Published by 1x1 Spiele GmbH
Copyright 1995, 1x1 Spiele GmbH
Translated by Peter Card
Each year, the Al Capone Race to the Sun is held. All convicts are called upon to take part. The launch follows the laborious hand construction of the rocketships.. The "Al Capone" title is hotly desired by all involved.
2-5 players, of 10 years or over, can play
There are 15 planet discs and 1 sun disc. Each planet disc shows 3 numbered rocketships in red, yellow and blue. The planet is also numbered. On the reverse side is a compass rose.
There are 5 sets of 11 cards. Each set is identified by the letter A,B,C,D or E on the reverse. Each set contains 1 Sun-rotation card, 2 Planet-rotation cards and 8 Match cards. There are "2" and "3" Match cards in red, yellow and blue, and "1" and "3" Match cards in black
There are 15 sunglasses chits, (5 each in red, blue and yellow)
The first player to collect 2 sunglasses chits in different colours wins the game, and the "Al Capone" title.
The planet discs, sun disc, and sunglasses chits are punched out of the diecut sheet. Planet #1 (Earth) and the Sun are placed face up on the table. All the other planet discs are placed face down and thoroughly mixed, then arranged as shown to make the playing area.
The 15 sunglasses chits are sorted by colour and placed near the playing area
Each player selects a playing piece and places it on planet #1 (Earth)
Each player takes a set of 11 cards, all with the same letter on the reverse. Unwanted playing pieces and card sets are put to one side. They are not used in the game!
Each player holds his set of cards in his hand, so that only the reverse is visible to the other players.
Sun ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Earth ? ? ? ? ?
A black match card strengthens the coloured match card it is played with. The number shown is added to the number on the coloured match card.
A round of play consists of the following steps
Each player lays 1 card face down on the table, then all the cards are turned face up at once. Each player then lays a second card, near the first one. before all these cards are turned face up too.
Each Sun-rotation card played causes the sun to rotate, as explained above. The sun-rotation card is then immediately turned face down.
Each planetary rotation card played is obeyed, as described above. The player whose playing piece is on the highest numbered planet goes first, and so on.
The flight winner for each rocket is the player who has the most matches of the corresponding colour.
Important: Black matches count as coloured matches in this calculation. [PJC - ie. any black matches played are added to the coloured matches shown on the other match card , assuming that the player did play a coloured match card]
Player A Player B Player C Player D Player E Red 2 Blue 2 Blue 2 Black 1 Planet-rotation Red 3 Yellow 2 Sun-rotation Yellow 2 Yellow 2
Flightwinner... Red rocketship Player A 5 matches
Blue rocketship Players B and C 2 matches each
Yellow rocketship Player D 3 matches
What happens when a player wins a flight on two rocketships?
The flight winner must pick one of the rocketships to fly on.
In what order do the flightwinners move their playing pieces?
The flight winner whose playing piece stands on the highest numbered planet disc must move first. If there is more than one flight winner on the planet, the highest numbered rocketship takes precedence. Then the flightwinner with the next highest number goes, and so on.
How are the flight winners' playing pieces moved?
The playing pieces must be moved off their planet disc in the direction indicated by the rocket which matches the rocketship flight they won.If there is no planet disc in the indicated direction, the playing piece must be moved to the planet disc lying on the opposite side of the playing area. [PJC - in effect the the playing area wraps around vertically and horizontally]
If the playing piece arrives at a face down planet disc [PJC - the German rules actually say "at a face down planet-rotation card", but this is clearly a misprint!], the player turns the planet disc face up, with the axis of rotation corresponding to one of the compass rose directions. [PJC - In effect, the player chooses the orientation of the planet disc before seeing its face up side]
A planet disc which has just been turned face up counts as a so-called "Stop-Disc", for the current round of play. Thus each flightwinner landing on the freshly overturned disc must stop there and cannot procede until the next turn.
The playing piece can otherwise continue from disc to disc, following the colour of the rocketflight it won.
The playing piece must - if possible - leave its starting planet.
A playing piece can only move onto the sun if the colour of its rocketflight matches the colour of the rocket shown the sun disc in the direction of its approach
Whoever reaches the sun receives a sunglasses chit. If a player arrives on the red rocketship, he gets a red sunglasses chit. The blue or yellow chits are received if he arrived on a blue or yellow rocket. A player can only receive a sunglasses chit of each colour once. He then places the playing piece back on Earth (Planet #1), and can only move again when he wins a rocketflight on a subsequent round of play.
The example shows a playing piece taking a blue rocketship all the way to the sun. Note that at one point it flies across to the opposite side of the playing area, and that it arrives at the sun from the direction of the blue rocket.
Each player turns the cards he played face down, and begins the next round of play with his remaining cards.
When do the players recover the cards they have played?
When they have only a single card remaining in their hands.
The players themselves can arrange the playing area. For example...
Sun ?
? ? ?
? Earth
? Sun
? ?
? ? ? ? ?
? ? ?
? ? ?
? Earth