Batalha dos Cookies
Batalha dos Cookies Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 54 cards
- 6 help cards
- 36 cookie pieces
- 18 magic markers
Setup
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Shuffle all the cards and deal the following amount according to the number of players in the game (any leftover cards are set aside for the round):
Players Cards dealt 2 players See the duel mode, at the end of the manual 3 players 12 cards to each player 4 players 12 cards to each player 5 players 9 cards to each player 6 players 8 cards to each player -
Each player must give 1 card from their hand to the player to their left, and 1 more card from their hand to the player to their right.
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Shuffle the 36 cookie pieces face down. Also shuffle the 18 magic markers. Leave both piles in the center of the table, but clearly separated from each other.
Game Overview
Batalha dos Cookies is a card game played over several turns, across 3 rounds.
A player starts the turn by playing a card, then the other players, clockwise, each play one card. Whoever plays the strongest card of the turn is the winner of the moment and must take the cookie piece in dispute for themselves. The round ends when the last card in every player's hand has been played.
After 3 rounds, the game ends, but whoever accumulates the most victory points with their cookie pieces gets a huge stomach ache and loses! That's because, in truth, the real winner is whoever ended up with the second-highest score. After all, we can't be so greedy!
Card Overview
The cards are divided as follows:
- 36 cards with values ranging from 1 to 12 in 3 different suits, represented by different background colors (blue, green and red);
- 18 cards with no suit:
- 12 golden trump cards, with values ranging from 1 to 12, represented by a background in a distinct golden color;
- 3 special gray cards, of value 0;
- 2 special gray cards, of value 13;
- 1 special gray Magician card with no number.
How to Play
These are the steps that happen in a turn:
I. Reveal the cookie piece in dispute II. Play 1 card from your hand III. Determine the winner
I. Reveal the cookie piece in dispute
The starting player is the youngest player. They must then reveal to everyone at the table the cookie piece that will be disputed. This is the only moment in which a cookie piece is turned face up during the match.
II. Play 1 card from your hand
The active player must choose a card from their hand and play it on the table in front of them, face up. The suit (color) of this card will be the "turn suit". Each player must, in clockwise order, play a card following the turn suit, that is, the same color as the first card played this turn, however, the following situations can change this rule:
a) If a player has no card of the same turn suit in their hand, they may play any card of another color, or a special card, or a trump card.
b) If a player has a special card in hand, they may decide to play it on a turn, even if they have cards of the same turn suit.
c) If a player starts a turn with a card that has no suit (trumps or special cards), the turn suit will be the suit (color) of the first suited card played in that sequence.
III. Determine the winner
After every player has played a card, the winner of the turn is usually the player who played the highest-value card in the turn suit. Several situations can, however, change this result:
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Golden trump cards - if one of these cards was played this turn, the player who played the golden trump card of the highest value wins the turn;
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Card 0 - has no suit - always wins when there is any 12 on the table (but loses if the 13 is on the table) and blocks the power of cards 2 to 5;
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Card 13 - always beats any card and suit. If both 13 cards appear on the table in the same turn, the first one played is considered the winner of the turn;
More details about some cards:
Card 1 - has no power at all, but is effective for ending the plans of other players who want to use cards 2 to 5;
Cards 2 to 5 - if you played one of these cards and it is the lowest card of the trick, you may take a magic marker (see a more detailed explanation about them on page 6);
Magician card - this card always loses, because magicians don't worry about winning things, but it guarantees that the player who played it takes a magic marker.
Once the outcome of the turn is defined, the winner takes the cookie piece in dispute and keeps it.
Important: Cookie pieces stay face down in front of each player and don't need to be assembled. At the end of the game, everyone will have a chance to assemble their cookie pieces in the best way possible. However, during the game players may always look at their own cookie pieces in secret, without letting the other players see them.
Magic Markers
Like any competition between children, they will try to use whatever they have at hand to get what they want. Magic markers can be used to give that little help, or even to hinder an opponent. Players obtain magic markers in two ways:
- Playing a Magician card;
- Playing a 2, 3, 4 or 5 card (they have a magic marker indicator) and ensuring it is the lowest-value card in that turn.
Magic markers can be used at any time during the game, on the player's own turn, before or after they play their card, or on another player's turn. Each magic marker not used by the end of the game is worth 2 victory points.
Effects of the Magic Markers
| Marker | Effect |
|---|---|
| Theft | Choose a player. You may randomly take a cookie piece from them. |
| No Peeking | Choose a player and randomly select the card they will play the next time they have to play a card. This means that, in some cases, the card played may not follow the suit of the turn, but this is the only occasion on which that is allowed in the game. |
| Trade | Choose a player. You and the chosen player must trade 1 cookie piece with each other. If one of the players involved in the trade has no cookie piece, this magic marker cannot be used. |
| From the Right | Each player will randomly take a cookie piece from the player to their right. |
| From the Left | Each player will randomly take a cookie piece from the player to their left. |
| Protection | Cancels the effect of the magic marker that another player has just played. |
After being used, magic markers are discarded and stay out of the game until the end of the match.
Starting a New Turn
Once the cookie piece in dispute has been claimed by the winner of the turn, a new turn begins. To do this, all the cards played are gathered and left in front of the winning player, as a reminder of the victory.
Then, the winner of the previous turn reveals one more cookie piece, which will be the piece in dispute this time, and, next, chooses one more card from their hand and plays it on the table, starting a new turn. Players continue until nobody has any cards left in hand, which signals the end of the round.
Starting a New Round
Shuffle all the cards in the deck and deal them again among the players, repeating the actions given in steps 1 and 2 of Setup. The first player of the next round is the player with the smallest number of cookie pieces. In case of a tie, the first player will be whoever is closest, in clockwise order, to the first player of the previous round.
Example of a Turn
Dante starts the turn, revealing a cookie piece that will be disputed this time. He reveals a strawberry cookie piece, which is quite valuable! Dante wants to win that cookie piece, so he plays a blue 10 card. Gael, who is the next player, must follow the color of the card, but since he doesn't have a blue card higher than 10 to win the trick, he decides to play at least a blue 3 card, hoping that this will be the lowest card of the turn, to at least win a magic marker. Maya looks at her hand and notices she has no blue card, so she decides to play a golden 5 card. Since golden cards are the trump and beat any normal-colored card, Maya celebrates, taking the strawberry cookie piece for herself. Gael takes a magic marker and discovers it is a Theft marker, so he keeps it to use at an opportune moment.
Now, Maya starts the new turn, revealing the cookie piece of the moment and... uh-oh! It's a rotten cookie piece! Since nobody wants to take that piece, Maya decides to play a green 2 card. Dante only has one green card in hand, which is the 8. He would rather not play that card, but unfortunately has no alternative. Gael also only has one green card in hand, but it's the 10. Since he doesn't want to take the rotten cookie piece, he decides to play a special card, the Magician card, which has no number and lets him take one more magic marker. Dante, then, wins this trick and takes the rotten cookie piece, while Gael takes a magic marker (a Protection one). Gael wants to take advantage and use his Theft magic marker, received on the previous turn, and decides to use it against Maya. With his eyes closed, he takes one of Maya's cookie pieces and, when he looks, he hit the jackpot, since he managed to steal exactly the strawberry cookie piece!
Now it's Dante's turn to start the next turn. He reveals the next cookie piece, which this time is a traditional cookie piece. Dante plays a red 12 card to guarantee some points. However, Gael, even though he has red cards in hand, decides to play the 0 card (the Lizard beats the 12, because it's the animal that the brave girl who plays volleyball fears the most). For her part, Maya is determined to win the cookie piece of the moment and so plays a 13 card, which is the most powerful card in the game, after all, everyone loses to a cute kitten. Maya then keeps the traditional cookie piece, and they keep playing until all the cards in their hands have been played.
End of Game and Scoring
At the end of the third round, all players turn their cookie pieces face up and get one last chance to assemble them in whatever way seems best to them. Once everyone has assembled their cookies, players tally their points as follows:
| Cookie type | Value per piece | Value as a complete cookie |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional | 1 | 6 |
| Candy | 2 | 10 |
| Strawberry | 4 | 20 |
| Rotten | 0 | Cannot be completed * |
* See note on the next page.
Important: To score as a complete cookie, all the pieces must be of the same type. If that isn't possible, those pieces are worth their individual point value, as shown above.
Rotten cookie pieces cannot be used to assemble a whole cookie, after all, nobody likes to eat a cookie with spoiled pieces! In addition, for every rotten cookie piece, you must sacrifice one cookie piece of another type that you have (that isn't rotten), meaning rotten cookies spoil good cookies!
After the count, whoever has the most points gets a huge stomach ache and does not win the game! After all, children eating too many cookies is something that never ends well. So, the player with the second-highest score is the big winner of the Batalha dos Cookies! In case of a tie, the player with the larger number of cookie pieces wins. If it's still tied, whoever has fewer rotten cookie pieces wins. If the tie persists, the winners split the prize, because the tastiest cookies are the ones shared with friends!
Scoring Example
Maria managed to assemble a complete traditional cookie, with all pieces of that type. She earns 6 points for it. She also has 1 candy cookie piece, 2 strawberry cookie pieces and 1 traditional cookie piece. So she puts these 4 pieces together and assembles a cookie. She earns 2 points for the candy piece, 8 points for the two strawberry pieces and 1 point for the traditional cookie piece, totaling 11 points for this cookie. Adding up her two cookies, Maria's final score is 17 points.
Simplified Version for Beginners
For the first games with people who aren't used to card games, or with young children, we suggest considering the following changes:
- Remove the condition that the player in first place, at the end of the game, loses, since the concept of controlling your score so as not to be the player with the most points can be counterintuitive or complex for younger or less experienced players. In that case, whoever has the highest score wins.
- Remove the special cards from the deck, that is, the 0/13/Magician cards.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When two cards are competing for a magic marker and tie with the same value, whoever plays the weaker card wins the dispute (a card not following the suit of the trick is weaker than one following the suit, which is weaker than a trump card);
- If the tie persists between low cards, both players each get a magic marker;
- The Magician card does not prevent another player from winning a magic marker, if that player plays a card in the same trick from 2 to 5, being the lowest value.
Duel Version (for 2 players)
To play a direct-combat duel version for two players, consider the following changes:
Setup
- Remove one of the common suits (colors) from the game.
- Cards 1/6/8/10/12 of the remaining suits will be used, so remove the rest and return them to the game box.
- The special cards of value 0 and 13 will be used. The rest should be returned to the game box.
- Magic markers will also not be used in this version.
- Shuffle the cards in play and deal 10 cards to each player every round. Each player chooses 1 card from their hand and gives it to their opponent.
How to Play
Follow the rules as explained in the standard version of the game, for 3 rounds.
End of Game and Scoring
At the end of the third round, players tally their cookies and whoever has the highest score wins the game.