Banque Fatale 
by Stefan Dorra
Published by Blatz 1997
Translation by Richard Ingram
Distributed from The Rules Bank by Mike Siggins

Contents:   
           the board
         5 value stones
        16 cards with Aces in the game colours - the Cartes Fatale
        40 chips each worth 1 million Francs (8 of each colour: red, yellow,
              green blue, orange)
         4 screens
        52 money cards (13 of each of these values: 1 million Francs, 2 million,
                        5 million, and 10 million)
           the rule book

Preparations

lay out the board
place the scoring stones on the 6 million Francs positions on the 
     value chart.
give each player his chips, 2 of each colour.
stand the screens up.
lay a Carte Fatale featuring a single colour face up in front of 
     each player.
shuffle the rest of the cards and
place three face-up cards on the Carte Fatale spaces.
place the rest of the Carte Fatale cards face down on the top Carte 
     Fatale space in a pile.
place the money cards in four piles on the appropriate spaces.

The idea and aim of the game

Cartes Fatale increase in price and become valuable to sell.  Your aim
is to increase the value of your cards, and to sell at the right time. 
Whoever has the most money at the end wins.

How to play

A start player is chosen.  The position passes clockwise.  The start
    player can do different things during the round.
In Phase 1 he selects the Carte Fatale which will be auctioned.
In Phase 2 he counts the chips and alters the value of colours on board.
In Phase 3 he can sell a Carte Fatale to the Banque Fatale.

Phase 1: The Auction

The start player chooses one of the 3 face up cards for auction.  He
places the card above the top edge of the board.  He then replaces the
card with one from the deck.

All players take into their hands, in secret behind their screens, the
number of chips which they wish to place on their card. They can bluff
and place nothing if they wish.

Then chips are simultaneously revealed.  The player with the most chips
wins the card.  If there is a tie, the player nearest in clockwise order
to the start player wins, or the start player himself if he is involved.
 The chips bid by all players remain on the table.

Phase 2: The value of the colours is fixed

The start player sorts all played chips by colour.  The most used chip,
as long as there are at least two,  increases in value by 2 million -
its value stone is moved 2 spaces up.  If there is a tie, both increase
in value by 2 million. If only one chip of the colour was played, that
colour's value drops by 1 million.  If no chips of a colour were played,
its value drops by 2 million.

When colours are moved beyond a value of 10 million, owners of
appropriate aces receive a pay-out.  For each ace worth 11 million, a
player receives 5 million from the bank.  For each ace worth 12 million,
a player receives 6 million.

For example: reds are worth 11 million. A player holds a card with 2 red
aces on it, and another with one red ace on it.  He receives 15 million
Francs from the bank.

After pay-outs, the affected value stones are moved back to the 6
million squares.  The chips bid in Phase1 are now distributed.  The
player to the left of the auction winner starts, taking one chip of his
choice.  This action passes clockwise.  Those who bid little or nothing
will of course gain back more chips.  Those who bid much may lose out.

Phase 3: Selling

Now the start player can sell one, and only one, Carte Fatale to the
bank.  He cannot sell a card that has just increased its price that
round.

He receives the current value of the card from the bank.  If the card
features two aces, the values of each ace are combined.

Example: A card features red and green aces.  Red is worth 7, green 9. 
The player sells the card for 16 million Francs.  Sold cards are taken
out of the game.

The next round

The player to the left of the previous start player becomes the new
start player.  He performs all the actions, per phase, which are his
right.

The reckoning

The game continues until no Cartes Fatales are left.  Now the winner can
be found.  Each player counts his money, adds to the total 1 million for
each chip he has behind his screen, and then adds the values of his
Carte Fatales in accordance with the value chart.  The player with the
highest overall total wins the game.

Variant

The game becomes more difficult to call if chips behind the screen are
worthless.

Some tips

Aim to increase the value of colours held jointly by you and others. 
There is then a greater chance of selling for a good price.When chips
are distributed, take those which match the colour whose value you wish
to increase.  Also collect and withhold those chips which will increase
the value of opponents' cards. Be wary of losing more chips than you
bid.