Spooky Bar Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Overview
• Setup
• How a Round Works
  • General Rules for Resolving Action Cards
  • Special Rule 1: Wild Cards
  • Special Rule 2: Five of a Kind
• Action Cards
  • Serve a Drink
  • Bid a Guest Goodbye
  • Capture a Ghost
  • Summon a Ghost
  • Move a Ghost
  • Additional Action: Scare a Guest
• End of the Round
• End of the Game and Final Scoring
• Example of a Round
• Variants
• Extra Rules for a 2-Player Game
  • Game Setup
  • Game Round
  • Final Score
• Appendix
  • Guest Favours
  • Events

Contents

• 4 Bars
• 20 Guests (4 of each type)
• 8 Multipliers/Events
• 55 Cards (values 1-55): 13x Summon a ghost, 11x Bid a guest goodbye, 11x Capture a ghost, 10x Serve a drink, 10x Move a ghost
• 10 Pink ghosts
• 25 White ghosts
• 30 Drinks

Overview

At each of your bars, 5 guests are hanging out, ready to enjoy some drinks and maybe take home a spooky souvenir - ghosts trapped in bottles!

Each round, everyone picks and plays 2 action cards at the same time. What you can do with them depends not just on your own cards, but also on what the others play!

The game is over when the last guest leaves one of the bars.

Whoever has the most money at the end wins!

Setup

These rules are for 2-4 players. If you are playing with 2 players, check out the extra rules for a 2-player game below.

1. Each player takes a bar and places it in front of them.
2. Each player takes 5 different guests and places them in a random order at the counter of their bar.
3. Shuffle the cards and deal 5 cards to each player. Put the rest in a draw pile in the centre of the table. Leave some space nearby for a discard pile.
4. Set aside the ghosts, drinks, and multipliers as a general supply, upwards. (You won't need the event variant cards unless you're playing the variant.) The ghost supply is called the graveyard.
5. Each player takes 1 white ghost from the graveyard and places it above their bar.
6. Each player takes 1 drink from the supply and places it on 1 guest of their choice.

Hint: If you run out of ghosts or drinks, you can use the multiplier tokens as a stand-in. Place them upwards. Each ghost or drink on this token counts as 5 of that item.

How a Round Works

1. Choose your actions: Each player picks 2 different action cards from their hand and places them face down in front of them. (Don't forget to check the special rules below.)
2. Reveal: Everyone turns their 2 cards face up at the same time.
3. Resolve actions: All played cards are resolved in order, starting with the highest number, going down to the lowest.

General Rules for Resolving Action Cards

The number of times you can perform the action on your card depends on how many copies of that card (that action) are visible at the moment of playing:

• 3 or more players chose this card: You can't use the action. Turn your card over unused.
• Exactly 2 players chose this card: You can do the action twice (if possible). (Exception: see the "Summon a ghost" action.) Then turn the card over.
• Only you chose this card: You can do the action once (if possible), then turn the card over.

Example with 3 players:

• Card 40 was played by 1 player -> The action is performed once.
• Card 31 was played by all 3 players -> The action cannot be used.
• Cards 29 and 28 were each played by 1 player -> Each action is performed once.
• Card 21 was played by 2 players -> The action is performed twice.
• Card 11 was played by 1 player -> The action is performed once.

You must perform an action if possible - even if it puts you at a disadvantage.

Special Rule 1: Wild Cards

If you have 3 cards with the same action in your hand, you can play them together as a wild card - that means you can use them to represent any action you choose! Here's how to do it:

• Choose and play 1 regular card face down, just like normal. It must show a different action than the one you're using for the wild card.
• Play the wild card instead of your second card: Place the 3 identical cards face down together.
• When you reveal the cards, sort the 3 wild cards so that the card with the lowest number is on top - that's the value used during resolution. The other numbers don't matter.

Resolving wild cards: When resolving actions, here's how wild cards (made from 3 identical cards) are treated:

• For the other players, only the top card of the wild cards counts - this shows the action chosen.
• When it's your turn to resolve your wild card, you then choose which action it represents. However, there are 2 important restrictions:
  • You can't choose the action shown on your other face-up card, if it hasn't been resolved yet.
  • You can't choose an action that is already face up on 2 or more other players' cards.

Special Rule 2: Five of a Kind

If you have 5 cards with the same action in your hand, you can discard all 5 cards and draw 5 new ones from the draw pile.

Action Cards

Serve a Drink

Your guests' glasses should never be empty - though some guests are thirstier than others! Take 1 drink from the supply and place it on any 1 guest at your bar. You don't have to spread drinks evenly and a guest can have multiple drinks.

Bid a Guest Goodbye

When guests leave, they pay their tab, leave a tip and may even offer you a favour! Choose a guest who has had at least 1 drink. Say goodbye by removing them from your bar. You may now use that guest's favour (if possible). Turn the guest face down and place them and their drinks next to your bar. At the end of the game, each guest and each drink next to your bar is worth 1 coin. See the Guest Favours list below.

Capture a Ghost

Bottle a ghost and sell it as a spooky souvenir! If there's a ghost above your bar, take it and place it next to your bar. Pink ghosts are worth 5 coins and white ghosts are worth 3 coins.

Summon a Ghost

Summon a ghost to haunt your bar. Take 1 white ghost from the graveyard and place it above your bar.

Special Rule: If exactly 2 "Summon a ghost" cards are face up this round, you don't get 2 white ghosts, instead, you get 1 pink ghost.

If you now have 3 or more ghosts above your bar, perform the action "Scare a guest" (see below).

Move a Ghost

Sometimes you can move a ghost from one bar to another. Move 1 ghost from any bar to any other bar. If you need to move 2 ghosts, they must be different ghosts.

Special Case: If there's no ghost available to move: Take 1 white ghost from the graveyard and place it above any bar. If you now have 3 or more ghosts above your bar, perform the additional action "Scare a guest" (see below).

Additional Action: Scare a Guest

Too many ghosts at once are a bit eerie - some guests may flee to another tavern. When a bar has 3 or more ghosts above it, 1 guest gets scared and flees:

• If you moved the ghost to another player's bar: Choose 1 guest from that bar (along with any drinks they have). Place them next to your own bar, just like a departed guest. However, you don't receive their favour.
• If you placed the ghost at your own bar: Choose 1 of your own guests to flee. Return that guest and any drinks they had to the box.

In both cases, return all ghosts from above the affected bar to the graveyard.

End of the Round

When all played cards have been resolved and turned over, the round ends. Place all the overturned cards on the discard pile.

Check for an empty bar (no guests left):

• If at least 1 bar has no guests left: The game ends and you proceed to the final scoring.
• If all bars still have guests: Everyone refills their hand to 5 cards, and the next round begins. If the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile to create a new draw pile.

End of the Game and Final Scoring

When the game ends, it's time to count your coins!

• Each pink ghost you've captured = 5 coins
• Each white ghost you've captured = 3 coins
• Each guest next to your bar = 1 coin
• Each drink next to your bar = 1 coin

The player with the most coins wins the game! If there is a tie, the tied player with the fewest guests in their bar wins. If players are still tied, they share the victory!

Want to keep the fun going? You can play a series of games and combine scores! You could play a set number of games (we recommend 3) or keep playing until someone reaches 50 coins total (or more).

Example of a Round

Everyone has played 2 cards face down and now reveals them. The actions are resolved starting from the highest card number:

• 49: Player C moves a ghost from Player B's bar to Player A's bar.
• 48: Player C's card can't be used because 3 players played this action, so it's turned over but unused.
• 43: Player B can bid up to 2 guests goodbye, but only 1 guest has a drink. Player B also takes a white ghost favour from the departed guest.
• 21: Player A places 1 drink on the guest to their right.
• 20: Player B uses a wild card to perform the "Capture a ghost" action and places a ghost next to their bar.
• 18: Player A bids goodbye to a guest who has a drink. After the round, they use the guest's favour to refill their hand to 7 cards.

Summary:

• Player A has collected 1 guest and 1 drink -> worth 2 coins
• Player B has collected 1 guest, 1 drink, and 1 white ghost -> worth 5 coins
• Player C was unlucky and didn't earn any coins this round.

Variants

For more variety, you can reveal 1 of the events (back of the multipliers) before each game. This event changes a rule for the duration of the game. A list of events can be found in the Events list below.

Extra Rules for a 2-Player Game

Game Setup

Set up the game as if there are 3 of you playing. The virtual third player (we'll call him Tom) will make auTOMatic moves. He places his drink on any 1 of his guests.

Game Round

After revealing your own action cards, it's time to determine what Tom will do this round. Draw 2 cards from the draw pile, 1 at a time. Place the first card to Tom's left, the second to his right. If the second card has the same action as the first, discard it and keep drawing until Tom has 2 different action cards in front of him.

Now resolve Tom's actions based on his cards.

• Attract a ghost (Summon a ghost): Follows the same rules as normal players.

• Serve a drink: Tom places each drink on a guest who doesn't yet have a drink. If all his guests already have the same number of drinks, he distributes the drinks as evenly as possible.

• Bid a guest goodbye: Tom bids goodbye to 1 guest from his bar - specifically, the guest with the most drinks. If multiple guests are tied, choose any one of them. If none of Tom's guests has a drink then none of his guests depart this round. Tom never receives the guests' favours.

• Capture a ghost: If Tom has both a pink and a white ghost above his bar, he always captures the pink ghost first.

• Move a ghost: Each time Tom resolves a "Move a ghost" action, follow these steps. Check if Tom has at least 1 ghost above his bar that hasn't been moved this turn:

  1. If Yes: Move 1 ghost (pink before white) to the player on the side where Tom's "Move a Ghost" card is placed.
  2. If No: Tom moves 1 ghost to his bar instead. The ghost will be moved from one of these places in the following order: a. From the player on the side where the "Move a ghost" card is placed b. From the other player c. From the graveyard

  As soon as one of these options works, the card is resolved.

Final Score

If you want Tom to be included in the final scoring, give him 2 coins for each guest instead of 1. Otherwise, ignore his score.

Appendix

Guest Favours

• Worker: Discard 1 card from your hand to perform that card's action once. Ignore how many copies of the action card are face up.
• Beauty: Choose 1 guest in your bar and double their drinks, if possible.
• Witch: If you want, summon 1 white ghost from the graveyard to your bar.
• Scholar: At the end of the round, refill your hand to 7 cards (instead of 5), once.
• Ghost Hunter: Capture 1 ghost from your bar, if possible.

Events

The event list (the event names are pictorial on the multiplier backs; the printed rules text for each, in order):

1. Ghosts only scare guests when there are 4 ghosts above a bar (instead of 3).
2. Start the game with 2 ghosts above your bar (instead of 1).
3. Each time you bid a guest goodbye, a white ghost arrives above your bar.
4. Anyone who scares a guest (even from their own bar) receives this token. Whoever has it at the end of the game earns 2 coins.
5. Anyone who bids 2 guests goodbye in a round, gets this token. Whoever has it at the end of the game earns 2 coins.
6. Ghosts taken from the graveyard during a "Move a ghost" action are always pink.
7. Start with 2 drinks (instead of 1).
8. Before final scoring, reveal 1 extra card. When its turn comes during resolution, it is discarded unused.