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Rulebook - Alcatraz EN
Alcatraz is a game for 2 to 5 players set in a world ruled by dogs. The cats are imprisoned in
Alcatraz, and your mission is to free as many cats from the prison as possible.
COMPONENTS
● 68 cards (numbered from −3 to 14, with four copies of each)

● 11 Objective cards (numbered from 4 to 14)

● 5 player aid cards
OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME
Each player must fulfill the objectives on the table by adding two or three adjacent cards
from their row. The used cards may be face up or face down. Each card used to complete an
objective is worth 1 point.
Whoever scores the most points at the end of 2 rounds wins the game.
SETUP (see Figure I)
a. Cat (prisoner) cards: shuffle and deal 4 cards to each player. Each player must form a
row of face-down cards in front of them.
b. Objective deck: shuffle and reveal 3 Objective cards face up in the center of the table,
forming the objective row.
c. Draw deck: made up of the remaining cat cards.
d. Discard piles: take two cards from the draw deck and create two piles (with one card
each) next to the draw deck.

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Figure I: Setup
Lastly, each player may look at only one card in their row. Then they must return it face down
in the same position. From that moment on, players may only look at their cards again if
some game effect allows it. (see Figure II)

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Figure II: Memorize one card from the row
HOW TO PLAY
The game takes place over two rounds, where each round runs until a player uses all of their
cards.
The person who most recently petted a cat starts the game. In subsequent rounds, the first
player will be the one to the left of the last player who used all of their cards.
On your turn, you may perform each of the following actions at most once:
● Draw a card
● Fulfill an objective
DRAW A CARD
Draw a card from the draw deck (face down) or from one of the discard piles (face up).
If you choose a card from the draw deck, it comes face down. Look at the card and then
choose between:
● Swap: Replace one card in your row with the new card (keeping it face down). The
replaced card goes to one of the discard piles face up;

● Use ability: Activate the card’s effect (if possible), then discard it;

● Discard: Discard the card without using it.

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If you choose to draw from one of the discard piles:
Choose the top card of one of the two discard piles and replace one of the cards in your row
with it (the card remains face up in your row, while the replaced card goes revealed to the
discard pile). A card acquired this way also goes to your row face up.
FULFILL AN OBJECTIVE
If possible, after the draw action, the current player may also fulfill one of the objectives. To
do this, add 2 or 3 adjacent cards from your row to match the number on an Objective card
(see Figure III).

Figure III: Fulfill objective
Important: You are not allowed to fulfill the objective using a sum of two cards that yields a
zero subtotal (such as [−1] and [+1], see Figure IV).

Figure IV: Do not use zero subtotal
To fulfill an objective, the player must first announce which objective they intend to
complete. Then, flip face up (if they are still face down) two or three adjacent cards in their
row.

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The player used 3 cards to fulfill the sum 12 objective with [−3], [14], and [1], therefore
earning 3 points (see Figure V).

Figure V: Objective sum 12
Important: Overlapped cards that were being used as an effect (such as adding/subtracting
1 to/from a card, or changing a card’s sign) do NOT count as points. They must be
discarded to the discard deck.
When an objective is fulfilled, the player discards that Objective card. Then they collect the
cards used in the calculation (except the overlapped ones) and keep them near themselves,
forming a victory point pile, where each card will be worth 1 point at the end of the round.
(see Figure VI)

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Figure VI: Discard the completed objective
Next, the player refills the completed objective by drawing a new face-up card to the center
of the table (see Figure VII).
After that, if the player still has any card in their row, they refill one card without looking
(regardless of how many cards were used to fulfill the objective) at the right end of their row,
always face down (see Figure VIII).

Figure VII: Refill objective

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Figure VIII: Refill a face-down card in the row
If a player incorrectly declares that they are fulfilling an objective, they must discard the
declared cards to one of the discard piles (see Figure IX), and refill the same number of
face-down cards on the right side of their row (see Figure X).
Example: the player declared they would complete objective 12. Then they flipped their
cards to show 3, 5, and 1 (see Figure IX). Even though the result was 9 (another objective),
it was not the one they declared they would complete, therefore they must discard the 3
cards used in the calculation from their row, and take 3 new face-down cards from the draw
deck (see Figure X).

Figure IX: Incorrect objective

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Figure X: Refill with face-down cards
END OF THE ROUND
When a player has no cards left in their row, end of round is triggered. Each other player
who has not yet played in this round (starting from the first player) may finish their turn. In
this way, all players take the same number of turns.
Record each player’s score on a piece of paper; each card used to fulfill an objective is
worth 1 point. If the player managed to finish with no cards, draw a circle around their
score. This marking will be used as a tiebreaker at the end of the game. After the first round ends, each player receives new cards until they have 4 again. The cards
enter on the right side of their row, and then the next round begins with the player to the
left of the last player who played all the cards in their hand in the previous round.
END OF THE GAME
At the end of 2 rounds, the player with the highest total points wins.
In case of a tie, the winner is the player with more circles around their score (that is, who
finished their cards at the end of each round).
If the tie still persists, all tied players may choose to play a third round as a tiebreaker.
CREDITS
Game Design: Laila Terra
Game Develop: Thiago Castro, André Ruz
Art & Illustration: Dandi, João Luciano
Graphic Design: Dandi
Layout: Marcel Lambertini
Editing: Igor Raposo, Thiago Castro, Vinícius Figueiredo, André Ruz
Playtests: Renzo Assano, Kilian Terra, Thiago Castro, Vinícius Figueiredo, André Ruz, João
Luciano, Larissa Lima, Joka Jr

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