BUBBLE GUM
BUBBLE GUM Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- Play cards: 24 cards, 6 cards in each of 4 colors (numbered 1 to 6)
- Player cards: 2
- Rulebooks: 2 (Japanese and English)
Players: 2. Playing time: 15 minutes. Age: 10+.
Game Overview
BUBBLE GUM is a trick-taking game for 2 players. By winning a trick your gum swells, but if you make it too big it bursts with a "POP!". Using the stickiness of the gum to draw in your opponent's cards, win the contest by controlling the balance.
Setup
- Each player takes one player card and places it in front of them with its front side face up.
- The player who is better at whistling becomes the first leader (parent).
- Shuffle the play cards face down and deal 10 cards to each player. The cards dealt become each player's hand. Gather the remaining cards into a draw pile, turn the top card face up, and place it in a position both players can see. That card is the trump card for this round.
Terms
- Trick: the unit of a mini-game in which each player plays one card and the cards are compared to decide the winner.
- Trump card: a card that designates a particularly strong color.
Game Flow
The game is played for a maximum of 3 rounds; the first player to win 2 rounds wins the game. A round is decided by 10 tricks.
Round Progression
Flow of a trick:
- Play cards
- Decide the winner of the trick
- Capture cards
1. Play Cards
The leader (parent) chooses one card from their hand and plays it face up.
The opponent, if they have a card in hand of the same color as the card the leader played, must choose and play one of those cards. If they have no card of the color the leader played, they may play any card they like. (Figure 1)
Figure 1 examples: Because the player holds a red card, they can only play a red card. / Because the player holds no red card, they may play any card.
2. Decide the Winner of the Trick
- If both players' cards are the same color, the player who played the higher-numbered card wins.
- If the cards are different colors, the player who played a card of the same color as the trump card wins.
- If the cards are different colors and neither is the trump color, the leader (parent) wins.
3. Capture Cards
The player who won the trick takes the card the opponent played and lines it up face up beside the card they played, next to their own player card, building a row of cards in their own field. (Figure 3 shows such a row.)
The player who lost the trick takes the card the opponent played, adds it to their hand, and from the hand including that card chooses one card to discard face down. (Figure 2)
Figure 2: "I lost, so I add my opponent's card to my hand, and from my hand including it I choose 1 card and discard it face down." / "I won, so I line up my opponent's card in my own field."
Repeat this until the hands run out. The leader (parent) of the next trick is the player who won the immediately preceding trick.
POP!
If, as a result of "3. Capture Cards", the total of the cards in your own field becomes 15 or more, the gum balloon bursts. Discard all of the cards lined up in your field. (Figure 3)
Figure 3: "The total of the cards in the field exceeded 14, so..." "POP!" "...all the lined-up cards are discarded." ("Oh...")
Winning a Round
When the 10 tricks have ended, the player whose own-field cards have the larger total compared with the opponent's wins the round. If the totals are tied, compare the number of cards: the player with more cards wins. If that is also tied, both players are considered to have won.
The player who wins a round turns over the player card at their hand (placing it so that it is clear they have won once).
Continue until either player has won 2 rounds. Swap the leader (parent) from the first round and start the next round from step 3 of the game setup.
If both players reach their second round win at the same time, play an extension round. Continue until one player wins.