Shiny Bandits: The Fox, The Raccoon and the Magpie Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Goal of the Game
• Gameplay
  • 1. Determine active Location card
  • 2. Play Bandit cards
  • 3. Play Action cards
• Action cards
  • 1. Stop
  • 2. Plus
  • 3. Minus
  • 4. Location Swap
  • 5. Bandit Swap
  • 6. Caught
  • 7. Leftovers
  • 8. Mask
• Distribute Gold nuggets
  • 4. Distribute Gold nuggets
• Clean Up
  • 5. Clean Up
• Example Round
• End of the Game

Components

• 9 Location cards
• 15 Bandit cards (3 per player colour)
• 45 Action cards (9 per player colour)
• 5 Overview cards
• 80 Gold nuggets

The contents page prints the following key to the Action cards alongside the Location card entry:

1. Cancel another player's Action card.
2. Add 3 Gold nuggets to your location.
3. Remove 2 Gold nuggets from the other location.
4. Rotate the active location card 180°.
5. Swap your Bandit card.
6. The Gold nuggets are not distributed at your location.
7. Remaining Gold nuggets are won after all.
8. In the next round, your Bandit card stays secret.

Setup

1. Choose a player colour and take the three Bandit cards and nine Action cards in that colour. Take all the cards in your hand.
2. Take an Overview card and place it in front of you.
3. Shuffle the Location cards into a facedown deck and place it in the centre of the play area.
4. Place the Gold nuggets in a supply next to the Location card deck.
5. Return any unused player coloured components to the game box.

The rulebook also includes an illustration captioned "Setup for three players".

Goal of the Game

In Shiny Bandits you will try to collect as many Gold nuggets as possible by deploying the right bandits for the right gold heist. You must also use one Action card each turn to try to affect the game in your favour. The player with the most Gold nuggets at the end of the game wins.

Gameplay

The game is played over 9 rounds. Each round is made up of the following steps, which are performed in order:

1. Determine active Location card
2. Play Bandit cards
3. Play Action cards
4. Distribute Gold nuggets
5. Clean up

1. Determine active Location card

A. Place the top card of the Location deck face up next to the deck. This is the active Location card. Each Location card shows two of the three possible locations, one on each side.

B. Place the number of Gold nuggets indicated by the number in the star, next to each side of the Location card.

C. Flip the next Location card and place it face up on top of the deck. This will be the active Location card for the next round, allowing players to see what's coming. You cannot perform this step in the final round, since no cards remain.

2. Play Bandit cards

A. Select one of your Bandit cards that matches one of the sides (locations) of the active Location card and place it face down in front of you. The Bandit card you choose to play corresponds to the location you wish to steal from: the Magpie will steal from the Nest, the Fox from the Camp, and the Raccoon from the Mountain Stream.

B. Once you have all placed your Bandit card, simultaneously reveal them. Now everyone knows who is trying to steal from which location.

The Bandit cards and the corresponding locations are: Fox - Camp; Magpie - Nest; Raccoon - Mountain Stream.

3. Play Action cards

A. Select one Action card (see pages 8-11) and place it face down next to your played Bandit card.

B. Once you have all played your Action card, simultaneously reveal them.

C. Execute all the Action cards in ascending order, according to the numbers in the top-left corner of each Action card.

Hint: Each Action card may only be used once. Therefore, in the ninth round, all players will have only one Action card left. Keep this in mind when deciding which cards to use in each round.

Action cards

Action cards are executed in the order below, from 1 to 8. This order is also indicated by the numbers on the Action cards themselves.

1. Stop

Cancel the effect of another player's Action card. The chosen player must immediately place their Action card into their discard pile without performing its effect. If multiple players play a "Stop" card in the same round, they all cancel each other out and every "Stop" card loses its effect.

2. Plus

Take 3 additional Gold nuggets from the supply and place them at the location corresponding to your played Bandit card.

Example: You played a Magpie, so you add the Gold nuggets to The Nest.

3. Minus

Remove 2 Gold nuggets from the location NOT corresponding to your played Bandit card.

Example: You played a Magpie, so you remove the Gold nuggets from the Camp.

4. Location Swap

Rotate the active location card 180°. The Gold nuggets remain in place.

If multiple players play a "Location Swap" card, the active Location card rotates based on the number of cards played. If an even number of "Location Swap" cards has been played, it stays still. If an odd number of cards has been played, it rotates once. This card effectively changes how many Gold nuggets you are competing for at each of the two locations.

NOTE: You start the game with two of these cards in your hand.

5. Bandit Swap

Swap your played Bandit card with the Bandit card from your hand that corresponds to the other location on the active Location card. This effectively changes which of the two locations you are competing at.

6. Caught

The Gold nuggets on the location of the active Location card corresponding to your played Bandit card are not distributed. This applies to all players who played a Bandit card for this location. The Gold nuggets on this side of the active Location card remain in place for the next round. Multiple "Caught" cards do not cancel each other out, they all take effect.

NOTE: playing a "Caught" card might seem counterintuitive since it doesn't increase your own score. However, since all 9 Action cards must be played once, including "Caught", it may be strategically useful to play it when it hinders opponents or increases your chances of gaining more Gold nuggets in a later round.

7. Leftovers

If there are any remaining Gold nuggets at the location corresponding to your played Bandit card after step 4, Distribute Gold nuggets, you collect them. If multiple players play the "Leftovers" card, the remaining nuggets at that side are divided evenly among them. Any leftover Gold nuggets after division stay in place for the next round.

NOTE: If a player plays a "Caught" card on the same location of the active Location card, the "Leftovers" card has no effect.

8. Mask

In the next round, your Bandit card will remain face down until all Action cards are revealed. You will reveal your Bandit card only after all players reveal their Action cards simultaneously.

NOTE: this card has no effect if played in the 9th round.

Distribute Gold nuggets

4. Distribute Gold nuggets

A. Distribute the Gold nuggets from one of the two locations on the active Location card among the played Bandit cards corresponding to this location. Place one Gold nugget on each corresponding Bandit card.

B. Repeat this process until there are no longer enough Gold nuggets to be evenly divided among the corresponding Bandit cards.

C. Repeat A and B for the location on the other side of the active Location card.

If the Gold nuggets to one side of the active Location card can no longer be divided evenly (and no "Leftovers" Action card has been used), leave them there until the next round. Similarly, if there are more Bandit cards corresponding to a location than there are available Gold nuggets at that location, the Gold nuggets can't be divided evenly and remain in place until the next round.

NOTE: In the next round, the number of Gold nuggets shown on the new active Location card will be added to the existing ones.

Clean Up

5. Clean Up

A. After distributing the Gold nuggets from both locations, all players place their collected Gold nuggets in front of them.

B. Each player takes back their Bandit card into their hand and places their played Action card onto a closed personal discard pile.

C. Discard the Location card onto a separate discard pile.

If it's the end of the ninth round, proceed to end game scoring. Otherwise return to step 1 to start a new round.

Example Round

1. The active Location card has 3 Gold nuggets at The Nest and 5 Gold nuggets at the Mountain Stream.

2. Players A, B, and C each play one Bandit card face down:

   • Player A plays a Magpie.
   • Player B plays a Raccoon.
   • Player C plays a Magpie.

   The players reveal their Bandit cards simultaneously:

   • Players A and C are competing for the 3 Gold nuggets at The Nest.
   • Player B is aiming for the 5 Gold nuggets at the Mountain Stream.

3. All three players choose one Action card and place it facedown:

   • Player A plays "Plus".
   • Player B plays "Location Swap".
   • Player C plays "Leftovers".

   The players reveal their Action cards simultaneously. The Action cards are then executed in numerical order:

   • Player A's "Plus" card (No. 2) is resolved first. They add 3 extra Gold nuggets to the 3 already at The Nest, making a total of 6 Gold nuggets.
   • Player B's "Location Swap" card (No. 4) now takes effect, rotating the location card 180°. This swaps the Gold nugget amounts:
     • Now, the Mountain Stream has 6 Gold nuggets.
     • The Nest has 5 Gold nuggets.
   • Player C's "Leftovers" card (No. 7) ensures they get any remaining Gold nuggets at The Nest after distribution.

End of the Game

The game ends after 9 rounds, once all Location cards have been played and discarded and each player has used all of their Action cards.

The player with the most Gold nuggets at the end of Round 9 wins. If there is a tie, the tied players share the victory.