Fairy Bucks
A Magical Auction in Fairyland
for 2-5 Players
By Michael Petty
Once upon a time the economy in Fairyland took a turn
for the worst. In an effort to raise a little cash, the King decided
it was wise to open up some of Fairyland's most loved treasures for sale
to the general public. People came from far and wide to buy memorabilia
from their favorite stories. Some just came to profit from the favorable
exchange rate and re-sale of the items.
Whatever your purpose is for bidding, use your Fairy
Bucks wisely and you just may be living happily ever after.
Set Up
You’ll need to download the .zip file. There
are three files that must be extracted. Print one set of both the
items1 and items2 files. Also print one copy of the fairybucks file
for each player (it's a page of 11 cards). If possible, print each
set of fairybuck cards on different colored cardstock to make it easier
for each player to keep track of his own cards.
fairybucks.zip
Starting the Game
Each player takes one set of Fairy Buck cards.
A set consists of Fairy Bucks 1-10 and a Poof! card.
One player should shuffle the item cards thoroughly.
The top card of the item deck is placed face down on top of the large Item
card (Prince Charming's castle). The next two item cards from the
top of the deck are set aside. They will not be used in the current
game and no players may examine them.
The player should place the remainder of this item
deck in the center of the table. Now the game may begin.
Playing a Round
Each round, three of the item cards are turned face
up so all players can see them. These are the Fairy items for currently
for auction. The number on each card indicates how many points the
item will be worth at the end of the game. Higher numbers are best.
There is also a symbol on each card that will be used in scoring as well.
Bidding
Players will bid for the current auction items in
the following manner.
-
First, each player takes one of their cards (either a Fairy Buck or the
“Poof!” card) and places it face down on the table.
-
When everyone is ready, these cards are revealed. Each player should
call out the value of the card played. If a single player is found
to have a higher card than all the others, that player becomes the current
High Bidder.
-
Next, players may choose to add to their total. Again, each player
takes one of their cards and places it face down. They are revealed
simultaneously, with each player now calling out the total value
of the Fairy Bucks he has face up on the table.
-
Players now repeat step 3 until one player wins the auction items as described
below. Before explaining how to win, though, you’ll need to understand
the Poof! cards.
Using a Poof! card
A Poof! card is like a spell in Fairyland.
It makes all the Fairy Bucks a player has played so far instantly return
to his hand. Basically, it makes a bid disappear. A player
can play a Poof! card at anytime – even as the first card of an auction.
Once a player has played the Poof! card, he is out of the round and cannot
win the current auction items.
Winning the Auction
The auction can be won in two ways:
-
First, the auction is won if only one player remains in the auction.
In other words, if everyone but one player eventually plays a Poof! card,
that player who didn’t play the Poof! card wins the auction. In this
case, this player discards the money he just used in his bid, then he takes
all of the auction items and places them face down in his scoring pile.
-
Otherwise, a person wins an auction by being the High Bidder twice in a
row after new cards are revealed during bidding. In this case, any
other players still in the auction (i.e., those who didn’t play their Poof!
cards) lose their lowest card showing in their bids. These cards
are discarded, along with the winning player’s bid. The winning player
takes all of the auction items and places them face down in his scoring
pile.
It's possible that all players still in an auction
will play their Poof! cards at the same time. In this case, all Fairy
Bucks return to their hands as usual, but the three auction items are discarded.
No one wins them.
Rounds are continued in this manner, with three items being auctioned
each time until the item deck runs out. Players may examine cards
in their own scoring piles at any time.
After the last set of three cards is auctioned, players reveal the amount
of Fairy Bucks still in their hands. If a player has a higher total
of Fairy Bucks in his hand than anyone else, that player wins the Prince
Charming's Castle card and the item that was placed on it at the start
of the game. These two cards go in that player’s scoring pile just
like any other card. All players score their cards as described below.
Scoring
First, each player totals the values of the items
he won from the auctions.
There is also a bonus for having a variety of types
of items. Players will notice each item (except Prince Charming's
Castle) has one of four symbols printed on the card. The symbols
are a moon, a sun, a star and a book. A set of four item cards containing
all four symbols earns a player an additional four points. A player
may score this bonus for each complete set he has in his scoring pile.
The player having the highest score wins.
If two or more players tie, they all win!
You may choose to play a series of three or four
games and total the scores to determine an overall winner.
Note for the two player game
If playing with only two players, first remove the
four item cards from the item deck that are worth only 1 point. They
won't be used in the game.
When starting to play, shuffle the item deck.
Place the top card face down on Prince Charming's Castle as usual.
Then discard only one card (instead of two) from the current game.
The remainder of the rules are the same as above.
Some tips for success
-
Be careful with the low cards. If you spend them all too early, you
will be forced to bid higher than you may want to later on.
-
Try the unexpected, but act like you'll do the obvious. A lot of
the game depends on guessing what others will do.
-
Keep careful track of which item cards have been revealed. Even though
three won't be known until the end of the game, you'll have an idea of
what may be coming up.
Return to New World Games.
This page was last updated 6/2/01.