Game reference

The Bloody Inn

血腥旅社

CategoryStrategy · Hand and resource managementPlayers2–4 player referenceDurationAbout 45–60 minutesRules learning effort4/5 · Demanding

Learning the rules: Five actions, reusable helpers, building effects, police checks, wages, and two-season timing. Handbook estimate: 1 = very easy, 5 = very demanding. This rates learning effort, not strategy depth or game quality.

DMs who know this game: Not recorded yet / 暂未登记

Based on the team catalogue and reported play experience. An empty entry means not recorded, not necessarily unfamiliar with the game.

On Board catalogue: 血腥酒馆

Full rulebook (English PDF) ↗

Overview

Players run a sinister inn, recruiting accomplices and managing money, buildings, and police investigations. The theme includes fictional murder and burial.

Edition scope. Pearl Games multiplayer base game, short setup. Excludes The Carnies and solo play. This is a hosting reminder; consult card text and the rulebook appendix for individual annex effects.

Key terms / 关键词. bribe (贿赂／招募); rank (等级); affinity (行动专长); annex (附属建筑); corpse (尸体); bury (埋葬); wages (工资); launder (洗钱：游戏中兑换现金与支票)

Objective

Finish with the most money across cash and Checks.

Setup

Give each player 2 Peasants, a player aid that doubles as a barn, 5F cash, and one 10F Check. Return unused Peasants and player aids to the box.
From the 70 travelers, randomly remove 35 cards for 2 players, 28 for 3, or 22 for 4 (short game). Shuffle the rest into the Entrance Stack, living side up.
Give each player their colored tokens and one room. Open 3 additional white rooms with 2–3 players, or 4 with 4 players. Choose a first player and leave room for the Exit Stack.

How to play

Fill rooms → one action each, then one more each → police check → departure and room income → wages → pass first player left.

Player actions and turn sequence for The Bloody Inn. The complete rules are provided in the adjacent text. Open full size. Illustrative symbols are not official game components.

Welcome travelers
The first player assigns travelers from the Entrance Stack to open empty rooms until filled. Owning a room does not stop others acting on its guest.
First circuit, then second
Clockwise, each player takes one action; then repeat once. Choose bribe, build, kill, bury, or pass and optionally launder money. Players do not take both actions consecutively.
Pay with cards
For the first four actions, play hand cards equal to the target’s rank. Helpers with the matching affinity return to hand; other travelers go to the Exit Stack and Peasants to the bistro. A card being built cannot pay for itself.
Morning
Check for police remaining in rooms. Then guests leave and generate room income, followed by wages. Pass the first-player card left.

The five actions

Action	Result / affinity
Bribe	Take a traveler into your hand; blue-affinity helpers return. Alternatively recruit 1–2 Peasants from the bistro without paying cards.
Build	Turn a traveler from your hand with an annex icon into an annex; red-affinity helpers return. Police and Peasants cannot be built.
Kill	Turn a guest from the inn into a corpse in front of you; gray-affinity helpers return. No money yet.
Bury	Place your corpse under an annex with space; purple-affinity helpers return. Capacity equals annex rank; consult your player aid for the barn. Keep all proceeds under your own annex; split equally with another annex’s owner.
Pass / launder	Optionally exchange cash for Checks in 10F units, or cash Checks. You may simply pass.

Worked example

Talk through a plan: “I killed a guest in the first circuit and want to bury them in the second.” Check the required payment cards and burial space. Another player’s annex means sharing the proceeds. Leave cash for wages too.

Using two temporary markers to track each player’s actions is a practice suggestion, not an extra game resource.

Ending & scoring

When the Entrance Stack first runs out, shuffle the Exit Stack to start the second season. The second time it runs out, finish that round and end the game. If welcoming leaves fewer travelers than players, end immediately without taking actions. At game end, pay 10F per unburied corpse and remove it. Resolve endgame annexes (cash is still capped at 40F), then add Checks. Most money wins; break ties with the number of corpses under your own annexes.

Ending and winning conditions for The Bloody Inn. The complete rules are provided in the adjacent text. Open full size. Illustrative symbols are not official game components.

Rules to double-check

Cash is capped at 40F; excess is lost. Checks do not count toward the cap. Exchanging money uses a pass action.
Every card in hand costs 1F in wages each round, including Peasants. Wages require cash; dismiss any unpaid helpers.
If police remain in a room, pay 10F per unburied corpse; Checks are allowed. If unable to pay in full, pay everything you can; the corpses are still removed.
At departure, gain 1F per occupied room of your color. White rooms generate no player income.

Player tips / 玩家建议

Beginner suggestions based on the rules, not guaranteed winning moves. DMs can share these with the whole table before play.

Plan both actions before your first. Before killing a guest, check that you can pay for burial (埋葬) and that an annex (附属建筑) has space. Other players act between your two actions, so keep a backup plan.
Keep a small, useful hand. Helpers with the right affinity (行动专长) return after payment. Reuse them, but remember that every card you keep costs wages (工资).
Keep enough cash for morning. Checks (支票) hold money outside the 40F cash limit, but cannot directly pay wages. Plan an exchange action before you need cash or before a large payment would exceed the limit.
Choose profit you can safely finish. A rich guest may need more cards and preparation. A smaller burial you can complete may be better; using another player’s annex can still be worthwhile even when you split the income.

Sources & edition notes

Pearl Games · Base-game rulebook ↗

Asmodee official overview ↗

Chinese name reference ↗. Chinese names help identify the game; edition details may differ.

Box artwork: Pearl Games · via Asmodee USA. Image source ↗. Artwork belongs to its respective rights holders; packaging may vary by edition.

Rules sources checked on 13 November 2026. Teaching scripts and practice tasks are suggested hosting aids. The publisher’s rules and the edition in the box remain the reference for exceptions.

DM tools

Optional teaching and practice aids. Excluded from printing.

Teaching script

“We’re rival innkeepers trying to make the most money. Your hand is both your workforce and the resource you spend to act. Each night you get only two actions, and you need to leave enough cash to pay wages. Let’s first identify a card’s rank, affinity, and annex.”

Demonstrate recruiting, building, killing, and burying with real cards before explaining morning. Before the second action circuit, remind players to check cash and unburied corpses without deciding their moves.

Setup checklist

Give each player 2 Peasants, a player aid that doubles as a barn, 5F cash, and one 10F Check. Return unused Peasants and player aids to the box.From the 70 travelers, randomly remove 35 cards for 2 players, 28 for 3, or 22 for 4 (short game). Shuffle the rest into the Entrance Stack, living side up.Give each player their colored tokens and one room. Open 3 additional white rooms with 2–3 players, or 4 with 4 players. Choose a first player and leave room for the Exit Stack.

Practice checklist

Identify rank, money, affinity, and annex on a card.Simulate two rounds, including room income, wages, and passing first player.Rehearse using another player’s annex, overflowing cash, and changing seasons.Read the annex appendix, then run a trial game with a colleague.

Local notes

Notes for this game

Saved only in this browser, never uploaded or shared. Keep a backup of important notes.

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Hacky mode / 代码模式

Optional pseudocode for readers who like programming. The normal rules are above.

Frequently asked questions

Do I receive the guest’s money immediately after killing them?

No. You receive the money only after completing the burial.

I have Checks but no cash for wages. What happens?

Checks cannot directly pay wages. You needed an earlier action to cash them; otherwise dismiss helpers you cannot pay.

What do I start with? How many cards are in my hand?

Your starting hand is 2 Peasants (农民), who act as helpers. You also start with 5F cash, one 10F Check (支票), one room marked by your colored Key, and a player aid that acts as a barn (谷仓) with space for 1 corpse. Arriving travelers go into rooms, not your hand; recruit them with a Bribe action to gain more helpers.

Are the other Peasants shuffled into the traveler deck?

No. Give each player 2 Peasants and return unused Peasants to the box. The bistro (餐馆) starts empty. Spent or dismissed Peasants go to the bistro, never the Exit Stack. Later, one Bribe action can recruit 1–2 available Peasants from the bistro without paying cards. It still uses one action.

Does the first player take actions, or only assign rooms?

Both. Assigning arriving travelers to rooms does not use an action. With A as first player, actions go A → B → C, then A → B → C again. After the morning steps, pass the first-player marker left. Exception: if too few travelers arrive to play a final round, the game ends before anyone takes actions.

How do I earn rent?

During the morning departure step, after the police check and before wages, gain 1F per room with your colored Key that still contains a traveler. Empty rooms and white-key rooms earn you nothing. Basic rent is 1F regardless of the guest’s rank (等级). If a guest was recruited or killed, that room no longer earns rent. Example: two rooms of your color, only one occupied → 1F. Apply any building effects separately.

How do players compete? Is it a bluffing game?

Competition is mainly over guests, burial space (埋葬空间), and timing rather than bluffing (虚张声势). Anyone can recruit or kill a guest in any room. Other players act between your first and second actions, so someone may take the guest or fill the burial space you wanted. Using another player’s annex shares the burial income with them. Police left in rooms can also make an unfinished plan expensive. Plan both actions, but keep another option ready.

The Bloody Inn / Hacky mode

2–4 players, short base game. No solo play or Carnies expansion. Start with Setup above; card effects apply at their printed timing. Read top to bottom: while / loop = 重复; if / else = 如果 / 否则. Choices belong to players, not the DM.

# The Bloody Inn / 血腥旅社 — 2–4 players, short game
# Reading aid, not executable code / 阅读辅助，不是可运行程序
# Start with Setup above / 先按正文完成设置
# Card effects override defaults / 建筑效果优先于下列默认规则
# Apply effects at their printed timing; see rulebook appendix.

# 1. ROUND FLOW / 每轮流程
season = 1
finished = False
while not finished:
    # EVENING / 傍晚：入住
    while open_empty_room_exists():
        if entrance.empty():
            finished = True
            break
        first_player.place(entrance.take_top(), chosen_empty_room)
        apply_arrival_effects()  # 如客房服务
        if entrance.empty() and season == 1:
            entrance = shuffle(exit_stack.take_all())
            season = 2  # 立即重洗；不要等到清晨离店后

    # Check exhaustion even if the last card filled the last room.
    if entrance.empty() and season == 2:
        finished = True
    if count(travelers_in_rooms) < count(players):
        move_all_room_travelers_to_exit()
        break  # 直接结算：跳过行动、房费、工资

    # NIGHT / 夜晚：不是每人连续做两次！
    repeat 2 times:
        for p in clockwise_order(first_player):
            p.perform_one_legal_action()  # See section 2

    # MORNING / 清晨：严格按顺序
    if any_police_in_rooms():
        for p in players:
            clear_unburied_corpses(p)  # See section 3
    for p in players:
        gain_cash(p, count(occupied_rooms_owned_by(p)))
    move_all_room_travelers_to_exit()
    for p in players:
        pay_wages(p)  # Includes peasants / 农民也要工资
    apply_remaining_end_of_round_effects_at_printed_timing()
    first_player = next_clockwise(first_player)

# 2. FIVE ACTIONS / 五种行动（默认每次一个目标）
BRIBE:  # 贿赂／招募
    target = choose_traveler_in_any_room()
    pay_helpers(target.rank, affinity=BLUE)
    move(target, room -> your_hand)
    # Alternative: take 1–2 available bistro peasants, no helpers.
    # 或免费招募餐馆中现有的 1–2 个农民

BUILD:  # 建造附属建筑
    target = choose_hand_card_with_annex_icon()
    pay_helpers(target.rank, affinity=RED, exclude=target)
    move(target, your_hand -> your_annexes)
    apply_annex_effect_at_printed_timing()

KILL:  # 杀死客人
    target = choose_room_traveler_OR_bistro_peasant()
    pay_helpers(target.rank, affinity=GRAY)
    move_dead_side_up(target, inn -> your_unburied_corpses)
    # No income yet / 此时还没有收入

BURY:  # 埋葬
    target = choose_your_unburied_corpse()
    annex = choose_any_annex_with_space()
    # Capacity = rank; starting barn holds 1 / 容量=等级，谷仓可埋1具
    pay_helpers(target.rank, affinity=PURPLE)
    move(target, your_unburied_corpses -> under(annex))
    if annex.owner == you:
        gain_cash(you, target.money)
    else:
        gain_cash(you, target.money / 2)
        gain_cash(annex.owner, target.money / 2)

PASS:  # 跳过／洗钱（现金与支票兑换）
    choose(DO_NOTHING, CASH_TO_CHECKS, CHECKS_TO_CASH)
    # Exchange multiples of 10F / 按10F整数倍兑换
    # This uses your action / 兑换也占一次行动

# 3. PAYMENTS / 支付与收入
function pay_helpers(rank, affinity, exclude=NONE):
    cost = rank_after_applicable_annex_discounts(rank)
    helpers = choose_exactly(cost, your_hand except exclude)
    for h in helpers:
        if h.has_affinity(affinity): return_to_hand(h)
        elif h.is_peasant: move(h, hand -> bistro)
        else: move(h, hand -> exit_stack)
    # Rank 0 needs no helpers / 0级不需要支付手牌

function gain_cash(p, amount):
    p.cash = min(40, p.cash + amount)  # 超过40F的部分丢失

function clear_unburied_corpses(p):
    fee = 10 * count(p.unburied_corpses)
    p.pay_as_much_as_possible(fee, cash_OR_checks)
    return_all_to_box(p.unburied_corpses)
    # 不足也移除全部未埋尸体；不是埋葬，不拿收入

function pay_wages(p):
    due_cards = hand_cards_after_wage_exemptions(p)
    p.pay_1F_cash_per_card(due_cards)
    # Checks cannot pay wages / 支票不能直接付工资
    dismiss_unpaid_cards(travelers_to_exit, peasants_to_bistro)

# 4. FINAL SCORE / 最终结算
for p in players:
    clear_unburied_corpses(p)  # Even without police / 无警察也处理
for p in players:
    apply_endgame_annex_income(p, cash_cap=40)
    p.score = p.cash + 10 * count(p.checks)
winners = players_with_highest_score()
if count(winners) > 1:
    winners = most_corpses_under_own_annexes(winners)
# Still tied? The game ends in a tie / 再相同则平局
WIN(winners)

A simplified teaching model. See the official rulebook ↗ for the full rules and edition differences.

The Bloody Inn

Overview

Objective

Setup

How to play

Welcome travelers

First circuit, then second

Pay with cards

Morning

The five actions

Worked example

Ending & scoring

Rules to double-check

Player tips / 玩家建议

Sources & edition notes

Frequently asked questions