Once you are familiar with the basics of GoodCritters, you can add a little spice to the game by including these optional rules:
Payoffs
When playing with this variant, each player gets two Payoff tokens and five Payoff cards at the beginning of the game.
Payoff cards are kept separate from your Stash, and cannot be stolen with a Rob Action card. At the end of the game, each Payoff card is worth $1,000.
Offering Bribes
During the game, players can offer bribes to other players to do just about anything they want them to do: vote yes, vote no, rob a specific player, guard their stash, and so on. They can even try to bribe the Boss into distributing more Loot their way.
Similarly, they can offer almost anything as part of the bribe, such as taking a future action, offering to do a favor, or giving them Loot cards or Payoff cards. Loot cards used this way can be open (so everybody can see it), or hidden (played face-down).
If you play the cards face-down, you can allow the player to peek at them or not ("I'll give you this face-down Loot card. Trust me, it's worth $4,000!").
Making a Payoff
The catch with bribes is that they are not enforced by any rules in the game, and players are free to cheat, swindle, or lie as much as it suits them to.
However, if a player wants a little guarantee of their quid pro quo, they can offer a Payoff.
Each player has two Payoff tokens that they can use to offer "binding" bribes to other players. To offer a Payoff, the player places one of their Payoff tokens in front of another player, along with any number of Loot cards and/or Payoff cards in any combination.
If a player needs more Payoff cards, they can buy them from another player in exchange for Loot cards from their Stash. Each Payoff card is worth $1000 at the end of the game, but players are free to negotiate prices for them during the game.
Each Payoff token is double-sided: one side shows Yes and the other shows No. The side of the Payoff token showing indicates what action the other player must take in order to collect the Payoff.
If the player takes a different action, they do not get to take the bribe, and the cards go back to whoever offered the bribe. Either way, the owner always takes their Payoff token back.
Bribes are resolved immediately after the player reveals their Action card during Step 4 - Count the Votes.
Since you have two Payoff tokens, you can offer bribes to two players each round.
After all bribing is finished, the players put their Loot cards into their Stash, and set their Payoff cards to the side (the bills don't go in your Stash because they can't be stolen with a Rob card).
At the end of the game, Payoff cards are added to the player's Stash before they count their loot to see who wins the game.
Limited Boss Terms
Sometimes, a particularly charismatic player can dominate the Boss job. To give every player a chance at the job, limit the Boss to a maximum of three rounds.
At the end of the third round, even if the vote passes, the title of Boss passes to f the next player, going clockwise. As x a reward for being so clever, the former Boss gets a bonus of one Loot card from the top of the Loot Pile.
If it's The Fun! card, they draw a Loot card from the top of the Loot pile for their reward. Then the game ends immediately.
Alternate Game Length
Once you are familiar with the game, feel free to randomly place The Fuzz! card into the Loot pile without first separating the pile into several parts. Place it closer to the top of the pile for a shorter game, or closer to the bottom for a longer game.
Promo Cards
Promo cards are special cards given away at game conventions, in local game stores, or available for sale at the website: http://shop.arcanewonders.com/
If you have a Promo card for the game, it may have a special ability written on it. Abilities are normally one-time, one-use abilities.
Treat these cards just like any other Loot item. They are always shuffled into the Loot Pile, never handed out at the beginning of the game. If you gain one, add it to your Stash as normal.
The text on the card tells you when you can use the ability. When you want to use it, remove the card from your Stash and reveal it to the other players. After it is used, place it to the side, out of your Stash for the rest of the game. The value still counts towards your total at the end of the game, but you can no longer use its special ability.
Note that while it is in your Stash, it can be stolen if you are Robbed! Once you have used its power and set it aside, it is out of your Stash and can no longer be stolen.
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