An 18-card Area Control game Players: 2-3

Designed by Jacob Purnell Time: 15 min

Age: 13+

Components
 3 sets of Shootout cards that include the Ambush,
Guns Blazing, and Take Aim cards with the “Wanted”
poster on the back matching the character.
 9 Location cards (3 unique locations and 6 generic
locations)

Goal
Claim your title as King of the West by starting your turn with all 3 unique Locations.
Or
Be the only player left with claimed locations in town.

Setup
1. Each player chooses a character by taking the 3 Shootout cards with the “Wanted” poster matching that
character.
2. Shuffle the 9 Location cards and put them face down in a 3x3 grid. This is the town.
3. Each player sits on a different side of the town: e.g. North, South, East, or West.
4. Flip over all 9 Location cards. Turn Location cards to point toward the player using the character that matches the
icon on the Location. These Locations are claimed. Location cards that are unclaimed by any player are
considered empty and point away from all players.
5. The player with the lowest reward printed on their “Wanted” poster is the first player.

Example 3-Player Setup:

(in a 2-player game, the unused
character’s locations will be pointed
to empty)

(Empty)
Actions
Each turn, you may take one or more of the following actions once per turn in any order:

 Claim a Location
o Claim an empty Location by turning it toward you. The newly claimed Location must be adjacent (not
diagonal) to one of your claimed Locations. No player may have more than 5 claimed Locations at a time.
If all locations are currently claimed, you cannot take this action until one becomes empty.
 Move
o Turn one of your claimed Locations to empty and immediately claim an adjacent (not diagonal) empty
Location. If all locations are currently claimed, you cannot take this action until one becomes empty.
 Start a Shootout
o Announce which of your Locations is attacking an adjacent (not diagonal) Location claimed by another
player. These Locations are now engaged. See “Shootouts” for more information.

Shootouts
 Each engaged player secretly chooses a Shootout card to play from their hand. Any Shootout card can be played,
regardless of how many locations you have. Both players reveal their Shootout card simultaneously and resolve.
 When you lose a Location, turn your engaged Location to empty.
 If you lose 2 Locations, turn your engaged Location and an adjacent (not diagonal) Location to empty. If you have
no adjacent Locations, turn any one of your other claimed Locations to empty as your second.
 If you gain a Location from an attack, this is stealing. You must steal the engaged Location. This does not count
as a Claim a Location action. If you already have 5 claimed Locations and steal a Location, you may either empty
one of your previously claimed Locations or leave the engaged Location empty.
 Return the used Shootout cards to the owners’ hands.
 If you have no claimed Locations left in town, you are immediately eliminated from the game even if you have
not used your Claim or Move actions.
 “Last Ditch Effort”:
o If there are only two players currently in the game and one has claimed all 3 unique locations, the other
player may use “Last Ditch Effort” to attack twice on their turn. However, if the King loses a unique
Location during the first attack, they cannot be attacked again this round as they are no longer the King.
 Play proceeds clockwise.

Victory Condition
You win by starting your turn with all 3 unique Locations or by being the only player left with claimed Locations in
town. For your victory to be valid though, you must announce when you claim all three unique Locations by
declaring you are “King of the West!” (Note: In this game’s universe, “King” is a gender-neutral term.)

No Player Elimination Variant

 You may allow eliminated players to rejoin the game on their turn by claiming an empty location, but this will
increase the play time.
 Multiple Set Variant Players: 2-9 Time: 15 min Age: 13+

Goal
Be the only player (or team – see Team Setup below) with a Location.

Setup
1. Each player chooses a character by taking the 3 Shootout cards with the “Wanted
poster matching that character and the Location cards with the matching icons.
2. Place your Location cards face up on the table in front of you. This is your territory in the town.
3. The player with the lowest reward printed on their “Wanted” poster is the first player.

Actions
Each turn, you must perform the following action:
 Start a Shootout
o Choose and announce which player you are attacking. You are both now engaged in combat.
o Each engaged player secretly chooses a Shootout card to play from their hand. Any Shootout card can
be played, regardless of how many Locations you have in your territory. Both players reveal their
Shootout cards simultaneously and resolve.
o For every Location you lose, flip one of your Location cards face down, generic Locations first.
o NOTE: If you lose all of your Locations, you are still in the game!
o You may only gain a Location using Guns Blazing if you already have a face up unique Location in your
territory. To gain a Location, flip one of your face down generic Locations in your territory face up. Unique
Locations cannot be regained once lost (but you can steal one from another player). You may never have
more total face up Locations than your starting amount (3 unless you are playing teams).
o If you have no face up Locations in your territory and do damage to another player that causes them to
lose their last Location (i.e., their unique Location), you steal that Location and place it in your territory. If
both players took damage in combat, the unique Location is flipped face down and permanently lost.
o Return the used Shootout cards to their owners’ hands.
o Play proceeds clockwise until only one player (or team) has face up Locations left in their territory.

Team Setup
With higher player counts, you can choose to play with teams. For team games, follow the rules and setup of the Multiple
Set Variant above, with each player getting 1 Unique Location and 2 Generic Locations in their territory. If there are
uneven teams (2 vs 3 for example), the players on the larger team(s) start with 1 less Generic Location in their territory.
Variable Player Powers
The following variable player powers can be used to add a bit of flavor to the game. Each character has their own power
that can be used once per game. Once it has been used, it cannot be used again.

Powers
 The Baron – Immediately regain a lost generic location (only if you still have at least one location).
 The Gambler – On a tie, your rival takes damage, but you do not.
 The Drifter – If you would lose your last location in an attack, it is protected and not lost.
 The Wolf – Attack twice on your turn. Does not stack with Last Ditch Effort.
 The Bartender – Protect a location lost to Guns Blazing from being stolen by your Rival.
 The Marshal – Cause a draw, meaning no Locations are lost or stolen during this Shootout.
 The Reaper – Lose one less Location when losing to Take Aim.
 The Phantom – When you lose to Ambush, cause your Rival to also lose their attacking Location.
 The Shade – When you win with Ambush, cause your Rival to lose an additional Location.

Choosing Powers Variant

You may choose which power your character has, but no two players may use the same power. Players choose their
powers going counterclockwise starting with the player to the right of the first player.

Hidden Roles…
Coming in 2021!