Bandido — Rules, Tunnels, Solo Play & Strategy

Setup: five or six exits

Place the central prison tile in the middle of the table. Its two sides offer different starting layouts: choose the side with five exits for an easier challenge or six exits for a harder one. Shuffle the 69 tunnel cards, place them face down and deal three cards to every player.

Bandido, designed by Martin Nedergaard Andersen and illustrated by Lucas Guidetti Perez, is for 1–4 players aged six and over and takes about 15 minutes. The group is working together to stop the prisoner’s escape, so there are no individual scores or player-versus-player goals.

How to play a turn

Starting with the youngest player, proceed clockwise. On your turn, choose one tunnel card from your three-card hand and add it to the shared tunnel network. After successfully placing it, draw one replacement card so you return to three cards when the draw pile allows.

There are no action points, dice rolls or player powers in the basic game. The challenge comes from finding a legal placement that makes it easier—not harder—to close every open tunnel.

Legal tunnel placement: every edge must fit

Your newly placed card must connect to at least one existing card and all edges touching the existing network must agree: a tunnel opening must meet another opening, and a wall must meet a wall. You may rotate cards before placing them to find a valid fit.

You cannot connect a printed tunnel to an adjacent solid wall, cover cards that have already been placed or attach a tile diagonally without sharing an edge. Example: a card with a tunnel opening to the left can be placed immediately to the right of another card only if that neighbor has a right-facing opening at the same position. All other shared edges must also match.

A legal move may join two previously separate branches. That can reduce the number of exposed tunnel ends, but it can also produce another route that will need closing later.

What if none of your three cards fits?

If you cannot legally place any card from your hand, you may put all three cards beneath the draw pile and draw three new cards. This is the game’s replacement option for a blocked hand; it is not a way to discard one inconvenient card and redraw just that one.

Discuss the board together before exchanging, because a card that first appears unusable may fit after rotation or elsewhere in the growing network. The important check is whether every adjoining edge matches.

How to win or lose Bandido

Everybody wins immediately if every tunnel leading away from the central prison has been closed. There must be no remaining open tunnel end anywhere in the connected layout.

If the cards run out and one or more tunnels remain open, Bandido escapes and everyone loses. A tunnel that runs toward the edge of the table is still open: reaching the boundary is not the same as sealing it.

Example: a final card that closes two outer branches but leaves one exit exposed does not win the game. You must find a legal way to cap that last route too.

Which difficulty should beginners choose?

The starting tile has five- and six-exit options. Starting with five gives the group fewer branches to manage. The six-exit side immediately introduces another route that must eventually be sealed and tends to create more complicated intersections.

Start with the five-exit layout when teaching younger players or introducing the game’s edge-matching rules. Move to six exits once the group is confident about legal placement and controlling branches.

Can you play Bandido alone?

Yes. The publisher explicitly supports solo play. Follow the normal three-card-hand rules, placing one legal card and drawing a replacement each turn. In solo play you control every decision without needing to coordinate with teammates.

In multiplayer, players can discuss potential routes and placement goals but should not show their cards directly to other players. This preserves a little uncertainty while encouraging the group to cooperate.

Eight useful strategies for closing tunnels

• Count open ends. Focus on whether a move reduces the total number of tunnels still needing closure.
• Beware branching cards. A tile that creates several fresh exits may be legal but difficult to clean up later.
• Seek joining opportunities. Connecting two branches can sometimes eliminate multiple exposed openings at once.
• Keep room around the layout. Avoid extending long isolated paths where new pieces become difficult to match.
• Rotate every candidate. A card’s orientation can change a bad move into a useful closure.
• Study shared edges. Every side touching another tile must match, not merely the edge that first attracted your attention.
• Communicate placement priorities. Tell teammates which open routes are most urgent, without exposing private hands.
• Use the hand exchange only when needed. All three cards are returned to the bottom, so explore the board before declaring yourself stuck.

These are original rules-based suggestions, not claims of hands-on playtesting.

Bandido vs Bandida and the bonus card

Bandida is a related standalone game from Helvetiq with additional special cards and multiple modes, including an escape mission and the option to combine cards with Bandido. It is not an expansion required for the standard Bandido cooperative tunnel-closing game.

Recent Bandido printings may include a bonus Super Card and rules for Bandido Chill. Check the special instructions supplied with that printing before adding the bonus card to the normal deck. The basic tutorial here assumes the original 69 tunnel cards and starting prison tile.

Bandido frequently asked questions

How many players can play Bandido?

One to four.

Is Bandido cooperative?

Yes. Everybody wins or loses together.

How long does a game take?

The publisher estimates about 15 minutes.

How many cards are dealt?

Three to each player.

How many exits does the starting tile have?

Choose five for the easier game or six for the harder game.

Can I rotate a card?

Yes, provided every edge next to an existing card matches.

Can I attach a tunnel opening to a wall?

No. Shared edges must agree.

What if I cannot place a card?

Put your three cards beneath the draw pile and take three new ones.

Can teammates show each other cards?

They may discuss plans but should not directly show private hands.

How do you win?

Close every open tunnel end before the available cards are exhausted.

Is Bandida the same game?

No. It is a related game with additional modes and special cards.

Who should play Bandido?

Best for children, families and solo players who want a quick cooperative placement puzzle. The rules are simple enough to teach quickly, although tunnel management remains challenging; it is not a competitive player-versus-player game.

Similar games and what to play next

If you are comparing this game with other titles on BoardGameArchive, these guides explain genuinely different mechanics and player experiences:

• The Game — Another solo-friendly cooperative card puzzle, based on numeric sequences instead of path building.
• The Mind — An alternative minimalist co-op that requires timing without spoken card-value hints.
• Bärenpark — For players who enjoy placing pieces into tight spaces but want competitive scoring rather than shared victory.

Publisher sources and editorial scope

• Helvetiq official Bandido product and multilingual rule download
• Helvetiq official Bandida comparison
• Helvetiq simplified Bandido special-edition rules

Reviewed October 11, 2026. This is an independently written rules explanation with strategy inferred from the game, not claimed first-hand playtesting. Special bonus-card effects are excluded from standard rules. Editorial policy and corrections.