RULEBOOK

RICKY TOWN IS ROCKING!

There’s festivity in the air! Ricky is also in
the air—he’s the 10-foot tall donkey-
shaped piñata that is the mascot and
symbol of the town. The mayor
has announced a contest to take
down Ricky, and the whole town is
invited to participate.
No one person can break Ricky open by
themselves, so you’ll have to gather the
best teammates from the four districts of town, each
bringing their own abilities to the challenge. Snatch the right
people from the hands of your competitors and gather the best
team of piñata-poppers. But watch out—you never know who could
be walking to the other teams until it’s too late. Hurry up and pop
Ricky before anyone else can and you’ll win all the candy inside, the
Big Trophy, and never-ending prestige! Acti
Put on your blindfolds like you mean business, swing away with your
friends, and have the best (and silliest) piñata party of the year!
Blind Business is a card game for 2-5 players which plays
in 15-30 minutes. In this game, you are trying to make
deals with the other players to either get 5-in-a-row or
score the most points and win the game!

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 COMPONENTS

50 cards
(1-11 and a Flex Player in each of 4 colors
plus 2 Wild Coach cards)

10 player
1 Trophy / aid cards
Active player card (2 per player) 4 OK cards

1 rulebook
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 SETUP
Randomly select a player to go first, who receives the
Active Player card and places it in front of them. Leave
the OK cards to one side. Give each player 2 player aid
cards (return the unused ones to the box). Shuffle the
deck of 50 cards. Depending on the player count, a certain
number of cards will then be randomly removed from
the game without looking at them. Then the game will be
played over a set number of rounds, again based on the
number of players:

Number of Number of Number of

Players cards Removed Rounds Played
2 18 6
3 8 5
4 2 4
5 0 3
Make a deck of all the remaining cards and deal 4 cards
to each player. Each player may look at their hand to see
what they start the game with, but must then shuffle
their hand and display it facing away from them such
that all players can see their hand, but they cannot see
their own hand.

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 PLAYING THE GAME
Let’s pop that pinata!
On their turn, the active player (the “asker”) will look
at all the cards in their opponents’ hands and ask for
one card from any opponent (the “receiver”) by tapping
it. The receiver can either accept or reject the offer by
saying “yes” or “no”:

If the receiver rejects the offer, the receiver gains

the card the asker requested and puts it in front of them
to score. The asker then chooses any of the remaining
three cards in the receiver’s hand and puts it in front of
d them to score at the end of the game.
If the receiver accepts the offer, they then ask for a
card in return from the asker’s hand by tapping it. The
asker can then accept or reject this offer:
If the asker accepts (so both players accepted the
offers), each player gains the card they requested
and places it in front of them to score at the end of
the game.
If the asker rejects the offer, each player gains the
card the other player requested: the asker from their
own hand, and the receiver from their own hand.

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 Any cards gained by a player are placed face up in front
of them, in rows sorted by color, for end of game scoring.
After this sequence concludes, all players draw cards
from the deck without looking at them and add them to
their hands so that all players have 4 cards again.
Play continues in clockwise order, with the player to the
left of the previous asker taking the Active Player card
and becoming the new asker.

WINNING THE GAME

There are two ways of winning Ricky Town’s biggest
trophy: The Big Trophy:
By striking a Perfect Swing, or
By Best Technique.

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 PERFECT SWING
Sudden Victory: 5-in-a-Row
During any player’s turn, after cards have been gained
and any powers applied (see below), if a player now has
5 numbers in a row of the same color (for example, if a
player has 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Playground ), that player wins
the game immediately and the game is over!

The Flex Player card of each color can help achieve this:
see the Unique Card Powers below. If two players gain
5-in-a-row simultaneously, they share the victory. If
nobody gains 5-in-a-row during the game, keep playing
until the end of the game as described below.

THE FLEX PLAYER

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 BEST TECHNIQUE
End of the Game - Scoring
The game ends immediately when there are no cards
left in the deck (the number of rounds changes based on
player count, see the table on page 4). This means that
after the final turn, the players who gained cards during
that turn will refill their hands to 4 cards, the deck will be
empty, and the players proceed to scoring.
Players score points for all of the cards in their scoring
area (not for the cards in their hand). For each color,
a player multiplies the number of cards they have of
that color times their highest-value card of that color
(Wild Coach and Flex Player cards don’t have any value).
For example, if you have 4 Playground cards and your
highest-numbered Playground card is an 11, you get 44
points for that color. Add up your score for all 4 colors,
and the player with the most points is the winner!
Feel free to download the Devir companion app on your
mobile device for a handy scoring aid (Android and
iPhone versions available). It is free!

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 11x4 = 44 points

5x3 = 15 points

3x2 = 6 points

4x2 = 8 points

TOTAL POINTS: 44+15+6+8= 73 points

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 SPECIAL COLOR POWERS
Ricky Town’s Four Districts
While you can play the game in “family mode” with just
the rules above, we recommend playing with Special
Color Powers. When the end of the game is triggered,
before counting points as above, players check the
following Color Powers in order. Wild Coach cards do
count as the color they were assigned to, but number 1
cards count as only 1 card when deciding who has the
most of a color.
If players tie for the most or second-most Playground or
Boardwalk cards, both players get the lower reward (so 2
players tying for first in Boardwalk both get the second-
place reward, which in a 2-3 player game is nothing
and in a 4-5 player game is 10
points each. If 2 players tie
for second, they both get
the third place reward,
which is nothing.)

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 Playground

2/3 players: whoever has the most Playground cards at

the end of the game can look at their final hand and add
1 card from their hand to their scoring area. This ability
is checked before the other card powers, and if it causes
someone to have 5-in-a-row, they win the game at this
point.
4/5 players: in addition to the power above, whoever has
the second-most Playground cards at the end of the game
gets +10 points.

Boardwalk

2/3 players: whoever has the most Boardwalk cards at

the end of the game gets +10 points.
4/5 players: whoever has the most Boardwalk cards at
the end of the game gets +20 points and the second-most
gets +10 points.

Central Station Downtown

For each set of 1 Central Station and 1 Downtown card

you have, you get +7 points. For example, if you have 4
Central Station and 2 Downtown cards, you would get
14 extra points as you have 2 sets of Central Station and
Downtown cards.
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 UNIQUE CARD POWERS
Team Players
Whenever you gain a card, place it in your scoring area. It
will then have a specific mandatory effect depending on
what value it has. These powers are the same for
every color.

WILD COACH: Can count as a numberless card

of any color. When gained, it must either be put in
the row of a color you already have 1 or more cards
of, or placed alone and it can then be placed with a
new color when your first card of that color is gained. The
Wild Coach is considered a numberless card with no color.

1 - TWINS: When multiplying the highest

card value for this color, the 1 counts as 2
cards of its color. For example, if you have a 1 and a 10 in
a color, that would be 10x3=30 points, as the 1 counts as 2
cards.

2 - THE POSITIVE TYPE: When you gain a

2, you immediately take an OK card. At any
later point in the game, you can discard this OK card when
you ask for a card (before the other player says yes or no)
to force the other player to accept. If you discard the 2
card later in the game, you still keep the OK card.

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 3 - THE GRIFTER: When you gain a 3, after
all players draw so that everyone has 4
cards in their hand, you may choose to switch hands with
any player. The players gaining new hands must shuffle
their new hands before holding them up. If both players
gain a 3 in the same deal, the active player switches hands
first, then the other player.

4 - PEEK-A-BOO: When you gain a 4, after

drawing, you may look at your hand and
then shuffle it.

5 AND 6 - THE LOVERS: During scoring, if

you have both the 5 and 6 of the same color,
you get +5 points. Note that you get +5 points total for
having both Lovers, not +5 points for each card.

7, 8 AND 9 - RANDOM PASSERS-BY: During

scoring, if you have all of the 7, 8, and 9 of
the same color, you get +10 points. Note that you get +10
points total for having all 3, not +10 points for each card.

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 10 - THE RIGHT TOOL: When you gain a
10, if you have the most total cards in your
scoring area (ties do not count), you must discard any 1
card of your choice from your scoring area. Compare the
number of cards after both players gain their card from
this deal, but before anyone discards cards due to a 10 or 11.
If you must discard a card, this occurs before the 5-in-a-
row is checked.

11- THE NATURAL: When you gain an 11, if

you have the most or are tied for the most
total cards in your scoring area, you must discard any 1
card of your choice from your scoring area. Compare the
number of cards after both players gain their card from
this deal, but before anyone discards cards due to a 10 or 11.
If you must discard a card, this occurs before the 5-in-a-
row is checked.

FLEX PLAYER: Can count as any number

in its color exclusively for the purpose of
getting 5-in-a-row. You don’t need to assign it to a specific
number when gained—it counts as whatever number
you need to get 5-in-a-row and win, and otherwise is
just a regular card of its color. For example, if you have
the Central Station 5, 6, 8, 9, and Flex, you win the game
immediately as the Flex counts as the 7. Outside of going
for 5-in-a-row, the Flex Player is considered a numberless
card of its color.

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 STRATEGY TIPS
Say yes to deals when you want something in the other
player’s hand; say no when you think what you have in
your hand may be better than what is in their hand.
If you can get a high card of a color, try to get lots of
that color regardless of their values.
If you get a Flex Player card, getting OK cards can help
you secure a run of 5-in-a-row to win the game.
Near the end of the game, avoid asking for cards from
players who have a lot of cards in their scoring area, as
they are more likely to win.
Blind Business can be played with no public
communication or with table talk and bluffing as players
ask for cards; feel free to try both and see what your
group prefers!

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CREDITS
Design: Andrew Roy
Illustrations: Carlos Ureta (Meeple Foundry)
Graphic Design: Meeple Foundry
English text: Andrew Campbell and William Niebling
Editing: David Esbrí

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