Thieves!
Thieves! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Box Contents
52 game cards (fronts):
- 26 money cards (including 2 special cards): money values 0 (x3), 1 (x9), 2 (x7), 3 (x5), plus 1 Diamond Ring and 1 Horseshoe.
- 10 police cars: 8 cards with 1 police car and 2 cards with 2 police cars.
- 8 getaway cars.
- 8 action cards: 2 each of Roadblock, Alarm, Thief and Double Loot.
Setup
- Set aside the 8 getaway car cards.
- Shuffle the remaining cards thoroughly and form a deck from them.
- Each player draws 3 cards from the deck into their hand.
- Then shuffle the 8 getaway car cards that were set aside into the deck, and place the deck thus created face down in the play area.
- The players randomly choose a first player from among themselves.
Gameplay
Players take their turns clockwise, starting with the randomly chosen first player. Each turn consists of 2 phases, which the player must play in order:
- The player draws cards into hand until they have 4.
- The player plays 1 card from their hand.
Phase 1. Draw Cards Up to 4 in Hand
During their turn, a player draws as many cards from the deck as are needed to end up with 4 cards in hand. If the player draws a getaway car card, they must place that card face up on the table and draw another card in its place.
Note: in this phase players will often draw only 1 card.
Phase 2. Play 1 Card from Hand
In this phase the player plays 1 of the 4 cards in their hand. There are 3 types of cards in the game.
Money cards (value from 0 to 3) - the player playing this card has 2 options:
- Place the card in front of themselves face down. The card laid out becomes that player's loot.
- Place the card face up in front of another player. The card laid out becomes the loot of the player in front of whom it was placed.
The value of a money card is the number of full money bags shown on that card.
Police cars - the player places this card in the play area face up. As soon as there are 4 or more police cars in play (in any combination of cards with 1 or 2 police cars), a police raid occurs immediately. Each player turns over their cards that make up their loot and counts the value of the loot (in this step note the change in value of the Diamond Ring and the Horseshoe). The player whose loot has the greatest value must discard all of their loot cards. Then all cards discarded by the player, and the police cards from the play area, are shuffled back into the deck.
Action cards - after playing an action card, the player immediately carries out the action belonging to the played card. The action cards are described below.
Example Game
(The rulebook includes an illustrated example showing four players, each with loot in front of them, the face-down draw pile, the discard pile, the getaway cars and the police cars in the play area; it contains no additional rules text.)
Special Cards
Diamond Ring - This card is worth a lot to the police, but to thieves it has almost no value. During a police raid the Diamond Ring is worth 3, whereas at the end it is worth 1.
Horseshoe - This lucky charm is worth a lot to thieves, but plays no particular role for the police. During a police raid the Horseshoe is worth 1, but at the end of the game it is worth 3.
Action Cards
Roadblock - The player discards 1 police car card from play (a card with 2 police cars may also be discarded), and then the Roadblock card is also discarded.
Alarm - The player discards this card. Then all players must play from their hands all police car cards they hold and place them in the play area face up. This action often results in a police raid.
Thief - The player discards this card. Then the player may take 1 money card that is part of one player's loot and place it among the loot cards of another player (the loot of the player playing the Thief action card does not have to be part of this exchange).
Double Loot - The player discards this card, and then draws 2 more cards. The cards drawn in this way must be played immediately. If the player draws a getaway car card, they place it in the play area face up and then immediately draw 1 more card from the deck.
End of the Game
The game ends when a player places the seventh getaway car in the play area. When the game ends, each player counts the value of the money cards that make up their loot (remembering the changed values of the Diamond Ring and the Horseshoe). The player who has the loot of the greatest value at the end of the game wins.