Yet the godfathers of bad Hollywood naturally also pursued their own goals. Each of them wanted the biggest slice of the Hollywood-pie for themselves. And so the great Hollywood Revolution came down to a fight among the various godfathers. Who will win is yet to be determined ...

Components

• 40 Bösewicht [Villain] cards: 4 Genres (Horror, SF, Thriller, Comic) & 10 cards with values 1-10
• 20 Studio cards: 5 studios from each genre with takeover values of 11-13 / 14-16 / 17-19 / 20-22 / 23-25 as well as victory point values of 1-5
• 6 Filmheld [Film Hero] cards, 4 corresponding to Genres + 1 Filmhelden-Azubine [Film Hero Wannabee] and 1 Laura Soft [Film Superheroine]

Idea of the Game

• Each of the 2-4 players represents a Hollywood godfather who on the day of the secret revolution tries to take over as many studios as possible to become by the end the greatest godfather of Hollywood with the most power in the dream factory.
• To do this, the players need to recruit film villains. They will be sent out to the various Hollywood studios and try to take them over. But the studios are not so easily taken; they must reckon with opposition that must be overcome. And even more important than a studio is its counterforce. And in addition there are also the Hollywood film heroes who emerge as defenders against a time when there will be no more use for them.
• At the end of this Hollywood Revolution, whoever has taken over the most and also the most important studios wins the game.

Setup

Cards are separated by type into Villain, Studio and Hero cards.
The Villain cards are shuffled and each player receives 2 of them which he receives privately into the hand. The remainder of these cards form a face down deck. The top 3 cards are laid face up next to the deck. When the Villain deck is empty, the discard pile is shuffled and placed as a new deck.
The Film Hero cards are shuffled and laid out in a row face down next to the players.
With the Studio cards it depends on the number of players as follows (the rest of the Studio cards will form a face down pile):

• With 2 players the Studio cards showing 5 victory points are removed from the game. The rest are shuffled, the top 3 cards placed in a row between the players (see the right hand side of the first illustration).
• With 3 players the Studio cards showing 5 victory points are removed from the game. The rest are shuffled, the top 6 cards are placed to form a three-sided star whose "rays" each consist of 2 cards. The players should adopt positions as much as possible between two rays (see the left hand side of second illustration).
• With 4 players all of the Studio cards are used. After shuffling, the top 8 cards are placed to form a cross whose "beams" each consist of 2 cards. The players should adopt positions as much as possible between two beams (see the right hand side of second illustration).

Course of the Game

The player who on the day of the game has respectfully kissed the hand of the most people begins. On a turn a player must perform 2 of the following actions, in the order of his choice. It's also permitted to perform the same action twice.

1. Recruit a villain
2. Send out villain(s) to take over studios
3. Attempt a takeover
4. Additional action for 3-4 player games only: Trade studios

1. Recruit a villain

   For one action the player can pick up one of the 3 available Villain cards. Such cards are only replaced from the deck after the current player's turn has finished.
   At no point may a player hold more than 4 Villain cards in hand.

2. Send out villain(s) to take over studios

   For one action a player can place a Villain card on a studio which lies along his side of the display. Villains from different genres may be played on a single studio. Each studio has a takeover value (e.g. 14-16) which represents the strength of the studio's resistance. This is compared with the total value of the Villain cards which have been placed on the studio in the course of the game. This only needs to be reached, but not exceeded by the total value of the Villain cards, which have been placed on the studio during the course of the play. All values contained within the printed range (in this example 14-16) are valid. When this has been achieved, a player can make a takeover attempt (see below).
   Overshooting a studio's takeover value is not allowed because then the studio would be destroyed by the attacking villains and this would surely not make sense for the players (for security against all would-be destroyers out there, we hereby officially forbid it).
   Special case: If a player has multiple Villain cards of a single genre, he can place these as a group on one studio spending only one action.

   Example: Fredo has 2 SF Villains and a Horror Villain in hand. He can play both SF Villains (also works for 3 or 4 cards of the same genre) on 1 studio by spending 1 Action. He still has a second action available.

3. Attempt a takeover

   If a player has reached a studio's takeover value with the total value of the Villain cards he has placed, he may make a takeover attempt. However, with each takeover attempt, there appears a film hero who can stop it. There are six film heroes in total. Four come from the four genres and in addition there is a film hero wannabee and also a film heroine (Laura Soft).
   The player making the attempt reveals one of the face down film hero cards. This film hero increases the takeover strength opposing the player. Thus there are four possible results:

   1. If the player has revealed a film hero belonging to the same genre as one of the Villains being used for the takeover, the hero repels the attack. The attack has failed. The player discards the attacking Villains having the same genre as the hero. Villain cards on the studio belonging to other players as well as Villains of other genres are not affected.

      Special case: if an opposing player has placed enough Villain cards to take over a studio after a takeover has been prevented, this player may take the studio immediately, even though this action occurs outside of his turn (see point 2).

   2. If the player has revealed a film hero not belonging to the same genre as any of the Villains he is using for the takeover, the hero has no effect; the takeover succeeds. The successful player takes the Studio card and places it face up in front of himself. Then all of the Villain cards that were placed on that studio (including those of other players) are discarded. A new Studio card is drawn to replace it.
   3. If the player has revealed the Film Hero Wannabee, the takeover succeeds. (Resolve as in point 2.) This Heroine in Training is still too weak to have any real effect -- but she makes a nice cup of coffee ...
   4. If the player has revealed the Film Superheroine, she attacks not only the Villains of a genre, but all of the player's Villains at this studio. Otherwise the rules for defense by a normal hero apply.
   Once revealed, Film Hero cards remain so that with each takeover attempt another such card is face up. When the 5th Film Hero card is revealed, all 6 Film Hero cards are re-shuffled and once again laid out face down.

4. Additional action for 3-4 player games only: Trade studios

   For one action a player can swap the locations of two of the studios in place with one another. A condition for this swap, however, is that neither of the two studios may have Villain cards on them.

Additional Functions of Zombies & Gangsters / Gnomes & Aliens

The lowest 4 Villain cards (1-4 points) of each genre are printed with the above-named figures, which in addition to their function of taking over studios also permit an additional function. For these purposes, Zombies & Gangsters and Gnomes & Aliens respectively work together.
If a player has at least 4 figures of both types in hand, he can play them during his turn without using up an action. After having the effects described below they shamble off to the discard pile:

[Picture of Upraised Fist] At least 4 Zombies and/or Gangsters: The player dispatches the Villains to attack a played Villain card of the opponent of his choice. The attacked card is discarded.
[Picture of Eye] At least 4 Gnomes and/or Aliens: The player may examine one of the hidden Film hero cards (ideally just before a takeover attempt).

Final Scoring

1. The game ends as soon as any player no longer has any studios available to attack. If there are 2 players, the game ends as soon as the row of three can no longer be filled.
2. Players receive the printed number of victory points for each studio taken.
3. In addition, the first player in the course of the game to take a studio from each of the 4 genres earns 5 points. The second player to do this earns 3 points and the third such player, 1 point (with two players this point is ignored, of course). These points are noted during the course of play.
4. At the end of scoring the player with the most points wins the game and earns the title of Greatest Godfather of Bad Hollywood. Get out the black suit and white scarf!

Once again people will ask, how did Krimsu ever think up such a game? Well, even when I have been honestly pleased that at the end of a film Good has once again triumphed, it has on the other hand often bothered me that the best laid plans of the bosses, which are worked out years in advance and would have been perfect as a matter of fact, are defeated by an idiotic dude in long underwear or a double zero (or someone like that). And so I asked myself, how bad does this glaring injustice have to be before the villains themselves see red? Thus such a small revolution is the only true solution, isn't it? So let's wait and see what will happen in Hollywood in the near future, eh? And when it comes to be, think about where you read it first!

Your Krimsu

P.S. A big thank you to my playtesters: Arne Hoffmann, Saskia Loder, Jan Ostmann, Wiebke Pohler, Nella Skodova, Irene and Philipp Strauss and Daniela Weber.

Krimsus Krimskrams-Kiste
Barerstraße 65
80799 München
Internet: www.krimsu.de
email: info@krimsu.de