Instructions
Object
Uncover the locations of a matching set of cards-a Warrant Card, a Loot Card,
and a Crook Card of the same color.
Contents
Game Board
224 Question Cards
24 Color-Coded Clue Cards: 8 Warrant, 8 Loot, 8 Crook
6 Playing Pieces
50 Capital Tokens
Parents' Summary of Rules
Player 1 reads a question to the player on his/her left (Player 2). Player 2
either answers the question or asks for multiple choice options. Correct answers
without the choices allow Player 2 to move 5 spaces; correct answers using the
choices allow Player 2 to move 3 spaces. Player 2 does not move if he/she answers
incorrectly, and the player to his/her left has the option of answering. Play
passes to the left.
Players move to reach landmarks. Upon reaching a landmark, players secretly
look at the card on that landmark's box. If the card is a Warrant or Loot, the
player returns it face up to the landmark's box. If the card is a Crook, the
player returns if face down to the landmark's box. To make an accusation, players
move to a landmark with a face up Warrant Card, then list, in order, the locations
of that Warrant and its matching Loot and Crook. If the accusation is true,
the accusing player wins the game and all players work together to catch Carmen
(see "Catching Carmen," below). If the accusation is false, the accusing
player removes the Warrant that was used in that accusation form the board.
If all eight Warrants are removed from the game before a true accusation is
made, the game is over and the elusive Carmen Sandiego wins.
Set Up
1. Before playing the first time, punch out the Clue Cards and Capital Tokens.
Set aside the Capital Tokens; they are used at the end of the .
2. Shuffle all three types of Clue Cards together, then place one Card face
down (so that the back Carmen logo shows) on each of the Landmark Boxes along
the top and bottom of the game board.
3. The youngest player chooses which questions players will use for this game---either
red, blue, or black. There is no difference in difficulty of subject matter
among these different colored questions.
4. From youngest to oldest, each player chooses a playing piece and places it
on any vacant landmark on the board. At the start of the game, only one piece
is permitted per landmark.
Reading and Answering Questions
Each player is an Acme agent, searching famous landmarks for clues. To start
the game, the agent to the youngest agent's right picks the top card and reads
a question to the youngest agent. After hearing a question, agents either answer
or ask for multiple choice options. When agents ask for multiple choice options,
the reader reads the three choices below the question. Agents must answer a
question every time it is their turn. Agents may consult the map to answer questions.
Play passes to the left.
Correct Answers/Movement
Correct answers are shown in bold. When agents answer correctly without multiple
choice options, they may move their pieces up to 5 spaces. Correct answers after
hearing the multiple choice options allow agents to move up to 3 spaces. Agents
may move horizontally, vertically, and/or diagonally. After finishing their
turn, agents pick the top card and read a question to the agent on their left.
Other than when pieces are placed on the board at the start of the game, agents'
pieces may share the same space.
After reaching a "Fly to Alaska" or "Fly to Hawaii" space,
moving to the "Arrive From Lower 48" or "Arrive From Mainland"
spaces counts as 1 space. Agents may fly to Hawaii or Alaska from the East and
return to the West, or visa versa. Agents may pass through Hawaii or Alaska
as a shortcut. The only way to reach Alaska and Hawaii is via the "Fly
to" spaces; agents may not cross the double lines that separate these states
from the lower 48 states.
Incorrect Answers
When agents answer incorrectly, the agent to their left (the "back-up agent")
may either answer the question or pass. If the first agent used multiple choice
options, the back-up agent may ask to hear the choices again, and earns 3 spaces
for a correct answer. If the first agent did not use multiple choices, the back-up
agent may either earn 5 spaces for answering correctly without multiple choices
or earn 3 spaces for answering correctly with multiple choices.
Instead of answering, back-up agents may declare "I pass." When a
back-up agent passes, the first agent picks the top card and reads a new question
to the back-up agent.
It counts as a turn when back-up agents answer questions. When back-up agents
answer incorrectly, their turn is over. They pick the top card and read a question
to the agent on their left. Do not use this rule when only two agents are playing.
Landmarks and Landmark Boxes
Each landmark on the map has a matching Landmark Box that contains a Clue Card.
Landmark Boxes are close to the position of their landmarks. The only way to
look at the Clue Cards in Landmark Boxes is to reach that landmark on the map.
Agents may not move off the map to reach Landmark Boxes.
Clue Cards: Warrant, Loot, and Crook
When agents reach a landmark, they secretly look at the Clue Card that rests
on that landmark's Landmark Box. There are three types of Clue Cards in the
game: Warrant Cards, Loot Cards, and Crook Cards. When agents pick up a Warrant
or Loot, they return the card to the Landmark Box with the Warrant of Loot face
up. Then agents pick up a Crook Card, they look at the card, memorize it, and
return it to the Landmark Box face down, without showing it to any other agent.
After returning the card, agents pick the top question card and read a quesition
to the agent on their left.
Each of the three Clue Cards in a set feature the same Crook and the same color
(for example, the orange Warrant Card, the orange Loot Card, and the Orange
Crook Card all say "Vic the Slick").
Making An Accusation
The object of the game is to discover the location of a complete set of three
Clue Cards--the Warrant, the Loot, and the Crook--and make a true accusation.
Any agent who earns enough spaces to move to a landmark with a face up Warrant
may make an accusation using that Warrant. To make accusations, agents call
out, in order, the landmarks that contain the Warrant, the Loot, and the Crook.
As they call out these landmarks, they pick up the cards from these landmark's
Landmark Boxes. Whenever agents call out a landmark that contains a card that
is face down, they pick up that card and show it to the other agents. Agents
may not call out the location of a Crook Card until they hold a Warrant Card
and a Loot Card of the same color.
Agents may only make accusations from a landmark that contains a Warrant, and
may only make accusations that use the Warrant that is on the landmark they
are visiting. For example, if Patty Larceny's Warrant is on the Four Corners,
an agent who reaches Four Corners may only use that Warrant to search for Patty
Larceny and her Loot. Agents may only make accusations on their turn and may
not make accusations on the same turn that they turn up a Warrant. Agents must
move off a landmark on the next turn in which they move. Agents may not make
accusations on a turn which they answer incorrectly.
FALSE ACCUSATIONS
As soon as an accusing agent picks up a card that does not match the Warrant,
the accusation is over. The accusing agent returns the card that does not match
to its Landmark Box. If the card is a Warrant or Loot, the agent returns the
card face up. If the card is a Crook, the accusing agent shows the Crook to
the rest of the agents and returns it face down to it's Landmark Box.
After returning the card that did not match, accusing agents remove the Warrant
from play. No agent may make an accusation using this Warrant. For convenience,
when agents turn up Loot that matches a Warrant that has been removed from play,
they should immediately remove the Loot from play.
WINNING THE GAME
An accusing agent who successfully locates the Warrant, the Loot, and the Crook,
in order, wins the game. If all eight Warrants are removed from the board before
an agent makes a successful accusation, the game is over and Carmen Sandiego
is the winner. The evil forces of V.I.L.E. have triumphed.
CATCHING CARMEN
After an agent has nabbed a Crook and won the game, all the agents work together
to see if they can catch Carmen Sandiego. Place all 50 Capital Tokens on the
table, with Carmen's picture face up. The other side of each of these tokens
has the name of a state capital city.
Each agent chooses three tokens without looking at them and places them face
down on the table. Place the rest of the tokens aside. Find a timer (if a timer
is not available, use a watch that clocks seconds), and set it according to
the number of agents playing:
2 agents.....20 seconds
3 agents.....35 seconds
4 agents.....50 seconds
5 agents.....1 minute
6 agents.....1 minute and 10 seconds
The oldest agent starts the timer and says "Catch Carmen!" The youngest agent
flips over a token, reads the capital aloud, then places it on its state. Play
continues to the left as each agent in turn flips over a token, reads the capital
aloud, and places the token on its state. If the agents, as a team, correctly
place all the tokens before time runs out, they catch Carmen Sandiego. If time
runs our before all the tokens are played, then Carmen escapes to steal again.
A BIGGER CHALLENGE FOR GUMSHOES
To make the game more difficult, change the rules on turning over Clue Cards
so that Loot Cards are treated exactly like Crook Cards--they're replaced face
down on Landmark Boxes.
Copyright ©1997 University Games