Buro Crazy
by Gunter Burkhardt
Published by FX Schmid 1997
Translated by Richard Ingram
Distributed from The Rules Bank by Mike Siggins

Contents:	 

  1 board
150 Influence cards
 24 Figures and stands - the figures should be put in the appropriate coloured stands.

Preparations

Place the board on the table.
Distribute the figures amongst the players - choose your own colours.

With 3 players, take 5 each
	 4 players 4
	 5 players 3

Mix up the figures and place them arbitrarily from left to right on the
16 spaces of the staircase. Make sure that no two figures of the same
colour are next to each other on a double space. With 3 and 5 players,
the last space on the ladder will remain empty.

Distribute the influence cards.

Each player receives 4 x   1
                     4 x   2
                     4 x   5
                     4 x  10
                     4 x  20 cards.
Total influence points = 152
			 
Keep cards secret from other players.
Other cards, worth 80 points, should be placed in the kitchen.
Remaining cards are placed near the board.

Introduction

The board shows an office building. Steps lead to the ground floor, with
4 offices, the first floor, with 2 offices and the kitchen, the second
floor, with one office, and finally, on the third floor, the boss'
suite.

All figures begin on the steps. Two figures will always undertake a duel
against each other, of which only one will qualify for the next higher
position, namely the one who has exerted the greater influence. In this
way 16 ( or 15 ) figures will become 8, then 4, then 2, and finally 1,
ending in the boss' suite. The owner of this figure will not necessarily
be the winner however.

How to play

The first duel is between the two extreme left figures. Then it is the
turn of the next two figures to the right etc. All duels take the same
form. Both participants select cards ( any number, including 0 ) and
reveal them. The player with the highest points total wins. He lays his
used cards, face down, on the roof of the building, and moves his figure
to the next higher office. The loser takes back his cards and cards from
the kitchen worth the difference between the winning and losing totals.

Example: Alfons uses 23 influence points, Britta only 4. Alfons wins,
discards his cards and moves his figure. Britta loses, takes back her
cards and in addition takes cards worth 19 points from the kitchen,
(23 - 4 = 19).

If the kitchen is empty, bad luck. The pile near the board is not at
your disposal.

If there is a tie, half the points of each player are lost, (placed on
the roof), the other halves are taken back and the duel begins again.

With 3 or 5 players, the last office place goes uncontested. The player
simply moves his figure up and pays 10 influence points into the discard
pile.

When the first 8 duels are complete, duels begin on the ground floor,
this time working from right to left. Make up the total of influence
points present in the kitchen to 60. If two figures of the same colour
compete, simply move one forward, leaving the other behind. The player
neither discards nor collects influence cards.

After these four duels, the next two take place, starting with that in
the office to the left of the kitchen. Make the kitchen points up to 40.

Finally only 2 figures will remain, which will aim to enter the boss'
suite. Make the kitchen points total up to 20. In this last dual, the
loser will also discard his used cards. He will still take the
difference in totals from the kitchen though.

Hint: If the stock pile of cards runs out, use cards from the discard
pile to fill the kitchen.
The game ends when the last duel is over. The winner is not certain
though. The cards on the roof must be distributed. Mix them, number side
down, and place them in 9 face down piles, each pile containing the same
number of cards. Left over cards should be set aside.

The player whose figure is in the boss' suite, takes 3 of these piles.
The player whose figure is in the office below takes 2 piles, and the
two figures left and right of the kitchen earn their owners 1 pile each.
The remaining 2 piles are set aside.

The winner is the player with the most influence points. This will not
necessarily be the boss. In the case of a tie, the highest ranking
figure splits the tie.

NB You can only win if you have at least one figure in the building.