GAME CONTENTS:

• 4 CD Thief figures (red, green, yellow, blue)
• 4 Backpacks (red, green, yellow, blue)
• 3 Podcasters (Scott, SoCal Mike, UK Mike)
• 1 Intellivision-The-Great figure
• 1 Carl The Janitor figure
• 2 Battle Dice
• 2 Movement Dice (D6) for CD Thief movement
• 1 White Movement Dice (D6) for Intellivision-The-Great movement
• 4 NES Zappers (red, green, yellow, blue)
• 4 VIP Passes (red, green, yellow, blue)
• 4 Keys (red, green, yellow, blue)
• 4 Studson bottles (red, green, yellow, blue)
• 1 Stack of CDs
• 1 Event Deck (50 Cards)
• 24 Counters (for Podcaster kill tracking and opened door tracking)

GOAL:

Be the first CD Thief to make it outside the building with the stack of stolen CDs.

SETUP:

• Each player selects a color, and takes their CD Thief and Backpack.
• Each player places their CD Thief outside the hotel in the area labelled "Hotel Exit".
• Each player places their backpack in front of them.
• Shuffle the Event Deck and place it face down on the 'Event Deck' space on the board.
• Remove any items which will not be used for the number of players (i.e. only 3 zappers are needed in a 3 player game, only 2 keys are need in a 2 player game etc.)
• Place each Podcaster on their starting location.
• Place Intellivision-The-Great on his starting location in the Casino.
• Place Carl the Janitor on a square in the Museum.
• Place all items to be used (Keys, Zappers, VIP Passes and Studson bottles) on their designated starting position on the board.
• The player who most recently listened to the Retro Gaming RoundUp Podcast goes first and play then proceeds clockwise.

PLAYER TURN:

Each player turn consists of the following actions in order:

1. Check to see if they have a Podcaster adjacent to them. If they do, follow the rules in the Podcaster Encounter section.
2. Roll the 2 Movement Dice and move your CD Thief following the rules in the CD Thief Movement section.
3. Take the top card from the Event Deck following the actions described on the card before discarding it on the discard pile.
4. If during a turn the CD Thief manages to steal the CDs by landing on them, the game immediately enters "Frantic Mode" and that turn stops. The CD Thief then begins a new turn by following the instructions in the Escape section.

CD THIEF MOVEMENT:

1. The CD Thief may not move diagonally.
2. The CD Thief may not move through walls (thick bars).
3. Different colored CD Thieves cannot occupy the same space on the board. (No two characters or items can occupy the same space on the board).
4. The CD Thief does not have to take their full movement, if doing so would mean that they would occupy the same space as another character or item.
5. Collecting an item (like the Zapper) does not require a movement point, it is simply picked up by landing on it.
6. The CD Thief may only collect items matching his own color.
7. In order to access the VIP room, the CD Thief must either have their VIP Pass in their Backpack, or have previously opened the VIP room by landing on, or passing through the door while in possession of their VIP Pass.
8. In order to access the Casino or the Museum, the CD Thief must either have their key in their Backpack, or have previously opened the Casino or the Museum by landing on, or passing through the door while in possession of their key.
9. In order to steal the CDs, the CD Thief must have their Studson in their Backpack and be in the Casino (which requires their key to be in their Backpack, or a previously opened Casino door).

PODCASTER MOVEMENT:

1. Podcasters CAN move diagonally.
2. Podcasters stop moving whenever they encounter a CD Thief UNLESS that particular CD Thief has killed them, in which case they continue their movement as instructed.
3. If the Podcaster's turn ends on a space occupied by a CD Thief they must stop on the adjacent space. (No two characters or items can occupy the same space on the board).

EVENT DECK:

When you turn over an Event Card, you must complete the Podcaster movement first and then activate the Carl icon (if there is one on the card).

1. Move the Podcaster(s) as specified on the Event Card.
2. As normal, Podcasters can move diagonally and through walls.
3. If during the Podcaster(s) movement, they enter a square adjacent to a CD Thief AND that CD Thief has not already killed that particular Podcaster, they must stop and the encounter is resolved with the Battle Dice on that CD Thief's next turn unless the Podcaster is moved away during an ensuing turn. (See the Podcaster Encounter section).
4. Activate Carl if he appears. (See the Activating Carl section).

ACTIVATING CARL:

Some event cards have Carl on them in the bottom right hand corner which means that he is activated and will battle the CD Thief by using the 2 Battle Dice.
Doing battle with Carl means that he will attempt to steal an item from the CD Thief, or if he already has an item belonging to the CD Thief, he may lose it. To do battle with Carl, place him on a square next to the CD Thief and follow these steps:

1. Roll the 2 Battle Dice.
2. If you do not have the Zapper and you roll 4 hit points, you escape from Carl and nothing happens.
3. If you do not have the Zapper and you roll anything less than four hit points, Carl steals an item from you. (See the Carl's Inventory section).
4. If you have the Zapper and you roll 2 or more hit points, you shoot Carl and he drops the item he is holding. (See the Carl's Inventory section).
5. If you have the Zapper and you roll anything less than 2 hit points, Carl steals an item from you. (See the Carl's Inventory section).

CARL'S INVENTORY:

Carl's role as Janitor is to keep the Hotel Areas clean and he will attempt to take items from the CD Thief and put them back in their proper place.

1. When Carl steals an item from the CD Thief, he does so in the following order of priority (Providing the CD Thief has them): CD Stack - Zapper - Key - VIP Pass - Studson.
2. This means that when Carl steals an item, he will steal the CDs first, if the CD Thief does not have the CDs, he will steal the Zapper and so on.
3. When Carl is holding an item it is placed in his Dustpan.
4. Carl's Dustpan is only able to carry 1 item at a time, so whenever he steals an item, he must drop the one he is currently holding and it is returned to its starting position. (If that space is occupied, it is placed on an adjacent space).
5. If the CD Thief shoots Carl, they may take the item that he is carrying if it matches their color. Otherwise it is returned to its starting position. (If that space is occupied, it is placed on an adjacent space).

PODCASTER ENCOUNTER:

If at the start of a CD Thief's turn there is a Podcaster on an adjacent square, then they must do battle before the player resumes their normal dice throw and movement. To battle the Podcaster, follow these steps:

1. Roll the 2 Battle Dice.
2. If the CD Thief has the Zapper and rolls 2 or more hit points, the Podcaster is considered dead for that CD Thief for the rest of the game. (See the Killing a Podcaster section).
3. If the CD Thief does not have the Zapper and rolls four hit points, he escapes and can place the Podcaster back on their starting position.
4. If the CD Thief has the zapper and rolls less than 2 hit points, he is caught stealing by the Podcaster and ejected from the Expo. (See the Caught Stealing section).
5. If the CD Thief does not have the zapper and rolls less than 4 hit points, he is caught stealing by the Podcaster and ejected from the Expo. (See the Caught Stealing section).

CAUGHT STEALING:

When a CD Thief is caught stealing by a Podcaster he should:

1. Go back to his starting position outside the Hotel.
2. If he has the Zapper, he should return it to its starting position. He may keep his other items.

NOTE:

For an added level of difficulty in the game, each CD Thief starts the game with 5 lives, and when those lives are used up they are excluded from the Expo permanently and must wait for the current game to end.
In difficult mode, it is possible that all of the CD Thieves will fail to steal the CD Stack, in which case there is no winner. (Other than truth and justice of course).

KILLING A PODCASTER:

1. If the CD Thief kills a Podcaster during a battle then they are immune to that Podcaster for the rest of the game.
2. They should place a counter over that Podcaster on their Backpack.
3. They should still follow any movement instructions on Event Cards for that Podcaster but they do not need to do battle again.
4. If an Event Card requires them to move that Podcaster towards the closest CD Thief, they are considered invisible and the closest CD Thief will be that who has not yet killed that Podcaster.

ESCAPE (FRANTIC MODE):

1. If a CD Thief lands on the stack of CDs their current turn ends and they immediately begin a new turn and try to escape.
2. While a CD Thief is trying to escape with the CDs the game is in "Frantic Mode".
3. During Frantic Mode no Event Cards will be used during any player turns, either until the game is over or Frantic Mode ends when the CD Thief is caught.
4. The CD Thief trying to escape should put the stack of CDs in their Backpack before rolling both movement dice again.
5. The CD Thief should move as normal according to the dice throw and should battle any Podcasters that they encounter as normal.
6. If the CD Thief wins a battle with a Podcaster during Frantic Mode they should follow the Killing A Podcaster section and the game continues in Frantic Mode.
7. If the CD Thief loses a battle with a Podcaster during Frantic Mode they should drop the CDs on the square that they are currently on and return to their starting point outside the Hotel. (See the Caught Stealing section). Frantic Mode ends and gameplay returns to normal.
8. In Frantic Mode, the CD Thief moves as normal according to their throw and they should then roll the 1 white movement die for Intellivision-The-Great who will try to apprehend them by landing on the same square (not an adjacent square).
9. Intellivision-The-Great only has 1 white movement dice but can move diagonally and through the walls.
10. Intellevision-The-Great does not affect any other CD Thieves in any way, only the Frantic Thief.
11. If the Frantic Thief is caught by Intellivision-The-Great, they should drop the CDs on the nearest square in between them and the Casino. They should then return to their starting point outside the Hotel. (See the Caught Stealing section). Frantic Mode ends and gameplay returns to normal with any CD Thief being able to pick up the dropped CDs as long as they have the Studson Aftershave.
12. If the Frantic Thief manages to escape while holding the CD Stack in his backpack, then they have won the game.