How To Play

Burgle Bros is a cooperative rogue-like puzzle game with tile exploration and problem-solving.

Objective

Open and loot all safes and then escape (with that loot) through the stairs on the top floor. All members of the heist team need to make it to the roof for the players to win the game -- if any player is caught by a guard without having any remaining stealth tokens left, the players lose the game.

On Your Turn

Take up to 4 actions. If you have two or more unused actions left on your turn when you end it, an event will be triggered. You can perform the actions in any order and you can do the same action multiple times in a turn if possible.

After you are done taking actions, the guard will move on your floor.

Actions

Peek: Reveal an adjacent room tile.

Move: Move to an adjacent room tile. If it is unrevealed, reveal it.

Tile-specific actions: Hack a computer -OR- add a Die to a Safe (costs 2 actions) -OR- Crack a Safe

Character ability: Depending on your character, your character-specific ability might only be available as your first action on a turn. It might be free or consume one or more actions.

Use Tools (free): Discard a Tool card and apply its effect.

Trade (free): Trade Tools and/or Loot with another player on the same tile (with the other player's permission).

Cracking Safes

Once you have located a safe tile, you need to make sure all the tiles in the same row and the same column as the safe are revealed. For example, if the safe tile is in A1 then all the tiles in column A and all the tiles in row 1 need to be revealed, so A2, A3, A4, B1, C1, and D1 (in the four by four layout). During your turn, you may add a die to a safe for 2 actions. No more than six dice can be added to a given safe tile. Once all the tiles you must reveal for a safe are revealed, rolling dice from the safe tile can "crack" the safe. The combination of the safe is the small numbers on the lower right corner of the tiles that are in the same row or same column as the safe. For example, if the numbers on the lower right corner of the room tiles are 1, 3, 1, 4, 6, and 3, you will need to roll the dice until a 1, 3, 4, and 6 have been rolled. You do not need to roll a 3 multiple times to unlock all the tiles with 3 on them. Small green circle tokens will appear on room tiles that match the numbers rolled. Once all the required numbers have been rolled the safe will open and give you a tool and a loot card.

Guards

Each guard's destination is determined by the top card drawn from the Patrol deck. Each guard's movement speed is dictated by its guard die. Guards always takes the shortest path to get to their destination. When multiple paths can be taken in the same number of moves, the guard prefers to take the left-most path at a fork. The guard will move one additional tile per triggered alarm. Once a guard reaches their destination, a new destination is set; if the guard has any movement remaining, they immediately move towards their new destination.

Triggering an alarm changes the destination for the guard on that floor to the location of the alarm. Once the guard reaches that location, they will continue to their original destination.

After a safe is cracked, the guard on the current floor and each guard below the current floor are aware of the safe being cracked and permanently increase their movement speed by one.

Each time the patrol deck runs out and gets reshuffled, the movement speed of the guard on that floor is increased by one permanently. Each guard's maximum movement speed is six.

Scenarios

The default scenario is the Bank Job, the beginner scenario is the Office Job, and the Fort Knox Job has a larger layout.

The Bank Job

The building is 3 floors arranged in a grid of 4x4 room tiles, so 16 tiles per floor. There will be 1 safe and 1 stairs on each floor. All the tiles listed in the tile distribution will be in the building.

The Office Job

This job is good for beginners. The building is 2 floors and has 16 tiles per floor. There will be 1 safe and 1 stairs per floor, so a total of 2 safes and 2 stairs in the building. The tile distribution is different for the Office Job. There will be 3 camera tiles, 2 fingerprint tiles, 2 laser tiles, 2 motion tiles, 2 thermo tiles, 2 deadbolt tiles, 2 keypad tiles, 2 foyer tiles, 2 secret door tiles, 2 service duct tiles, 1 laboratory tile, 1 lavatory tile, 2 walkway tiles, and 3 computer tiles.

The Fort Knox Job

In this job the building is 2 floors and has a 5x5 layout. There will be 24 tiles and an empty space (grey square surrounded by walls - consider it a support beam) on each floor. Each floors will have at least one stairs and one safe; the remaining stairs and safe will be randomly distributed into the floors.

Tile Distribution

The Bank Job and The Fort Knox Job will have the tile distribution below. See The Office Job for its tile distribution.

1x - Lavatory

2x - Atrium, Foyer, Secret Door, Service Duct, Laboratory

3x - Computer, Deadbolt, Detector, Fingerprint, Keypad, Laser, Motion, Safe, Stairs, Thermo, Walkway

4x - Camera

Room Tiles

Atrium - While on the atrium tile, you can peek at the tile directly above or below this location (on the adjacent floor). However if a guard moves to either the tile directly above or below you, you lose a stealth token if you have one available.

Camera - If a guard is on any camera on any floor when a player enters this tile, an alarm is triggered on it.

Computer - You must be in a computer room to use the Hack action (to generate a hack token of the corresponding type). Hack tokens can be used to cancel the corresponding alarm on any floor. There are three types of computer rooms: fingerprint, laser and motion, corresponding to three types of alarms that can be cancelled thereby. One can only store six tokens per computer room.

Deadbolt - Entering this tile type requires three actions unless a guard or player is already on it. If you attempt to enter an unrevealed deadbolt tile without the required three actions, the tile is revealed but you do not enter and all remaining actions are consumed.

Detector (Alarm) - If you move into this tile while holding a loot or tool, an alarm is triggered on it.

Fingerprint (Alarm) - When you enter this tile, an alarm is triggered on it.

Foyer - Guards can spy you from adjacent tiles on the same floor in addition to from the tile itself.

Keypad - When you attempt to move into this tile while it is locked, roll a number of dice equal to the number of attempts you made on this turn (including this one). If any of them is a 6, this tile is unlocked and you enter it, otherwise the action is wasted.

Laboratory - The first player who enter this tile draws a tool.

Lavatory - When revealed 3 stealth tokens are placed on this tile. If the guard enters this tile when you are in it, a stealth token on the tile will be removed instead of from your own. If more than one person is on the lavatory tile when the guard enters then that many stealth tokens will be removed from the tile. Once the stealth tokens are used up from the tile then you will lose stealth tokens as normal.

Laser (Alarm) - When you enter this tile, you must spend 2 actions or an alarm is triggered on it.

Motion (Alarm) - If a player enters this tile without ending their turn on it, an alarm is triggered on it.

Safe - You must be in a safe to add a die into it or crack that safe. Safes start with no dice and can have at most 6 die.

Secret door - You may enter onto this tile through walls (but not the other way around).

Service duct - If both service ducts are discovered, you can move from one to another, even if they are on different floors.

Stairs - A downstairs token is put onto the corresponding tile on the upper floor, unless it is the highest floor. You may move and peek from the stairs to its corresponding downstairs tile, and you can move from that tile to the stairs. The stairs on the highest floor is used to escape to the roof after all loots are discovered.

Thermo (Alarm) - If you end your turn on this tile, an alarm is triggered on it.

Walkway - If you enter this tile while it is unrevealed, you fall onto the corresponding tile on the floor below it, unless it is the lowest floor. Falling does not count as entering. While on a walkway tile you can peek down on the tile below if unrevealed.

Characters

All characters have a basic ability and an advanced ability, depending on the table settings you may get to chose which ability your character will have for the game.

The Acrobat (Retired Performer)

Flexibility (Basic ability): You may move into a tile with a guard as a free action (multiple times per turn) and will not lose a stealth token if you leave the tile before the guard moves (meaning you leave the tile with the guard before ending your turn in order to not lose stealth).

Climb Window (Advanced ability): If you are on a perimeter tile (or next to the empty tile in Fort Knox) you may spend 3 actions to move up or down one floor to the corresponding tile, all movement rules for trying to enter a tile still apply, doing so consumes all your actions.

The Hacker (Computer Guy)

Jammer (Basic ability): You do not trigger fingerprint, laser, or motion tiles and other players will not trigger those tiles if you are there. The ability is not optional and does not apply to detector and thermo tiles.

Laptop (Advanced ability): You can add a hack token to yourself as an action. This token can be used as a fingerprint, laser or motion hack token by any player. You can only store up to one hack token on yourself.

The Hawk (Recon Pro)

X-Ray (Basic ability): As a free action, once per turn, you can peek through an adjacent wall to reveal a tile.

Enhance (Advanced ability): As a free action, once per turn, you may peek at a tile up to two spaces away. You cannot skip over unrevealed tiles and you cannot see through walls but you can use the ability to peek around corners and peek up stairs.

The Juicer (Electronics Expert)

Crybaby (Basic ability): As a free action (multiple times per turn), you may create an alarm in an adjacent tile, but not through walls.

Reroute (Advanced ability): As a free action, once per turn, you may pick up an active alarm on your tile and draw a new patrol card, or discard one of your alarm tokens to trigger an alarm.

The Peterman (Safecracker)

Steady Hands (Basic ability): Roll 1 additional die when rolling for the safe or keypad.

Drill (Advanced ability): You may add dice and roll on safes above or below your tile. However, you've unable to loot safes from another floor so the loot remains in the safe until retrieved. Do note that all loot must be carried up to the roof to end and win the game.

The Raven (Maverick Falconer)

Distract (Basic ability): As a free action, you may place the crow up to two tiles away from your character but not through walls. The crow remains in that location until you move it again. The guard loses an move each time he enters the crow's tile (so a crow placed on the guard's tile won't affect the guard until a subsequent move into said tile.)

Disrupt (Advanced ability): As a free action, you may place the crow on your current tile. If the guard starts his movement on the same tile as the crow and there are no alarms, he loses all movement and the crow is returned to you.

The Rigger (Tinkerer Savant)

The Solution (Basic ability): You start with the dynamite tool. When any player finds a tool, they may draw two tools, keep one, and discard the other.

Tinker (Advanced ability): You can lose one stealth to draw a tool. When any player finds a tool, they may draw two tools, keep one, and discard the other.

The Rook (Mastermind)

Orders (Basic ability): As an action, once per turn, you may move another player one tile. When moving the other player, lasers and deadbolts do not cost extra actions but otherwise all normal movement rules such as keypads and alarm tiles apply.

Disguise (Advanced ability): You may spend your first action swapping places with any player. This does not count as entering the tile for either of you. Please note that the disguise action is only available as the first action and other actions, even free, such as tool use executed first would consume the opportunity to make use of the disguise action.

The Spotter (Psychic Gone Rogue)

Clairvoyance (Basic ability): As an action, once per turn, you may look at the top card of the patrol deck for your floor. Then choose to place it on the top or bottom of the deck.

Precognition (Advanced ability): As an action, once per turn, you may look at the top card of the event deck. Then choose to place it on the top or bottom of the deck.

Events

You draw an event card if you use 2 or fewer actions on your turn, however you may not simply go back and forth between tiles to avoid an event. Some events benefit the guards, others the players. However, most events are subjective to the situation of the game and can help or hinder the team under the right circumstances.

Brown out - Alarm tokens on all floors are removed. A new patrol card will be drawn for each alarm removed this way.

Buddy system - Choose a character and move their meeple onto your current tile.

Change of plans - If there are no active alarms on your floor, the guard on your floor gets a new patrol card.

Crash! - If there are no active alarms on your floor, then the guard's new destination will be the current tile you are on.

Daydreaming - The guard on your floor has one less movement this turn.

Dead drop - Current player passes all tools and loot to the player on their right.

Espresso - The guard on your floor has one additional movement this turn.

Freight elevator - Fall up one floor, this can't be used as an escape method.

Go with your gut - If you are adjacent to an unrevealed tile, move on to it now, your choice if there is more than one unrevealed tile.

Gymnastics - Until your next turn, all players can walk onto a walkway tile above their current tile as if it were stairs.

Heads up! - The next player gains an additional action on their turn.

Jump the gun - Skip the next player's turn (including the guard movement).

Jury-rig - Gain a tool.

Keycode change - Any open keypad tiles are now locked again.

Lampshade - Gain a stealth token.

Lost grip - Fall down one floor.

Peekhole - You may peek at one adjacent tile, even through a wall or up/down floors (you may choose to ignore this event).

Reboot - All revealed computer rooms will reset to one hack token.

Shift change - Guard does not move on your floor, instead revealed guards on other floors move this turn.

Shoplifting - Alarms are triggered on all laboratory tiles that have had tools taken from them.

Squeak - The guard on your floor moves one tile towards the nearest character.

Switch signs - The guard on your floor and his destination swap positions.

Throw voice - Move the guard destination into an adjacent tile from its current location (following normal movement rules).

Time lock - Players cannot move up or down through stairs for one round.

Video loop - All camera tiles are disabled for one round.

Where is he? - Guard on your floor jumps to his current destination.

Loot

You get a loot when you crack a safe. It comes with a penalty and cannot be dropped, but you can give it to another player in the same tile as a free action if both players agree. All loot must be held by players for them to escape to the roof.

Bust - You cannot use tool cards, although you can still hold them.

Chihuahua - At the start of your turn, roll a die. If the result is 6, the dog barks and an alarm is triggered on your tile.

Cursed goblet - When it is drawn, the player who draws it lose one stealth unless they have none.

Gemstone - You must spend an extra action to move into a tile with other players.

Gold bar - An extra gold bar is placed on the tile. Both must be picked up to win. A player may hold at most 1 gold bar.

Isotope - You trigger an alarm immediately if you move into a thermo tile.

Keycard - A safe cannot be cracked if the player with the keycard is not on it.

Mirror - You take one fewer action every turn but you can now pass through laser tiles without needing to hack or trigger alarm.

Painting - You cannot use secret doors or service ducts. You can still move into and out of them normally.

Persian kitty - At the start of your turn, if it isn’t on a tile, roll a die. If the result is 1 or 2, it escapes 1 tile closer to the nearest alarm tile. While the kitty is on a tile no one owns so any player can pick it up and will gain the card. If the kitty is on a tile no one can escape.

Stamp - You draw an event card if you use 3 or fewer actions on your turn, instead of 2.

Tiara - If you move onto a tile adjacent to a guard, the guard will see you.

Tools

You get tools by cracking a safe, entering a laboratory for the first time, drawing specific event cards, or using the advanced Rigger’s special ability. You can use a tool as a free action on your turn by discarding it and apply its effect. You can give it to another player as a free action if both players agree, but you cannot drop them.

Blueprints - Peek at a tile anywhere on any floor.

Crowbar - Permanently disable an adjacent tile. It cannot block movement or trigger alarms.

Crystal ball - Draw the top 3 events and put them back in any order.

Donut - Select a guard. The next time he would move, he doesn’t move instead.

Dynamite - Destroy a wall adjacent to you. Trigger an alarm on your current tile.

EMP - Remove all triggered alarms. Until the start of your next turn, all alarms triggered are instead cancelled.

Invisible suit - You cannot be seen by guards or cameras and gain one additional action this turn.

Makeup kit - All players on your tile gain one stealth.

Rollerskates - Gain two additional actions this turn.

Smoke bomb - Add 3 stealth tokens to your tile. These can be used by players on this tile.

Stereoscope - You may use when cracking a safe to change the result of a die to any side you wish.

Thermal bomb - Your current tile is also treated as stairs in addition to its original effect from now on (you can use this to escape from the 3rd floor as well). Trigger an alarm on your current tile.

Virus - Place a total of 3 hack tokens in any revealed computer tiles.