How to Play Bounty Hunter
If you haven’t already purchased Bounty Hunter, you can do so below!
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/bounty-hunter3
Bounty Hunter is a fast-paced but simple party game for 4–8 players.
A bounty hunter knows that everyone around him is a fugitive. The goal of the bounty hunter is to collect as many fugitives as possible, and the fugitives must escape before the bounty hunter can catch them. The bounty hunter gets points for every bounty he collects, and the fugitives get points if they escape. Roles are shuffled and redistributed every few minutes.
Whoever reaches 50 points first wins!
SETUP
Give every player a die. Fugitives will use the die to escape, and the bounty hunter will use the die to capture fugitives.
Take the Identity cards, first set the bounty hunter card aside, then shuffle the remaining Identity cards face down. Discard face down until you have one FEWER cards than the number of players, then add the bounty hunter card to the stack (so that the total number of cards being used is equal to the number of players). Shuffle the Identity cards, including the Bounty Hunter card, then distribute an Identity card face down to all players.
While the Identity cards are being shuffled/distributed, someone else can shuffle and deal one Speed card to every player, discarding the remaining Speed cards.
IDENTITY CARDS
When you get your Identity card, look at it privately, then keep it hidden from the other players. Identities include:
1 Bounty Hunter
7 Fugitives with bounties ranging from $1,000 — $15,000.
SPEED CARDS
Speed cards determine how quickly fugitives can run away. When you get your Speed card, lay it face up in front of you on the table so it’s visible to everyone.
SLOW (must roll a 1 to run away). There are 2 slow cards.
MEDIUM (must roll a 2 or 3 to run away). There are 3medium cards.
FAST (must roll a 4, 5, or 6 to run away). There are 3 fast cards.
The bounty hunter is always “FAST” (4, 5, or 6 to capture fugitives), no matter what his Speed card says.
GAMEPLAY
Bounty Hunter is played in rounds, and each round contains two phases:
THE DISCOVERY PHASE
To play, the person to the dealer’s left takes the first turn. Each turn, you must take ANY other player’s Identity card and look at it. If you look at someone else’s fugitive card, you can choose to either keep their card and give them yours, or keep your own and give theirs back (either action ends your turn). Typically, you’ll want to keep the card with the highest bounty.
If the person whose card you took is the bounty hunter, they will immediately start the capture phase.
Gameplay continues around the table until the bounty hunter decides to start capturing or until a fugitive looks at the bounty hunter’s Identity card.
THE CAPTURE PHASE
The capture phase begins when the bounty hunter yells, “Bounty Hunter!” and starts rolling their die. This may be initiated in one of two ways:
1- At any point during the round, the bounty hunter may say “Bounty Hunter!” and roll their die to start capturing fugitives. This means the capture phase may begin at any time.
2- If a fugitive looks at the bounty hunter’s Identity card during their turn, the bounty hunter MUST immediately begin the capture phase by saying, “Bounty Hunter!” and rolling their die.
If the capture phase begins and you are a fugitive, immediately start rolling your die rapidly to “run away,” and when you roll a number matching your Speed card, throw your hands up in the air to officially escape (meaning the bounty hunter can’t catch you). All players will be rolling their dice at the same time.
If the bounty hunter says your name before you raise your hands, you’ve been captured, and must stop rolling your die and lay your hands flat on the table until the end of the round.
If you are the bounty hunter, you are always “FAST,” no matter what your Speed card says, so roll rapidly trying to get a 4, 5, or 6. Whenever you roll a 4, 5, or 6, say the name of the desired fugitive to capture them, then continue rolling to try to catch others. The bounty hunter can only capture players who haven’t raised their hands yet.
If any fugitives roll their dice BEFORE the bounty hunter says “Bounty Hunter,” they forfeit their points to the bounty hunter at the end of the capture phase, so don’t jump the gun (or you may accidentally trigger a panic among fugitives, which might result in even more fugitives rolling early, giving the bounty hunter a huge number of points). The bounty hunter MUST declare, “Bounty Hunter!” when the start rolling their die.
COUNTING POINTS
When all fugitives have either run away or been captured, the capture phase is over. If you’re the bounty hunter, total up the value of the bounties you captured and add it to your overall points.
Fugitives who successfully ran away add the value of their own bounties to their total points.
To count points, divide the dollar amount of the bounty by 1,000. This means a $15,000 bounty is worth 15 points, $4,000 is worth 4 points, etc.
Whoever gets to 50 points first wins!
If there is a tie, the tying players compete in a standoff. To do a standoff, all participating players are given a Ready, Set, Go, after which they roll their die as fast as possible trying to roll a 6. When you roll a six, throw your hands up. The last player to roll a six is out of the standoff, which is repeated until there is only one remaining player, who is declared the winner.
