Reading the Cards

Every card is laid out the same way. Four places to look:

1 2 3 4

1. Suit — top-right. Shows on the back too, so you know the risk before you draw.
2. What it does — the middle. Any mix of $, Cows, Bandits, Jail or an Explosive.
3. Cost — bottom-left. What you pay to buy it. Always a plain $, never in a circle.
4. Act — bottom-right. Hats. Only used when you build the Store.

Starter cards have no cost and no hats — both bottom corners are empty. That's how you tell your 10 starters from the Store cards.

Suits & Symbols

River
Safe. No Bandits.

Cactus
Up to 1 Bandit.

Rattlesnake
1–2 Bandits, best rewards.

The six symbols

$
Money to spend this round.

Cow
Goes to your Herd.

Bandit
3rd in a round busts you.

Double Bandit
Counts as 2.

Jail
Cancels 1 Bandit.

Explosive
One-time use, on your turn.

Setup

1. Each player takes an identical 10-card starter deck. Shuffle it face-down as your draw pile.
2. Split the 54 Store cards into three Act decks by the hats (18 per Act). Shuffle each separately.
3. Build the Store once, face-down, back to front: Act 3 back, Act 2 middle, Act 1 front. Each Act is 2 rows — 6 rows at every player count; only the width changes.
4. Stagger every other row by half a card, so two cards cover the one above. Flip the front row face-up.

Sequence of Play

1. Draw

• Everyone draws at the same time, one card at a time. You must draw at least one; after that you may stop whenever you like.
• Run out? Shuffle your discard into a new draw pile and cut one card top to bottom. Both piles empty — stop drawing.

Bust. The moment you have 3 Bandits, you bust: score nothing, no buy, everything you drew goes to discard.

2. Buy

• Didn't bust? Add the Cows you drew to your Herd. Busted players sit this phase out.
• You must buy or burn one card — no passing. Buy any face-up card you can afford with the $ you drew; it and your drawn cards go to discard. Or burn a face-up card out of the game.
• Then discard and start a new round.

Always reveal. As soon as a card leaves the Store, turn face-up anything behind it no longer covered.

Who goes first

1. Most $ this round — that player chooses who buys first.
2. Tied? Most Cows this round.
3. Still tied? Most cards drawn.
4. Still tied? Drawn-card cost by position, 1st vs 1st.
5. Still tied? Random draw.

Play continues clockwise, skipping busted players. Same every round.

Final Scoring

The Store empties once, and that ends the game. When the final card is bought or burned, the buy phase stops — anyone yet to take a turn misses it. If you didn't bust, you still score the Cows you drew.

Then, in one final showdown, everyone — including anyone who just busted — lays out their whole deck and adds every Cow they own to their Herd. Most Cows wins.

Tied? Most $ in your deck → most cards in your deck → share the win.

Clarifications

• You may check card backs in your draw pile. Never look through your discard.
• Burn always means removing a Store card. To consume your own card you use an Explosive.
• Draw 4s stack — owe 4, draw a Draw 4, now owe 7. Busting cancels the rest.