Components 1 Round Tracker 12 Stolen goods

contents
1 Score Pad
Fin
Names

4 Diamonds
Score

Pg. 3-4 Setup Pg. 13 Turn Example

3 Caper Trackers 4 Paintings Pg. 5-8 Round Overview — Thief Round & Gear Rounds Pg. 14-16 Game End and Scoring
1 Game Board 2 Player Aids 4 Antiques Pg. 9-12 Icons and Sets Pg. 17-18 The Cities of Caper: Europe
10 Coins

intro
Locations Deck • 28 Cards Becoming the greatest Mastermind to wander Europe is no small feat.
8 Core Location Cards You’ll need to pull off daring capers in lucrative locations across the
20 City-Based Location Cards (5 PER CITY) continent. But watch out! Your rival Mastermind is looking to do the
same and could thwart your best-laid plans. Outwit them with the right
crew and latest gear to pull off the perfect heist.

thief Deck • 27 Cards

15 Core Thief Cards
Overview & Objective
Caper is a two-player game that takes place over 6 rounds across 3 Locations.
12 City-Based Thief Cards (3 PER CITY)
During a round, each Mastermind will play Thief cards at Locations or Gear cards
on top of Thieves. After playing a card, each Mastermind exchanges their entire
hand of cards—giving the other player access to the cards they just had! Points
will be scored at the end of the game. The Mastermind with the most wins!
Gear Deck • 54 Cards
30 Core Gear Cards
24 City-Based Gear Cards (6 PER CITY)
ways you’ll score points
LOCATIONS • Move the Caper Tracker closer to your side of the
board to win a Location’s Points and Bonuses at the end of the game.
CREDITS & THANKS • This game was made thanks to the support of our Kickstarter backers!
Thank you for your passion and love for gaming together. We couldn’t do this without you! Happy gaming. CARDS • Even if you don’t win a Location, your Thief and Gear cards
may award you standalone Points or Points through sets.
Game Design: Unai Rubio • Development: Mattox Shuler, Matt Aiken Illustration: Josh Emrich • Icons and Layout: Mattox
Shuler and Josh Emrich • Rules Editing: Press Pot Games - Travis D. Hill, Donny Behne • Rules Layout: Brigette Indelicato •
Insert Design: Noah Adelman at Game Trayz • Playtesting: Dan Angevine, Jerry Campbell, Devin Carney, Jason Cordes, Kris- STOLEN GOODS • Aquire unique Stolen Goods from Locations to
ta Cox, Stephanie Esper, and Marc Kempster form sets and score luxurious loot at the end of the game.

1 2
 setup
3 Set up the Cards on the Board • Place the shuffled Thief and Gear decks face down onto their
1 Set the Table • Sit across the table from the other Mastermind. Place the board between you with matching icon slots on the board. From the Locations deck, reveal one Location card into each of the
the long side facing each player. Place the 10 Coins next to one end of the board to form the supply. three Location spots on the board. Return all unused Location cards to the box.
2 Set up the Decks • Locate and separate the core Thief, Gear, and Location cards into 4 Set up the Stolen Goods • Randomly place four Stolen Goods into their slots at each of the three
their own decks. Choose one of the Cities to play and locate all of its City cards. Then, separate and Locations with their icons face up. You can do this by placing the Stolen Goods face down on the table,
shuffle that City’s Thief, Gear, and Location cards into their respective core decks. Leave all unused shuffling them around, and then revealing them into each Location Stolen Good slot.
City cards in the box. They will not be used for the game. 5 Set up the Rest of the Board • Place a Caper Tracker in the middle position of each Caper Track at the
3 Location areas. Place the Round Tracker on the Intro slot of the Round Track. You’re ready to play!
For your first, game, we recommend playing in lovely Paris.
Read about the nitty-gritty City details on pgs. 17-18.
CORE CARD
CITY CARD
Shuffle the City’s 5 Locations
2 with the 8 core Locations

City-specific Thieves, Gear, and

Locations feature that City’s icon in Shuffle the City’s 3 Thieves Shuffle the City’s 6 Gear
the bottom left corner; whereas Core 2 with the 15 core Thieves 2 with the 30 core Gear
cards do not.

3 3 3 3 3
1 5

4 4 4

5 5 5

your side of locations Hideout Area for your Stolen Goods | Discard Areas
3 4
 Round structure Thief Rounds
Thief Rounds
Begin each round by looking at the Round Tracker. The icon next to the Round Tracker shows Thieves are the backbone of a good heist. Three Thief rounds occur during the game.
1. from which deck you deal cards, 2. how many cards each player gets, and 3. which Mastermind During a Thief round, Masterminds place Thieves on their side of the board next to
goes first that round. Locations. Each Thief comes with skills represented by the icons under their name.
Thieves can help move the Caper Tracker so you may win a Location, earn you Points
through card combos, or give you the pick of a Location’s Stolen Goods. Also, many
The first round begins with the Round Thieves will immediately get you Coins that you may use in later Gear rounds.
Tracker next to this icon. The icon is
adjacent to the Thief deck and shows 4
pips, so each Mastermind will start with 4 on a thief turn:
cards in their hand from the Thief deck.
1. Place a Thief at an available Location slot on your side.
2. Gain the number of Coins listed on the Thief.
3. Resolve any icons that are triggered (pgs. 9 - 10).

Each Location has slots for up to 3 Thieves per side,

Each round has a different number of turns, based on the number of 1 shown by the mark.
cards Masterminds have. Each turn, the Starting Mastermind plays 3 Once those three Location slots are filled on your side,
a card from their hand, and then the other Mastermind plays a card 2 you can no longer play Thieves there. However, your
from their hand. Then, both players exchange their hand of cards. opponent may still play Thieves to that Location if there
This continues until both players only have one card left in their are available slots on their side of the board. It does not
hand. Instead of exchanging their final card, both players discard it matter which of the three slots you play the Thief on.
face-up to their Hideout area. This ends the round. Move the Round
Tracker one space down, deal cards based on the Round Tracker,
and start a new round. Rounds alternate between playing Thieves at
Each Mastermind plays a thief card color
Locations and Gear onto Thieves. After the final Gear round (Fin), card, then they will exchange
the game ends and is scored. Cream • All Thief cards are a Cream color and pair with icon sets showing this color (pg. 11).
their entire hand.

what’s on draft • The process of playing a card then exchanging hands is called drafting. Be on the It pays to save • Some Thieves have powerful ablities, but bring in little to no Coins. Make sure to plan
lookout for what you need, but also what you’re passing to your opponent. If you aren’t hiring a Thief, then well for the upcoming Gear round where often you’ll need Coins to pay for more powerful Gear. With
they’re headed right over to the other Mastermind to see if they can work for them! each subsequent Thief round, you will start with fewer Thieves.
5 6
 Gear Rounds Assembling a Crew
Gear Rounds
Three Gear rounds also occur during the game, so pairing the right Gear with Each Thief and Gear card you play at a Location
the right Crew is critical for success. During these rounds, Masterminds play becomes a part of your Crew. All cards in your Crew
Gear onto their Thief cards. Each Thief can hold a maximum of 3 Gear cards. work together at that Location. Therefore, Gear cards
Some Gear have a Coin cost that must be paid in order to be played. To pay for do not have to be played on a specific Thief to trigger
a Gear card, simply return the appropriate number of Coins to the supply. that Thief’s icons. As long as the card is played at the
Location, it applies to each icon there.

on a gear turn, you may gear card colors

1. Select a Gear card to play, paying its cost. Gear cards also have a Color. These Colors can trigger
2. Place the Gear card on a Thief, up to 3 Gear per Thief. other icons on cards at that Location. In each game,
3. Resolve any Icons that are triggered on the card (pgs. 9-10). there are 4 core Gear Colors and 1 City-Specific Color.
4. Check if any Thief or Location effects are also triggered. Combo card Colors with matching icons to maximize
your crew’s effectiveness (pg. 11).
OR Discard a Gear card from your hand and gain a Coin.

purple • Focused on moving the Caper green • Focused on taking Stolen

Gear should be placed
2 Tracker to win a Location. Goods from Locations.
onto a Thief or onto
the latest played Gear
card on a Thief, so that
1 3 yellow • Focused on gaining Coins to Red • Focused on discarding your
all icons and colors
pay for fancy Gear. Opponent’s played cards.
of the previous cards
played are visible.

city color • Each City’s Gear has any gear color • This also
a unique focus. Only one of these includes any City-Specific Gear.
colors will be in each game.
Max of 3 Gear per Thief

Rain Check • You might discard a Gear card if you cannot afford to play it, need money for a card coming what’s to come • If you want to win a Location, sometimes leaving yourself enough slots for Gear is key
back to you, or want to prevent your opponent using a card that works well with their crew. in the later rounds. This can help defend against late game movement of the Caper Tracker.
7 8
 icon effects set effects
Icons and how they interact with other cards is the core of learning Caper: Europe. There are only 5 core Some icons are paired together to signify that you resolve its effect if certain conditions are met. Most
game icons. We’ll learn what they do and how they interact on these next two pages. For City-specific often these effects resolve if you play a specific card color at that Location. These icons are ongoing Set
icons effects, see pages 17-18. Effects and can resolve multiple times.

CARD SET

Effects that Resolve Immediately point effects For each card or set of cards
Set Effects can be read from top to bottom like this:
resolve at Game End Resolve this effect
EFFECTS
Move the Caper Tracker • Move the Caper Tracker
at this Location 1 space toward you (pg. 11).
5 For example, this icon reads “For each Green card in your
Crew, move the one space toward you.” So when you
Gain a Coin • Gain a Coin from the supply (pg. 11). Gain POINT(s) play the Conductor to a Crew that already has 2 Green cards,
you’d immediately move the 2 spaces toward you. This
Gain one Point for
effect is ongoing so on future turns, when you play a Green
Burn a card • Discard one of the topmost Gear cards each star or number
card with this Crew you would also move the one space
on the Opponent’s side of this Location and revert its of stars inside.
toward you.
Icon (pg. 12).
Set Effects with Points will resolve at the end of the game.
For example, this icon reads “For each Green card + Any
Steal a Stolen Good • Take the matching Stolen Good
Color Gear card in your Crew, score 2 Points.” In this
from this Location and place it in your Hideout.
example to your left, The Bon Vivant is currently scoring
The allows you to take any Stolen Good from this 2 Points at the end of the game since there is one set of a
Location (pg. 14). Green + Any Color (Green in this case) in the Crew.

Some Set Effects do not include Card Colors, but Stolen Goods instead. This means you will
For each icon present on a card, resolve its effect. For example, the Incognito score Points for each Stolen Good of that type in your Hideout at the end of the game. For
Tuxedo immediately moves the twice at its location. The Smoke Screen example, the reward at this Locations reads, “Score 2 Points per Painting in your Hideout.” So if
immediately moves the once, but its Point scores at the end of the game. you ended the game with 3 Paintings and won the Louvre, this effect would score you 6 Points.

perfect Balance • An expert Mastermind knows how to balance the effects they need to come out on Wombo Combos • Playing cards with overlapping colors in their set effects can help maximize your
top. Knowing when to move the Caper Tracker or when to take a Stolen Good can make or break the plan. Crew’s potential, but that also gives information to your opponent as to what you want to draft. Always
have a backup plan in case you are unable to pull off your big combo!
9 10
 locations and how to win them burning cards
Location cards depict the scene of the heist. Each of the When you play a card with , choose one of your opponent’s topmost Gear
3 Locations includes 4 Stolen Goods, a Location Card, a cards on a Thief at this Location and have them discard it. If there are any
Caper Track, and slots for 3 Thieves on both sides. immediate icon effects on the discarded card, revert them. Do not revert effects
previously gained from other Set Effects. If the burned card shows:
A Location will reward Points to the Mastermind who has
moved its closer to their side at the end of the game.
The further a Mastermind moves the to their side, the Move the a number of spaces back toward you equal to the
more Bonus Points they can earn. If the game ends with number of on the burned card.
the Caper Tracker in the middle, neither Mastermind wins
Points Location Effect Bonus Points
the Location.
Your opponent returns the amount of Coins pictured to the supply.
Locations have a base amount of Points often paired with a Set Effect that awards additional Points for
If they cannot return the full amount, then they must discard as
how well the Mastermind accomplishes it. For example, the Location above awards a Mastermind 5 base
many Coins as they have.
Points plus a Point for each of their Thief cards (Cream color) at this Location.
Some Locations also have an ongoing Location Effect identified by a darker background. These Effects
provide bonuses to a Mastermind whenever they meet its condition. Your opponent returns the depicted Stolen Good from their Hideout to a Stolen Good slot
at this Location. If you destroy a , then they may choose which type of Stolen Good to
Note: If you should move the and there is not a space closer to you, then you do not move it and that
return. If they do not have the depicted Icon, then they do not have to return a Stolen Good.
immediate effect is lost.

coins in caper - limited supply For example, let’s say you had 4 Destroying a Burn card with a has no effect and destroying has no immediate effect as Points
coins and your opponent has 6. You are scored at game end.
There are only 10 Coins in the game. If you should
play a Thief that allows you to gain
gain Coins and there are none in the supply, gain 2 Coins. If none are in the supply,
them from your opponent while you have less. You should take you would take 1 Coin from your burn protection - You can protect a card by playing another Gear card over it, or by play-
the indicated amount one Coin at a time from them, until you opponent, but not the 2nd because ing a card with burn protection—meaning your cards of this type are protected in this Crew
have a number equal or greater than their amount. you are now at an equal amount. from being burned.

Don’t get ahead of yourself • While getting ahead at a Location early can discourage your opponent Third time’s the charm • There are 3 Blazeblasters in the core game, but you can protect your valuable
from playing at that site, it can also draw their full attention to the other Locations. Gear from getting burned by playing other Gear cards on top of them.

11 12
 your opponent
gear turn examples Game end and Scoring
After each Mastermind discards their final card from the 6th round, it is time to score the game. Pull
1 Your Opponent plays Simple Disguise on The 4
out the Score Pad and assign each Mastermind a column. There are 4 steps to scoring a game of Caper:
Banker. They move the 1 space toward their
Europe. In each step, both players will count up their Points from icons and Set Effects on the relevant
side for the on the Simple Disguise and then
cards before moving onto the next step.
1 more space once for the Set Effect on The
Colonel.
3 Locations ∙ Identify which Mastermind won each Location. Then each
Mastermind adds up the Points and any Caper Bonus from the Locations
1
they won. Unless otherwise noted, Location bonuses only apply to the
2 On your turn, you respond by paying 2 Coins to
Crew on the winning Mastermind’s side of the board.
play a Blazeblaster on The Artist. Note: now that Fin
4
the Artist has 3 Gear Cards on top, you cannot Names
play any more Gear cards on them. Thieves ∙ Each Mastermind scores their Thief cards in each Crew.

3 You choose to burn your opponent’s Plasma Gear ∙ Each Mastermind scores their Gear cards in each Crew.
Score
Cutter, forcing them to discard that card to their
1
Hideout and revert its effect (returning 4 Coins to
Stolen Goods ∙ Each Mastermind sorts their Stolen Goods into sets with
the supply).
unique icons ­— meaning a set cannot contain 2 of the same Stolen Good.

Any single Stolen Good that can’t be paired with another type is worth 2 Points. A set containing 2
4 Your Opponent only has 3 Coins, so they return
different Stolen Goods is worth 5 Points. A set containing all 3 Stolen Goods is worth 9 Points. Different
as many as they have. Only the card’s immediate
sets can be scored, but a Stolen Good tile cannot be used in more than 1 Set.
effect is reverted when burned. Other effects
previously gained such as the on Total up each Mastermind’s Points! Whoever has the most Points is the winner! If the Masterminds are
The Banker are not reverted. tied, compare Coins. If there is still a tie, compare the number of Stolen Goods. If there is still a tie, agree
3 to test your skills another time.
2
2

the best Defense • Playing the Blazeblaster on the = 2 points = 5 points = 9 points
briefcase doubles as protection. If your opponent
were to play a Blazeblaster, they could not destroy the Single Stolen Good Set of 2 Different Set of All 3
briefcase as it wouldn’t be the topmost card.
13 you 14
 scoring example Honor among thieves: Keep your discards visible so that each
Mastermind can see what’s been played or discarded.

1
1
For purpose of this example, we will only 2 2 2 2
score the Points awarded to the pictured
3
Mastermind who we will call Tess.
4
3 3
1 Locations - Tess wins the Louvre and
Moulin Rouge because the is closer
to Tess’s side of the board at those
Locations. Neither Mastermind wins the
Yacht as the is in the middle of the
Caper Track. The Louvre awards Tess 3
+ 2 Points per Stolen Painting (which
Tess has 2 of in their Hideout) for a total of 7 Points. Moulin Rouge awards Tess 5 + 1 Point per 3 Gear - Tess then looks at their Gear cards at each Location. At the Yacht, Tess has 1 Yellow Gear card
Thief card (which Tess has 3 at that Location) for a total of 8 Points. Tess also scores 2 Bonus Points with a 1 Point icon. At the Louvre, the False Bottom Briefcase awards (for each Green card
for the position of the at the Moulin Rouge Location. Tess scores 17 Points total from Locations. score 1 Point). Tess has 3 Green cards in that Crew, scoring 3 Points. At Moulin Rouge, there are 2
Plans Cachés, each awarding 1 Point per Light Blue card. There are 2 Light Blue cards in that crew,
2 Thieves - Tess then looks at each of their Thieves in a Crew. At the Yacht, the Actress awards (2 so each Plans Cachés scores them 2 Points to make 4 Points. Tess scores 8 Points total from Gear.
Points per set of Yellow + any Gear card). Tess can make 1 set with the Yellow Plasma Cutter + Light
Blue card scoring 2 Points. Since each card can only be used in 1 set per Set Effect, Tess is unable 4 Stolen Goods - Tess now sorts their Stolen Goods, making 1 complete set of all 3 unique Stolen Goods for 9
to make another set at the Location. At the Louvre, The Bon Vivant awards Tess , so with the 3 Points and 1 set of 2 unique Stolen Goods for 5 Points. Tess scores 14 Points total from Stolen Goods.
Green cards and 1 Red card in that Crew, Tess makes 2 sets scoring 4 Points. At Moulin Rouge, Tess
Tess’s final score is 55 Points. This is VERY high! What was Danny thinking letting Tess draft all those
made 1 set toward the Gentleman’s icon scoring 4 Points, and 3 sets for the Dame’s scoring
combos? Games average around 30-40 Points depending on the City.
6 more Points. Tess scores 16 Points total from Thieves.
15 16
 The cities of Caper: Europe
Rome is a place of emperors and old families, so watch your back! There’s more movement in the
Each of the four cities sets the stage for a unique heist experience when you sit down at the table. Caper Trackers and this City allows you to increase your Points for winning Locations, making
Here you will find a short description of each city and any unique icons not found in the core set. each spot a heated battleground.

Paris is home to some of the oldest, most valuable Diamonds, Antiques, and Paintings in the world!
For each card of this type discarded For each card of this type discarded
Locations reward extra Points for Stolen Goods and the Gear is all about Points combos.
to your Hideout, gain 1 Caper. to your Hideout, score 1 Point.

For each Stolen Good in your Hideout at the end of the game, score 1 Point.
If you win this Location, For each card of this type in your
score 2 Points. Opponent’s Crew here, score 1 Point.

Barcelona is a place of beauty and organization! In this city, the “eye”-con is introduced, granting a
bonus at the end of the game if a topmost Gear’s color in your Crew matches the eye’s color. London is a center for economic development and commerce! Coins will be moving around more
and some will be disappearing. Laundered Coins will be removed from the supply and go into your
Hideout. They cannot be used to purchase Gear and cannot be affected by your opponent. As the
If you have an Orange card as a topmost
card in this Crew at the end of the game,
3 then score 3 Points Coin supply dwindles, remember the Coin supply rules on pg. 11. If you are to gain Coins and there
are none in the supply, take from your opponent while you have less.

Place a Coin from the For each Coin in your Hideout,

For each card of this color in your Crew supply into your Hideout. score 1 Point.
and your Opponent’s here, score 1 Point.

For each Coin in your Hideout, move the Caper Tracker one space toward you.

In this example, the topmost cards are Purple and

For each card of this type For each card of this type in your
Orange, so all eye-cons with Purple or Orange would
Crew and your Opponent’s here,
resolve their effects when scoring (the Anarchist and in your Crew, gain 1 Coin.
score 1 Point.
Mesmerizer). The Surrealist would not activate their
ability as there is not a topmost Green card here.
If you a Gear card with this icon, your opponent returns 1
Reverting this Effect
Coin from their Hideout back into the Supply.

17 18
Quickstart guide and Overview:
• Choose a City and shuffle its cards into each appropriate Core deck.
• Place 3 Locations onto the board along with the Thief and Gear decks.
• Randomly place the Stolen Goods out onto the board.
• Place the Coins, Round Tracker, and Caper Trackers into their areas.

1. Begin the Round by drawing cards indicated by Round Tracker.

2. Each turn, the Starting Mastermind plays a card, then the other Number of cards to deal
Mastermind plays a card, then both players exchange hands. and from which deck

3. Continue this until each Mastermind is left with only one card.
The arrow
4. Instead of exchanging it, the last card is discarded face-up and signifies the
the Round Tracker moves to the next space down. Starting
Thief Mastermind Gear
5. After the final Gear Round, score the game to see who wins! Round Round

Score pad running low? Want help with icons? Checkout pg. 9-10 to learn the ins-and-outs, or if
Head to CaperGame.com you want help on a specific icon combo, go to CaperIcons.com