Barney

Miller

Ages 8-Adult     2-4 Players

OBJECT

Assume the identity of one of Barney Miller's detectives - Fish, Harris, Wojehowicz, Yemana - and sit facing that detective's desk blotter on the board. The object is to be the first detective to capture all four suspects appearing on the Wanted Poster to the left of that desk blotter.

EQUIPMENT

1 Playing Board, 1 Die, 1 Playing Piece, a Supply of Chips.

1 Deck of 56 Cards - Numbered from 0-10 and divided as follows:

CARD012345678910
AMOUNT4101086444222

PREPARATION

It is important to read these rules thoroughly before beginning play! Shuffle the cards and deal them one at a time face down as follows, depending on the number of players:

Four players: Eight hands of seven cards each.

Three players: Six hands of nine cards each. The remaining two cards are placed aside, face down.

Two players: Four hands of seven cards each. The remaining half deck is placed aside.

Each player takes two hands. Hold one hand ready for play in normal card-playing fashion and place the other one face down on your desk blotter in the space marked "2nd Hand."

Place the chips in the center of the board.

Place the playing piece in the space marked "Start."

Each player rolls the die and high roll plays first.

PLAY

The first player starts the first round by rolling the die and moving the playing piece along the track the number of spaces indicated. In all the following rounds, the player playing the last card in the previous round rolls the die for the new round.

After the playing piece is moved, cards are played to see who wins the round. The player to the left of the one rolling the die starts by playing a card from his/her hand face up on his/her detective's desk blotter in the space marked "Play," announcing its value. The next player to the left similarly plays a card and announces the total value of the two cards. Play continues with each player in turn playing a card until a total value of 10 is reached, or until a player plays a card that brings the total from below 10 to above 10. (As long as the total is less than 10, the next player must play a card, even if that card brings the total above 10.)

The winner of the round is:

1. The last player whose card kept the total under 10 when the final total is more than 10.

2. The player whose card makes the total exactly 10.

EXCEPTION: After the exact total of 10 is reached, the next player in turn, if he holds a Zero(0), has the option of playing it to keep the total at 10. If he does so, then the next player may do so too, and so on around the board until someone either cannot play a Zero or does not want to. (A Zero may also be played as just another value card when the total is below 10.)

When the round is over, each player places these used cards face down on his/her desk blotter in the space marked "Discard."

The winner of a round, depending on the space on which the playing piece rests, does one of the following:

GANG SPACES

There are five gangs pictured on the track. Their members are also pictured on the Wanted posters. If you win a round when the playing piece is located on one of these gangs - The Shopping Molls, for instance - and you have a Shopping Moll pictured on your Wanted poster, you take a chip and capture the gang member by putting the chip on that picture. If you do not have a member of that gang on your Wanted poster, or have already captured the member, no chip is placed in that round.

POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION

If you win a round when the playing piece is located on Positive Identification you take a chip that can be used to capture any suspect on your Wanted poster. However, this "wild card" chip must be placed in reserve on the border of your Wanted poster and not committed to a suspect until or unless you can complete capture of all four suspects by using it. This gives you the advantage of having a suspect captured without limiting your choice of suspects still to be chased. During the course of the game you may have more than one of these chips in reserve.

ARREST WARRANT

If you win a round when the playing piece is located on Arrest Warrant, you win a chip that can be used to capture any suspect on your Wanted poster. However, you must commit it immediately to one of your suspects and place it on that suspect.

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

When the playing piece is located on Insufficient Evidence, the strategy is to avoid winning the round. If you have the misfortune to win that round and you have previously captured any of your suspects, you must choose one of them to set free and you lose that suspect's chip. However, you cannot lose any Positive Identification chips you may have in reserve.

UNWANTED GANG MEMBERS

When the playing piece lands on a gang that none of the players want - because all of the members of that gang appearing on the players' Wanted posters have already been captured - the same player throws the die again and moves the playing piece to a new space.

GETTING NEW CARDS

When you use the last cards from your hand, you immediately pick up your second hand and continue playing with this.

When two play and the second hands have been used, the half deck placed aside at the start of the game is dealt into four more hands of seven cards each - two for each player as at the start.

When all the cards from the deck have been used and the game still has not been completed, all the cards are reshuffled and one hand (of either seven or nine cards depending on the number of players) is dealt to each player. Additional hands are similarly dealt if required.

WINNING

Be the first player to capture all four of your suspects and you are the winner.

We will be glad to answer inquiries concerning these rules.
Address: Parker Brothers, Salem, Massachusetts 01970

Additional rules/interpretations/information for this version