Create the deck you’ll use for this game.
- Include all the black cards.
- Include 1 colored set per player.
Pick the 3 colors with which you want to start. Grab all their cards that have no action. Now give every player their personal starting deck.
- Include 1 random card per starting color.
- And 2 random black cards.
Each player studies their deck, then shuffles it and places it facedown before them.
Finally, place the remaining cards faceup into the shop.
- Add one pile for all cards without an action. (The majority of them.)
- Add one pile per color (with all remaining cards).
The most reckless player becomes Firemaster.
The game ends after the round when the shop runs out.
Players count their score by summing the numbers of all the cards inside their deck. Highest score wins!
Play happens in rounds. Beginning with the Firemaster, take clockwise turns until done.
On your turn, either REVEAL or STOP.
At any point, if your deck is empty, turn over and shuffle your discard pile to create your new deck. (You only permanently lose a card when an action uses the term “destroy”.)
The round ends when all players are done. When that happens,
- The last player alive becomes the new Firemaster.
- All players move their revealed cards to their own faceup discard pile.
Reveal the top card of your deck. Your revealed cards form a faceup row next to your deck.
If the card has a special action, execute it now. If you can’t, or it’s not relevant now, simply ignore it.
Sum all numbers from revealed cards of the same color. If this total is 10 or higher, you explode! You’re out of the round.
Say “I stop!”
You’re out of the round, but you may first buy new cards from the shop.
Each card you revealed this round is worth 1 coin (unless stated otherwise). You may use the money any way you want, but leftover coins are lost.
Cards bought go to your discard pile.
That’s it. Have fun!
For extreme player counts, a slightly different setup is usually preferred.
Playing with 2 players? Include 2 colored sets per player in the deck. (So 4 sets in total.)
Playing with 7(+) players? When creating the personal starting decks,
- Use 4 unique starting colors
- And only 1 random black card.
You’ll also be forced to use the action cards of each starting color.
Want a shorter game? Play until either all action cards are gone (from the shop), or all non-action cards are gone.
Want a simpler and less luck-based game? Remove or reduce the pile of Black cards. (Their purpose is to add useful actions and more cards of the same color, but this also leads to more complexity and a larger chance of exploding in that color.)
This expansion requires printing the Scoreworks cards. Each has a new rule for how you score at the end of the game.
Usually, this rule is added on top of the default rule (that each card simply scores its number at the end). Some, however, replace that rule instead.
During setup, simply draw one random card from this deck.
It also adds two extra rules to the core gameplay.
- The last player alive, after stopping or exploding, may destroy 1 revealed or discarded card (of theirs).
- If you can purchase something, you must.