Bullion - The Curse of the Cut-Throat Cattle is the sorry tale of Captain Long John Silverside and his band of mooing miscreants; cursed by the heathen gods that guard the island of Ser-Lloyn, each pirate must gather as much treasure as possible in the hope of having the most at the end of the round and thus being spared the gods' wrath. Of course, if this means backstabbing their crewmates then so be it... but with the many foes they face on the islands, it would be all too easy for the whole crew end up dead!
While the image below shows the controls as defined for an Xbox controller, Playstation, Switch and other controllers should work in the same manner, based on the button positions ie: "A" on the Xbox controller translates to "X" on the Playstation controller and so forth.
While using game controllers is recommended on PC, it is possible for up to two players to play on keyboard. Note that keyboard controls are assigned to players 3 and 4 - this does not mean that that two controllers are required in order to play.
Action | P3 keys | P4 keys |
---|---|---|
Movement | W/A/S/D | Arrow keys |
Attack/Select | Space | Return |
Block/Cancel | Left shift | Right shift |
Dash | Tab | Backspace |
Use Power-up | E | Slash (/) |
Bullion features three gameplay modes:
Regardless of game mode, winning is all about grabbing the most loot:
Note that just because you smash a chest, kill an enemy etc., it doesn't mean you get the treasure automatically... so charging in at just the right moment and stealing loose treasure due to someone else's actions is just what any other pirate would do... the only exception to this is the boss's BFD, but otherwise, everything else is fair game!
Should a member of the crew be cut down, they will become a ghost - in this form, they cannot enter combat or collect treasure. When this happens a grave will rise at the location they started the round in. By running back to this grave, they can respawn, re-join the battle and start grabbing loot again. Ghosts are automatically respawned after fifteen seconds, however...
P2 in ghost form: in this state, the player location markers guide you back to your gravestone (if switched on)
If the whole crew are cut down at the same time, the game ends. Even in voyage mode. If all four players' pirates are cut down before one of them can respawn, that's it - the crew is lost and the gods have won!
When the gauge is fully charged, holding the dash button will make your pirate lower his horns and charge straight forward in a burst of speed! Any chests in the way will be smashed, while other pirates and smaller enemies will be knocked flying, but beware... running into a solid object will stun your pirate, leaving them dizzy and vulnerable to attack for a few seconds!
Each pirate's status is displayed in the corners of the screen; additionally, an "in-field" status display that shows above the head of each pirate can be switched on and of in the game options.
Note: Air meter only appears in "The Locker"
In avarice game mode, the time left for the round is displayed as a trail of gunpowder that burns down across the bottom of the screen:
In defiance game mode, the boss's status is displayed the top of the screen. Each time the boss's health is reduced to below a given value on the gauge, a big fat diamond will be awarded to the player who struck the final blow!
Over time, the boss will build up energy, displayed around their portrait - if this reaches a full charge, the boss will call down the wrath of the heathen gods, smiting the whole crew out of existence! Attacking the boss will reduce this energy (and make them drop treasure), so make sure to keep this under control!
Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate! Occasionally, smashing a chest will reveal a useful power-up item to help the lucky pirate who collects it...
The bottle o'grog is standard fair for when a pirate wants to keep themself going a bit longer - this one will restore a third of your health.
Aqua de Vida is powerful stuff - not only will it fully restore health, but it can instantly resurrect a pirate from ghost form!
Taking a kicking? A voodoo doll will automatically deal 50% of any damage you take back on whoever inflicted it.
Power pasture makes you strong to the finish! This tasty morsel will up the strength of any pirate, giving a 40% damage increase while it lasts.
A jar of chillis will light a fire inside you, and up your basic movement speed by 25% while the effects last.
Every pirate's best friend, a parrot flies around grabbing up loot and brings it back to you - assuming you're somewhere where a parrot can fly, of course...
Apart from health restoring power ups (bottle o'grog, aqua de vida), all power-ups last for a limited time, shown in your pirate's corner status display. Picking up a second power-up will replace the first unless the effect has already been triggered, in which case, the new power-up wil be held in the "next power-up" slot until activated or the currently acive power-up runs out.
A bit of sage advice from an old deck-swabber before ye set out on your glorious quest...