 3 cards, then they put their guns on the table. The Judge flips 3 cards from the deck face up, quickly, all at once. The first player in the Standoff who shoots another player wins the Standoff.

Note: In the Standoff, players may ignore the color and take any gun. The area and noise must be guessed as in a normal Duel.

The player who wins the Standoff collects the Bounty of the player they hit (who takes a Wound), plus $10 for each other player involved in the Standoff (other than the Judge or the player already defeated), stealing it from their respective Bounty. The winner does not steal anything from players without a Bounty. After that, the winner increases their Bounty by $10.

End of Game

When a player reaches a $130 Loot, or when they gets the third Wound token, the game ends at the end of the turn of the player to the right of the one who got $130 or 3 Wounds.

At that point, each player adds the dollars in their Loot to the dollars in their Bounty (but don't mix them up!) and subtracts $10 for each Wound token.

The player with the highest total wins!

In case of a tie, the player with the highest Bounty wins.

If there is a tie, the winner is decided by Duel rules (or Standoff, if more than two players are tied).

Mini-Expansion: What the Wind Brings

Setup

After placing the 4 public cards on the table, shuffle the 5 event cards into the regular Duel deck.

Playing

When a player draws an event card from the deck (for any reason), the game stops and the rules dictated by the event card apply.

If an event card asks for more cards to be drawn and one or more event cards are drawn again, these cards are put aside, the player finishes the instructions of the first event card and only then shuffles those cards back in the deck.

Once the event card instructions have been carried out, it is set aside and not shuffled again for the current game.

Explanations of Event Cards

The Turkey: Draw 3 more cards and play them as you do in the Standoff. The first of the other players to "shoot" the turkey, along with the one who draws it, collects $10 and may discard a Wound token.

Showdown at Noon: The players with the highest bounties have a Duel (or a Standoff, if they are more than two).

Hail of Bullets: Draw another card immediately, then all players show the symbols on their cards. All players with the most Bullets collect $20.

The Great Bank Heist: All players show the symbols on their cards. The poorest players collect $10 from the Bank for each "Loot" symbol on the other players' cards.

The four guns of Saloon Showdown use specific colors, and the game also adds graphical hints on the guns and sounds on the cards, so that colour-blind players can identify them. (Source: the publisher's note on the last page of the rulebook; its Italian text is omitted here.)