Balloon cup

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Balloon cup
Game data
author Stephen Glenn
graphic Michaela Kienle ,
Jürgen Zimmermann
publishing company GermanyGermany Germany : Kosmos Games , United States : Rio Grande Games
United StatesUnited States 
Publishing year 2003
Art Card game
Teammates 2
Duration 30 minutes
Age from 10 years on

Awards

Ballon Cup (English original title Balloon Cup ) is a card game by the American game designer Stephen Glenn for two people. The game was published in 2003 by Kosmos Spiele together with Rio Grande Games and was published in Germany in the series Spiele für Zwei . In the year of publication, it was included on the jury's selection list for Game of the Year and received the International Gamers Award in the category for 2-player strategy games.

Theme and equipment

The game is a card game in which the two players have to win through tactical use of balloon cards of different colors and different values ​​from 1 to 13 bonus stones and later cups.

In addition to the game instructions, the game material consists of:

  • 45 balloon cards in five colors, including 13 red, 11 yellow, 9 green, 7 blue and 5 light gray,
  • 45 bonus stones in five colors, including 13 red, 11 yellow, 9 green, 7 blue and 5 light gray,
  • 5 winner's cup cards in five colors,
  • 4 target boards with a value of 1 to 4 and
  • a bag

Style of play

To prepare for the game, the four target boards are laid out one below the other, starting with 1 as flat land and then up to 4 alternating between mountains and flat land. The 45 bonus stones are placed in the bag, then bonus stones are drawn blindly according to the value of the target board and placed on it. The balloon cards are shuffled and each player is dealt eight cards in hand, the rest of the cards are laid out as a draw pile. The 5 winner's cup cards are placed next to the display. Each player is also assigned one of the two sides next to the target cards.

Starting with a starting player, the two players take turns taking turns. In each turn you play one card face-up to one of the destination cards, potentially evaluate a destination card and take a new card in hand. The players can place their card on any side of the target card, both in their own and in the opponent's area. The number of bonus stones and their color indicates how many cards of which color are placed in each case. The following investment rules apply:

  • the number of bonus stones or the number printed on the target card determine the number of cards that are placed on the right and left and
  • the colors of the bonus stones determine the colors of the cards, which are placed on the right and left.

The player is obliged to put on a card, even if it is not of use to him; He is not allowed to pass voluntarily. If a player cannot place a card, he must show his cards to the opponent and may discard four cards in order to draw the same number again. If he can play now, he must do so.

As soon as the complete number of cards in the correct colors is next to a target card on both sides, it is evaluated. In the case of a flat map, the side with the lowest total number of points wins; in the case of a mountain range, the side with the higher number of points wins. The player to whom the area of ​​the winning cards was assigned receives the bonus stones on the target card. If he has enough bonus stones to exchange them for a winner's cup, he can do so; The exchanged bonus stones are removed from the game and players can then exchange stones of this color in a ratio of 3: 1 for any other color.

The game ends when a player can exchange his third winning cup, that player has won the game.

Development and reception

The Ballon Cup game was developed by the American game designer Stephen Glenn and published in 2003 by Rio Grande Games and Kosmos Spiele in English as the Balloon Cup and by Kosmos for the Nuremberg Toy Fair in the series Games for Two in German. In the same year it was published by the Dutch publisher 999 Games under the name Ballonrace and by the French Tilsit Éditions as a Franco-Italian version, also as the Ballon Cup .

In the year of publication, it was included on the jury's selection list for Game of the Year and received the International Gamers Award in the category for 2-player strategy games.

In 2013, the game principle was used again in the game Piñata, the game was also released by Rio Grande Games. An online playable version of the game can be found on the yucata.de platform.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Game instructions Ballon Cup
  2. ↑ Versions of Ballon Cup in the BoardGameGeek game database ; accessed on October 2, 2017.
  3. ↑ Piñata in the BoardGameGeek game database (English); accessed on October 2, 2017.
  4. ↑ Ballon Cup on yucata.de; Retrieved October 25, 2017.

Web links