Tulip Bubble

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Tulip Bubble
Game data
author Kouyou
graphic Kotori Neiko
publishing company Moaideas Game Design, Sounds Good
Publishing year 2017
Art Auction / speculation game
Teammates 3 to 5
Duration 45 to 60 minutes
Age from 10 years on

Tulip Bubble is a board game by the Japanese game developer Kouyou, which was published in 2017 by the Taiwanese publisher Moaideas Game Design. The game was published in a Chinese / English edition in 2017. In the same year it was published in a purely Japanese version by the game developer Sounds Good . The game deals with the Dutch tulip mania . Each of the three to five players speculates with tulips and tries to make the most money by the end of a number of rounds that are not exactly determined.

Theme and equipment

In the game, each player takes on the role of a trader who was speculating in tulips during the Dutch tulip mania of the 16th century. Tulips are sold in three different colors, red, yellow and white, and are available in five different grades, A, B1, B2, C1 and C3. While new tulips can be bought and sold each round, the prices of the tulips rise or fall depending on the amount of tulip varieties available. Particularly sought-after tulips are auctioned off among the players, while others are sold at the market price. In each round one of the available event cards is drawn, which can also increase or decrease the market price of one or more tulip varieties. One card triggers the bursting of the speculative bubble and ends the game, after which all tulips are worthless and the player with the most cash wins.

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

  • a game board
  • 51 tulip cards (17 cards in three different colors)
  • 1 black tulip card
  • 8 collector cards
  • 11 market event cards
  • 3 tulip price markers
  • 3 starting player markers
  • 5 player umbrellas in different colors
  • 15 bidding markers (3 each in five different colors)
  • Play money in five different values

Style of play

Game setup

The upper part of the game board consists of a price table that is divided into seven price levels. In this table, the three different tulip price markers are randomly placed on fields two to four. Below these are the prices for the quality levels (A, B and C) of the respective tulips, the subdivision of the A and B tulips does not affect the prices. If the price of a color rises, it rises for all tulips of that color. The lower part of the playing field is reserved for market events. The "Bubble Bust" event card, which causes the speculative bubble to burst, is taken separately and the rest of the cards are shuffled. Three cards are taken at random and the "Bubble Bust" event card is shuffled into them and placed under the pile. So it is not exactly determined when this event will occur and the game will end. In the middle of the playing field there is a free space where the black tulip card is placed. This costs 120 guilders. If one player succeeds in buying this flower at a time, the game ends immediately and this player wins the game.

To the right of the playing field, two more tulip cards are placed than players participate. The top row consists of the future market, these tulips cannot be purchased in the current round. In the middle row is the current market, with the tulips of this round. The bottom row consists of tulips that were sold to the bank by the players in this round at the market price and can be bought by the other players. At the beginning of the round, this row is filled with the same number of tulips just like the middle row, since no player has yet been able to sell tulips. To the left of the playing field are three stacks of tulip collectors. These require three specific types of tulips, which they then buy up at the current market price with an additional bonus of either ten, 15 or 20 guilders and are then put aside as a completed goal with the tulip cards.

Game flow

At the beginning of each round, a market event is drawn that triggers a certain event, such as the rise of a certain color by a certain number of levels. Beginning with the start player, each player then places a maximum of two of his bidding markers on the tulips in the second or third row. After each player had the opportunity to buy tulip cards, each player can place a bid marker on the cards in a second round. Starting with an entry fee of 20 guilders, the tulips are now sold to the players. If only one bid was made on a tulip, this player receives it at the current market price. If several players have placed their marker on a card, the card is auctioned among them. Players do not have to be able to pay for the tulips in full, they can also have the bank finance them. This is indicated by the purchase price still to be paid being placed on the card with coins. Bidders who are inferior in an auction are compensated by the bank in the amount of the difference between the auction result and the market price. Finally, the prices of the tulips will be adjusted. The tulip color, of which the most are present, first decrease by one level, those of which are the least present rise afterwards. All unsold tulips in the second and third rows are now put away. The tulips of the future market are now placed in the middle display and the top row is again filled with the tulips of the next round. The starting player marker moves on to the next and the next round begins.

Now the round begins again with an event card. Each player can now sell any number of his cards to the bank or a collector. The tulips sold to the bank are placed in the third row, the tulips sold to collectors are removed from the game along with them. However, in order to be able to sell financed tulips to one of the collectors, you first have to buy them from the bank. If a player manages to get the combination of tulips requested by the collectors, he can sell them to them and also receives the corresponding bonus. After the sales phase, the buying phase begins again.

Playing

The game lasts until either one of the players buys the black tulip or the market event of the bursting tulip bubble ("Bubble bust") occurs. In both cases the game ends immediately, in the latter case all the tulips that the players still hold in their hand are suddenly worthless and the pure cash that is still in their hand counts.

Development and reception

The game was developed by the Japanese game designer Kouyou and published in 2017. In Japan it was published in a purely Japanese edition by Sounds Good . In the same year it was also published in a Chinese / English edition by the Taiwanese publisher Moaideas Game Design . The game was largely received positively and caused a sensation because the publisher was also represented at the 2017 International Game Days in Essen .

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