Star Wars: Bounty Hunters is a light strategy game; in which players compete to be the best bounty hunter in the galaxy. Players have three goals which will help them earn points: capturing targets; completing contracts; and purchasing droids and crates at the Jawa market.
There is no down-time in this drafting game: everyone plays at the same time. Players start with 4 cards in hand. Each turn; players pick a card from one of the available piles (targets; hunters; contracts; and Jawa market). Then; they can choose to either play or sell a card. Finally; they pass their remaining hand to their left-hand neighbor.
Target cards have defense values; while hunter and droid cards have attack values. To capture a target; players must equal or exceed the target’s defense values by placing hunter and droid cards in front of their targets. Once a target is defeated; it is placed horizontally.
Players may also fill contracts by choosing contract cards. These grant bonus points for capturing specific targets and purchasing crates.
The first player to capture 4 targets earns bonuses; and this triggers the final 2 turns. Using the scorepad; players count the points they earned from capturing targets; filling contracts; and purchasing crates; and they deduce points they spent to hire hunters. The player with the most points is declared the best bounty hunter in the galaxy!