Swindler Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Setup
• Game Round
• Loot Tiles
• 1. Reserve Contracts
• 2. Rob a Rich Sack
• 3. Actions
  • Action: Fulfill Contract
  • Action: Sell Loot to Fence
• 4. Refill Fence Tiles & Contract Cards
  • Fence Tiles
  • Contract Cards
  • Police Raid
• 5. Hire Accomplices
• Game End
• Appendix: Accomplices

Game Components

• 1 game board
• 6 coins
• 1 start player marker
• 20 wanted posters
• 6 neutral loot tiles (white background)
• 40 contract cards (8 A-cards, 32 B-cards)
• 27 accomplice cards
• 12 fence tiles
• 1 Master Thief/Dungeon double-sided card set (6 double-sided cards)
• 5 (rich) sacks in the colors red, blue, yellow, green, and black
• 6 skull tiles in the colors of the 5 sacks
• 36 loot tiles in the colors of the 5 sacks
• 4 character boards (double-sided), each with a matching score marker (cardboard stand) and 3 matching reservation markers each

Setup

Place the game board in the middle of the table.

Sort all loot and skull tiles by their colored background into the sacks of the matching color (tiles with a red background into the red sack, tiles with a black background into the black sack, and so on). Set the neutral (white) loot tiles and the coins aside separately in a supply next to the game board.

Sort the contract cards by their backs into 2 stacks (A-stack and B-stack). Shuffle the accomplice cards, the fence tiles, and the two contract card stacks separately from each other. Form one contract card stack: place the B-stack of contract cards face down first. Place 2 cards from the A-stack on top of the B-cards per swindler (so 4 A-cards for 2 swindlers, 6 A-cards for 3 swindlers, and all 8 A-cards for 4 swindlers). Put any leftover A-cards back in the box unseen — you don't need them for this game.

Place all stacks face down on their respective spaces on the game board. Reveal the top 4 contract cards and place them in any order on the matching spaces.

Reveal the top 3 fence tiles and place them in any order on the matching spaces of the game board.

Now each of you chooses one of the character boards. These are printed on both sides: the front shows a female character, the back a male one. Which side you choose has no effect on the game.

Take the score marker and the 3 reservation markers that belong to your chosen character. Place the score marker on the marked space of the score track (3 victory points). Place the reservation markers in front of you.

Take 1 coin each from the supply. Place it visibly in front of you.

Whoever can laugh the most shiftily starts the game and receives the start player marker.

Now take the 6 Master Thief/Dungeon cards and shuffle them face down (Dungeon side up). Each swindler draws 1 card and lays it out so that everyone can read the Master Thief ability. Put the remaining cards back in the box unseen — they are not needed.

Starting with the person who comes last in turn order (the person sitting to the right of the person who starts), and proceeding counterclockwise from there, everyone chooses 1 of the available cards. This gives you an individual special ability.

Alternative: you can also decide to shuffle the 6 cards and distribute them randomly. In this case as well, put any leftover cards back in the box unseen.

Lay the cards face up above your character board, so that the special ability is visible. Place all contract cards that you fulfill during the game face down to the right of the card. This way you always have an overview of whether you have already unlocked your special ability (see the Master Thief section, p. 5). You can also tell whether someone will soon be triggering the end of the game (see the Game End section, p. 7).

For inexperienced swindlers: if you don't yet feel ready to be master thieves, you can ignore the special abilities completely. Still lay the cards out above your character board and place fulfilled contract cards face down next to them, so that you always have an overview of how far along you are in the game (see the Game End section, p. 7).

Game Round

The starting person begins with their turn, and from there play continues clockwise. On your turn, you carry out the following steps in the given order. You can also find these steps on your character board.

1. Reserve contracts (optional)
2. Rob a rich sack (mandatory)
3. Actions (in any order, each optional)
   • Fulfill contract and/or
   • Sell loot to a fence
4. Refill fence tiles & contract cards (if necessary)
5. Hire accomplices (optional)

The order given above must be followed. You are not allowed to rob a rich sack first and then reserve a contract afterward. Accomplices can only be used starting at the beginning of the following turn. That is why hiring accomplices is always the last action of a turn.

Steps 1, 3, and 5 are optional. So it is allowed to reserve no contract and instead begin directly with step 2. It is likewise allowed not to carry out step 3, or only partially — that is, not to fulfill previously chosen contracts, or not to sell loot to the fences, even if it would be possible. However, it is not allowed to skip step 2 (rob a rich sack). You must draw from a sack at least once on every one of your own turns.

Step 4 is only carried out if fence tiles and/or contracts were fulfilled beforehand.

As soon as a person has fulfilled a certain number of contracts, the end of the game is triggered (see Game End section, p. 7).

Loot Tiles

• The background color of a tile shows which sack it belongs to. Neutral tiles belong in the supply.
• Tiles must always lie face up in front of you, so that everyone can see how many and which tiles are still in which sack.
• Your character board gives you an overview of which items appear in which sacks, and how often.
• Skulls are not loot tiles. You never place them in front of you. They always go back into their sack.
• If you have to give up tiles, they always go back into the sack of the matching color, and neutral tiles go back to the supply accordingly. Exception: when you place loot tiles onto a fence tile, they stay there until the fence tile is completely fulfilled (that is, until all 3 loot items have been placed on it).
• Coins are not loot tiles. But there are loot tiles that depict coins. These tiles cannot be sold to the fences (why would they buy money from you?), but they can be used like coins — for example, to hire accomplices or to fulfill contracts that require coins. As with coins, you also receive 1 victory point per depicted coin at the end of the game.

1. Reserve Contracts

You may reserve up to 3 of the 4 available contracts. To do this, place your reservation marker(s) on the corresponding contracts. This means you have reserved the contract(s). Generally you may only fulfill reserved contracts (unless you have unlocked the corresponding Master Thief ability). If you don't manage to fulfill reserved contracts by the end of your turn, your reservation markers remain on the corresponding contracts. However, you risk having to abandon contracts, which has negative consequences:

• If someone else takes on the same contract. In that case you get your reservation marker back and lose 2 victory points.
• If you abandon the contract yourself, e.g. because you want to place your reservation marker on a different contract. In this case too you lose 2 victory points.

It is only possible to throw another person's reservation marker off a contract card if you simultaneously place your own reservation marker on the same contract card.

You can always take your own reservation markers off contract cards (abandoning the contract), but you should only do so when it is truly necessary.

You cannot fall below 0 points with your score marker. If, for example, you are at 1 point and would lose 2 points from an abandoned contract, you set your score marker to 0 points.

Note: reserving contracts can be risky, since as just explained you lose 2 points per abandoned contract. However, it is usually advisable to try to fulfill contracts, since this can generate many victory points. It also unlocks your ability as a Master Thief and lets you trigger the end of the game.

2. Rob a Rich Sack

After you have decided on any contracts, you must rob a rich sack. This is the central element of Swindler. Choose one of the rich sacks and draw — one after another — as many loot tiles from it as you like.

If the drawn tile shows a loot item (that is, not a skull), place the tile face up. You may separate it for now from your remaining loot tiles from earlier rounds. You may now steal a further tile. However, keep in mind: with every tile, the risk increases that you will draw a skull and get caught. After you have drawn the first loot tile, you may voluntarily stop stealing at any time, in order to keep all the loot tiles you stole.

If you draw a skull, you have been caught and must put the skull as well as all other tiles with the same background color that are lying in front of you back into the sack — it does not matter whether you obtained the tiles in this turn or in an earlier one! You've been caught, and during the investigation the rest of this victim's stolen goods were also found in your possession. Loot tiles lying in front of other players, or that you have already brought to a fence in earlier rounds, are not affected by this. Tiles you have stolen from other sacks you may keep — here nobody could prove that they were stolen goods. This ends your theft for this turn in any case. You are not allowed to rob any further rich sack in this round. However, you may still carry out the further steps completely normally!

Important: once you have decided on a rich sack, you must stick with that sack. It is not possible to switch sacks during the theft, unless one of your accomplices explicitly allows you to.

Should you draw a skull on your very first draw, you really have had bad luck. Sometimes life is simply... unfair. In this (and only this) case, you receive 1 coin from the supply as compensation.

3. Actions

After stealing, you may carry out the actions Fulfill Contract and/or Sell Loot to Fence. This is also allowed if you drew a skull beforehand. You may also decide to carry out only individual actions — for example, only fulfilling a contract without selling loot to the fence, even if you would have met the requirements to do so (whether that's sensible is another matter). The order is up to you. You may fulfill contracts and/or sell loot to the fences as many times as you like, as long as you meet the requirements. So it is possible to first fulfill a contract, in order to then sell the hot goods to a fence. It is likewise allowed to first bring stolen goods to the fences, then fulfill a contract, and afterward deliver more goods to the fences.

All victory points are recorded immediately on the victory point track.

Action: Fulfill Contract

Most contract cards state a condition: Own, Give Up, or Draw.

Own: you merely need to own the specified loot items (have them lying in front of you) to fulfill the contract. You do not need to give them up.

Give Up: you must give up the specified items (usually back into the sack of the matching color) to fulfill the contract. Neutral loot tiles go back to the supply. If you fulfill such a contract with the help of an accomplice card, place the card face up next to the game board afterward (discard pile for accomplice cards).

Important: the loot tiles from the black sack that depict 3 keys count as 1 joker. So these loot tiles replace 1 key of your choice!

Draw: you must have fulfilled this requirement during step 2 — Rob a Rich Sack.

For fulfilled contracts you receive various rewards:

Victory points: you receive as many victory points as indicated on the fulfilled contract cards. Move your victory point marker forward that many spaces on the victory point track.

Coins: if coins are depicted on the fulfilled contract cards, you receive that many from the supply.

Neutral loot tiles: if neutral loot tiles (a diamond symbol) are depicted on the fulfilled contract cards, you may take that many neutral loot tiles of your choice from the supply.

Wanted posters: if wanted posters are depicted on the fulfilled contract cards, you must take that many wanted posters from the supply.

Fulfilled contract cards are placed face down to the right of your Master Thief card. New contract cards are only drawn in the (following) step 4 — Refill Fence Tiles & Contract Cards.

Master Thief: once you have fulfilled a certain number of contracts (5 contracts for 2 people, 4 contracts for 3 people, and 3 contracts for 4 people), you may call yourself a Master Thief. You have now unlocked your Master Thief ability and may use it from now on.

Action: Sell Loot to Fence

With the fences you can get rid of your loot. To do this, place your loot tile(s) on the corresponding spaces of the fence tiles and move your score marker forward the corresponding number of spaces.

You may bring as many loot tiles as you like to the fences within your actions. You may also supply several fences at the same time.

A fence tile is fulfilled as soon as the matching loot is present on all 3 spaces. If you fulfill one or more fence tiles, you receive as a reward 2 additional victory points per fulfilled fence tile. It does not matter whether you fulfilled the fence tile by yourself or whether someone else had already sold loot to this fence before.

As soon as a fence tile is fulfilled, the loot tiles lying on it go back into the matching sacks. Neutral tiles go back to the supply. The fence tile goes onto a discard pile next to the game board. New fence tiles are only laid out in the (following) step 4 — Refill Fence Tiles & Contract Cards.

4. Refill Fence Tiles & Contract Cards

This step is only carried out if fence tiles and/or contracts were fulfilled beforehand.

Fence Tiles

If you fulfilled one or more fence tiles in the previous step, now reveal that many new fence tiles, so that afterward 3 are laid out again. Fences that have not yet been completely supplied stay in place until they are completely fulfilled.

Should the supply of fence tiles run out, shuffle the discard pile and place it face down on the corresponding space. Then reveal further fence tiles as needed afterward.

Contract Cards

If you fulfilled contracts in the previous step, now reveal that many contract cards — one after another — until 4 contracts are laid out again. If you reveal a Police Raid in doing so, it is resolved immediately and then removed from the game (place it back in the box). If you then reveal further Police Raids, set them aside for now without resolving them. Keep revealing cards until 4 contracts are laid out again. Afterward, shuffle the unresolved Police Raids back into the contract card stack.

Police Raid

Police Raids affect not only the person who reveals them, but all swindlers who are not currently sitting in the dungeon. Depending on which Police Raid was revealed, you must check the loot tiles and/or wanted posters currently in front of you against the card.

Loot tiles: if the Police Raid calls for it, each affected person counts their white and colored loot tiles lying in front of them. If that number is equal to or greater than the value stated on the Police Raid, the affected person must give up the corresponding number of loot tiles. Everyone may choose which of their own tiles to give up. As usual, colored tiles go back into the matching sack, and neutral loot tiles go back to the supply.

Wanted posters: if the Police Raid calls for it, each affected person counts their wanted posters lying in front of them. If that number is equal to or greater than the value stated on the Police Raid, the affected person was too greedy (or too conspicuous... or both!) and wanders into the dungeon. They place 1 of their wanted posters back in the supply and must skip 1 round. As a reminder, the person turns their Master Thief card over (to the Dungeon side) and places it over the image on their character board. Their next turn is skipped completely. Afterward they turn the Dungeon card back to the Master Thief side and place it back next to their fulfilled contract cards. Then the next person in turn order goes.

Exception: if you have unlocked the corresponding Master Thief ability, you may reduce your total number of loot tiles and your total number of wanted posters by 1 each.

5. Hire Accomplices

Accomplices give you special options in the game. Each accomplice costs 1 coin. You may hire as many accomplices as you like. Put the corresponding number of coins back into the supply, or back into the matching sack (loot tiles depicting a coin). If you paid with a double coin from the black sack, you receive 1 coin from the supply as change. Then draw the corresponding number of accomplice cards from the stack and take them into your hand.

Yes, even with accomplices you never quite know what you're getting... or do you really believe one of these shifty characters would honestly tell you what they can or can't do?

In principle you may play an accomplice card at the moment stated on the card. If nothing is stated there, you may play it at any time, even during another person's turn.

If several accomplice cards are played simultaneously, they are resolved in turn order, starting with the person whose turn it currently is. It is also allowed to play an accomplice card as a reaction to another swindler's accomplice (e.g. the Assassin). Unless otherwise stated on the card, it goes onto the discard pile next to the game board after it has been resolved.

Should you run out of accomplice cards, shuffle the discard pile and place the cards face down on the game board again.

Game End

As soon as one swindler is the first to fulfill a certain number of contracts, the end of the game is triggered. You finish the round as normal (until the person to the right of the starting person). The game then ends.

Number of Players	Master Thief	Game End
2	5 contracts	9 contracts
3	4 contracts	8 contracts
4	3 contracts	6 contracts

At the end of the game, each coin is worth 1 victory point. Each reserved but unfulfilled contract costs 2 victory points. Other tiles give no victory points.

Whoever has collected the most points afterward wins. In case of a tie, the tied person who fulfilled the most contracts wins. If there is also a tie there, you may start a cursing contest, or acknowledge that someone else was just as good. There will surely be an opportunity for a rematch!

Appendix: Accomplices

Con Artist: the Con Artist can be played during another swindler's successful theft — that is, after the other swindler has drawn the first loot tile and before a skull is possibly drawn. If you play the Con Artist and then draw a skull, nothing happens. You receive no coin, but also do not have to put back any loot tiles.

Beggar: the affected swindlers each choose whether to give the Beggar a loot tile of their choice or a coin.

Heir Apparent: all tiles stolen during this turn count as loot.

Forger: the forgery is purely virtual. So you don't go looking for the corresponding target tile — instead you keep using your original loot tile. This way the tile's color stays the same as well. However, the Forger can forge the color of the key on your loot tile, e.g. turning a blue key into a red one. It cannot change the key color of the Lockpicker.

Decoy Bird: the Decoy Bird is the only way in the game to switch sacks within a single turn. If you draw a skull immediately upon your 2nd sack, you receive no coin, but also do not have to put back any loot tiles.

Assassin: an Assassin neutralizes any other accomplice card that was just played. This can also be another Assassin. The Assassin and the neutralized card immediately go onto the discard pile.

Nosy Parker: the bet always concerns the complete theft. So any accomplices played along the way, such as the Decoy Bird, the Guardian Angel, or the Traitor, must also be taken into account.

Lockpicker: the Lockpicker counts as a key of the depicted color. If it is used to fulfill a contract, it must be discarded afterward. The Forger cannot change the key color of the Lockpicker. The Lockpicker does not count as a loot tile.

Guardian Angel: the Guardian Angel ensures that the drawn skull is put back. It is as if it had never been drawn. It cannot be used if you draw a skull yourself.

Pickpocket: the Pickpocket looks at both players' items. This card remains permanently in play. It may only be played again on your next turn and may not be used to undo the previous swap.

Traitor: if the other person draws yet another loot tile instead, they get lucky. In that case you receive nothing.