How to Play Dogs' Day

Game Objective

In Dogs' Day, players lead dog Mafias in Meow City, vying for power in the underworld. The main objective is to repeatedly rob the Meow City Central Bank, accumulating the largest possible fortune. The gang that has amassed the greatest fortune (summing money bags and gemstone briefcases) by the end of the game wins.

The game ends at the end of the 8th round.

Setup

1. Each player receives 1 (one) individual Playerboard and the 10-card deck corresponding to their Mafia.
2. The Bank and the Prison are placed side by side, in the center of the table, within everyone's reach.
3. 3 (three) random money bags are placed face down on the Prison.
4. Shuffle the Armored Cars, take 9 of them, and place them face down to the right of the Bank. They serve as round counters.
5. The fortune markers (bags and briefcases) are left face down, next to the Prison and the Bank, forming a Reserve.
6. The first Armored Car is revealed, and the amount of bags and briefcases indicated on it is placed on the Bank.
7. Discard the first Armored Car and open the next one. Place the indicated amount of bags and briefcases on it.
8. Each player shuffles their own deck and places it to the right of their playerboard. Then, they draw the first 4 cards from the deck.
9. You are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of Dogs’ Day is played over 8 rounds, and each round is divided into 4 small phases:

1. Team Selection
2. The Heist
3. The Twist
4. A New Day to Steal

1. Team Selection

In this phase, players must secretly select a card from their hands and place it face down in front of them on the table. When everyone has chosen, the cards are revealed simultaneously and form a row, called the Scene, below the Bank, in ASCENDING order.

• The Informant (X9) cards are always positioned at the beginning of the row.
• Equal numbers are placed one above the other. It does not matter which one(s) is/are above or below.

2. The Heist

Before starting the heist, players check if the heist will be successful or a failure.

• Frustrated Heist: If a single The Informant (X9) card was revealed in the round, the heist was frustrated. The The Heist and The Twist phases will not occur. Instead:
  • Played cards that do not have the "Cannot be arrested" symbol are placed face down in the Prison area, and their owners must pay a fortune marker from their Vaults onto the Prison as payment for the Lawyer's fees and Meow City Hall. If they do not have any fortune markers in their Vault, the player places nothing on the Prison.
  • Cards that have the "Cannot be arrested" symbol are not arrested and are placed to the left of their owners' playerboard (in the Retired area).
  • The player who played the The Informant (X9) card receives a money bag from the Reserve for each card arrested by them (which was placed in the Prison).
  • The Lawyer (0) enters the scene and resolves their effect in the Prison. If more than one Lawyer was played this round, the value is divided equally among the Lawyers played. If it is not possible to divide equally, the remaining fortune markers remain in the Prison.
• Successful Heist: If no or more than one The Informant (X9) card is present in the round, the heist occurs.
  • Players must resolve, in ascending order, their characters' actions (the Heist Effect, at the top of the cards). Starting with The Lawyer (0) up to The Driver (7), they will take fortune markers from the Bank, the Armored Car, and/or the Prison, according to their characters' actions.
  • If there is more than one card of the same number in the Heist, the players who played those cards resolve their cards' effects simultaneously, in the best possible way.

3. The Twist

After resolving all the effects on the top part of their cards and completing The Heist, players must divide the spoils of the Heist. That is, they will now resolve, in DESCENDING order, the effects contained in the bottom part of the cards (the Twist Effect).

• IMPORTANT: If two or more cards of the same number are present in the Heist, the Twist action of those characters is not resolved.
• At the end of this phase, players return their cards and all markers that are on them to their respective playerboards. The card recently used in the round is placed face up, to the left of the playerboard, in the Retired Area, and the conquered briefcases and bags are positioned, face down, on the central space of the playerboard, in that player's Vault Area.

4. A New Day to Steal

At the end of the The Twist phase:

• The Armored Car opened in the current round must supply the Bank with the fortune markers that are on it (if it has no fortune markers, nothing goes to the Bank).
• A new Armored Car is opened and supplied with the shown quantities of bags and briefcases.
• A money bag from the Reserve is placed in the Prison. This is repeated in all rounds.
• Additionally, players replenish the cards in their hands from their decks so that they have 4 cards in their hands again.
• In the penultimate and last rounds, hand cards are not replenished, as the individual deck should already be empty.

Actions and How to Play

Each character in the game has Heist actions (top part of the card) and/or Twist actions (bottom part of the card). Actions are resolved in ascending order for the Heist and descending for the Twist, except when there are multiple characters of the same number in the Scene for the Twist.

Card Types and Actions:

• The Lawyer (0):
  • Heist Effect: Take all markers (bags and/or briefcases) from the Prison. Works even when the Heist is frustrated.
  • Twist Effect: Steal 1 fortune marker (bag or briefcase) from the card immediately to the right of The Lawyer in the Scene.
  • Ability: Cannot be arrested.
• The Mentor (1):
  • Heist Effect: Take 5 fortune markers (bags and/or briefcases) from the other participants in the Scene. Can take from the Scene itself, or from the Vaults of the players present in the Scene.
  • Twist Effect: Has no effect.
• The Con Artist (2):
  • Heist Effect: Take 2 fortune markers (bags and/or briefcases) from the Bank.
  • Twist Effect: Steal 2 fortune markers (bags and/or briefcases) from the other participants in the Scene. Can take from the Scene itself, or from the Vaults of the players present in the Scene.
• The Excavator (3):
  • Heist Effect: Take all gemstone briefcases from the Bank.
  • Twist Effect: Escape from the Scene (cannot be stolen by any other player until the end of this round). Immediately goes to the Retired Area.
• The Hacker (4):
  • Heist Effect: Steal 2 money bags from the Vault of the other participants in the Heist.
  • Twist Effect: Take all money bags from the Armored Car.
• La Femme (5):
  • Heist Effect: Steal all markers (bags and/or briefcases) from the card immediately to the left of La Femme in the Scene.
  • Twist Effect: Take 1 bag and 1 briefcase from the Bank.
  • Ability: Cannot be arrested.
• The Sharpshooter (6):
  • Heist Effect: Has no effect.
  • Twist Effect: Take all bags from the Bank.
• The Brute (6):
  • Heist Effect: Has no effect.
  • Twist Effect: Take all bags from the Bank.
• The Driver (7):
  • Heist Effect: Steal 4 markers (bags and/or briefcases) from the Scene (only markers that are on the cards present in the Heist row) and escape from the Scene (cannot be stolen by any other player until the end of this round).
  • Twist Effect: Has no effect.
  • Ability: Cannot be arrested.
• The Informant (X9):
  • Heist Effect: The Heist does not happen, and all cards present in the round are arrested* (*except cards that have the "Cannot be arrested" icon). This ability is nullified when two or more Informants are played in the same round.
  • Twist Effect: Take 1 money bag from the Reserve for each card arrested this round.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends at the end of the 8th round. When players have only two cards left in their hands, they sum the fortune they have in their Vaults (bags and briefcases).

The player with the highest sum of money wins the game.

In case of a tie, the player with the most gemstone briefcases is the grand winner!

Tips for Winning

• In the first few games, it is recommended to play with the Bank that never runs empty. This option ensures that the Bank will always have a minimum of money in its reserves. If, after the A New Day to Steal phase, the Bank has fewer than 3 fortune markers (bags + briefcases), replenish with bags so that it has 3 fortune markers.
• When accustomed to the game, it is recommended that players, before starting the game, separate the X9 card from their decks and start the game with it in their hands. Thus, instead of completing their hand to 4 cards, in the A New Day to Steal phase, each player completes their hand to 5 cards.