Royal HeistBeta

Goal

Bank the biggest stash of jewels over 5 heists. Only banked jewels count.

Cards

For 3 to 8 players. Use a standard deck with both Jokers, and set the four 10s aside. Then make two piles:

• The run deck, 34 cards: the Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of every suit, the 2 to 9 of hearts and diamonds, and both Jokers.
• The side stack, 16 cards: the 2 to 9 of spades and clubs.

Play

Each heist is played like this.

1. Go in. Shuffle the run deck, leaving out any cards retired in earlier heists, and shuffle the side stack. Everybody starts the heist inside with an empty satchel. Turn up the first room at once.
2. Decide. Everybody still inside chooses at the same time and in secret whether to press on or get out.
3. Get out. The players getting out split the jewels left in all the rooms equally and leave what doesn’t divide. Each of them banks that share and their satchel, and is out for the rest of the heist. When nobody is left inside, the heist ends, and any jewels still in the rooms are lost.
4. Turn up a room. If anybody is still inside, turn the top card of the run deck face up as the next room.
   • A 2 to 9 of hearts is loot worth its rank in jewels.
   • A 2 to 9 of diamonds draws the top card of the side stack and is worth its rank plus that card’s rank, 4 to 18 in all.
   • Split the loot equally among the players still inside, into their satchels. What doesn’t divide stays in the room.
   • A Jack, Queen, King, Ace, or Joker pays nothing.
5. A second card of the same rank ends the heist. If the room is a Jack, Queen, King, or Ace and a card of that rank has already been turned up this heist, everybody still inside loses their satchel, and the jewels left in the rooms are lost. The two Jokers count as one rank, and the second Joker also takes half of each caught player’s banked stash, rounded down. After either, remove one card of that rank from the game for good.
6. Repeat from Decide.

Scoring

After the fifth heist, the player with the biggest banked stash wins. Players tied for it share the win.

Playing with your own deck

You need counters for jewels. Each player keeps a satchel and a banked stash apart, and leftover jewels sit on their room card. Each player also needs a way to choose in secret, such as a coin held in a closed fist to press on and an empty fist to get out.

How this version differs

• A diamond draws a bonus card. A diamond room adds the rank of the top card of the side stack, so a room is worth 2 to 18. In the published game each treasure card shows a fixed number of gems, from 1 to 17.
• The two Jokers are a fifth danger. The second Joker also takes half of every caught player’s banked stash. In the published game nothing can take jewels that have been banked.

Open the rules page