Carambouille

Carambouille Rulebook

Table of Contents

The Components
Setting Up the Game
Playing the Game
The End of the Game
The Carambouilles

The Components

132 cards (100 Product cards, 24 Carambouille cards, 7 Memo cards, 1 Bell card), 1 score pad, 1 pencil, 1 rulebook, 1 resealable bag to hold the cards.

Setting Up the Game

The "Product" Cards

They depict 20 different products, each upon 5 identical cards:

3 products having a value of 10: onions, garlic and herbs.
3 products having a value of 20: tomatoes, sweet pepper and aubergines.
3 products having a value of 30: lemons, hot peppers and lavender.
2 products having a value of 40: cheese and sausage.
2 products having a value of 50: wine and ham.
2 products having a value of 60: hens and rabbits.
2 products having a value of 70: olive oil and fabric.
1 product having a value of 80: foie gras
1 product having a value of 90: truffles
1 product having a value of 100: saffron

The Product cards are shuffled and stacked face down. Each player receives 6 cards which he keeps in his hand.

The "Memo" Cards

They tell the players the value of the different products, according to the number of cards they sell. The more identical product cards a player sells, the more points he gets when he sells them. Each player gets one which he lays in front of him.

The "Carambouille" Cards

There are 6 different Carambouille cards, 4 copies of each:

Basket: allows you to have more cards in your hand
I lied!: allows you to lie during an exchange
Persuasion: compels another player to make an exchange
Illusion: allows you to sell a product for more than it's worth
Bargain: compels another player to sell at half price
Overstock: prevents another player to sell a product

Each card's effect is explained upon the card. The Carambouille cards are shuffled and stacked face down to make a deck. They will be acquired by the players during the game.

The First Trader

One of the players is randomly chosen to be the First Trader and takes the Bell card. Then he writes down on the pad the players' names in the columns' heads.

Playing the Game

The game is played in several hands. Each hand is made up of an exchange phase, a sales phase and ends with somebody else becoming First Trader.

"Exchanges"

The First Trader shakes the Bell card while shouting Ding-a-Ding, or whatever he likes, and this as long as he wants. When he stops, the exchanges can begin. Everything is possible but it is forbidden to lie (except if you have a Carambouille card: I lied!).

Examples: I trade 70 points for 70 points... Or I trade hens for rabbits... Or I'm looking for truffles... Or I trade a Carambouille for cheese... Et caetera.

The values used during an exchange are the face values (those printed upon the cards) and not the selling values as printed upon the Memo cards, even if you use a Persuasion card. That is to say, two 10 cards are worth 20 and not 25 points during an exchange. During an exchange, a player may play a Carambouille card whenever he wants. Its effect is applied at once and the card is discarded.

When he decides it, the First Trader rings the bell for the second time and the exchanges immediately stop (except a Persuasion which has to be resolved). The players then can sell their products.

"Sales"

The First Trader decides if he wants to sell some products or not. If he sells some products, he discards them, looks at their value on the Memo card and writes upon the score pad his gain in his column. Then he decides if he buys 0, 1 or 2 Carambouille cards. He subtracts 50 points from his total for each Carambouille card he buys. He looks at his new cards and lays them down in front of him.

It is then the next player's turn. And so on until all of the players have sold the products they want to sell and/or bought Carambouille cards.

During the game, it is possible to buy Carambouille cards even if nothing has been sold, but of course the players must have enough points to pay their cards. A player's score can never fall under zero.

The First Trader writes down the gain (or loss) of all the players upon the score pad which must be available and visible to all during the game.

When a product gets sold, each player, beginning with the seller, may play a Carambouille card. The cards' effects are applied one after the other and the cards are discarded for the whole game.

Example: A player sells 3 cheeses: value = 180. But he also plays an Illusion card → the 3 cheeses' value rockets to 300. Alas, another player uses his Bargain card → the 3 cheeses' value falls down to 150. If another player then uses an Overstock card, the sale is cancelled: the seller takes back his 3 cheese cards, the Illusion, Bargain and Overstock cards are discarded.

Changing First Trader

When the sales phase is finished, the First Trader gives the Bell card, the score pad and the pencil to his left-hand neighbour who becomes First Trader. The new First Trader completes everybody's hand with Product cards from the stock according to the following rules:

3 new cards max per player
A player's hand cannot exceed 8 Product cards (except with one or more Basket cards)

The First Trader goes one time round the table giving a card to each player who is entitled to it, and a second time and a third time. Then he rings the bell and a new exchange phase begins, followed by a sales phase, and so on.

Attention! Carambouille cards do not count in the maximum cards a player can have in his hand. When used, Carambouille cards are discarded for the whole game. Thus when all have been bought, there is no way to get new ones except during an exchange phase, and it seldom happens! During the last round, it may be that there are not enough Product cards in the stock for all the players entitled to them...

The End of the Game

When the last Product cards from the stock have been distributed, the players begin the last exchange phase and the last sales phase, selling all of their Product cards. Of course, these last sales can be disturbed by the last Carambouille cards! And, of course, the richest player (in points) wins the game!

The Carambouilles

Basket (Panier) — Permanent effect

As soon as a player lays a "Basket" card in front of him, the maximum "Products" cards in his hand climbs to 10. It climbs to 11 if the player has 2 "Basket" cards in front of him, to 12 if he has 3 of them and to 14 if he has the 4 of them.

I Lied! ("J'ai menti!") — Must be played during an exchange phase

This card allows you to lie once during an exchange phase. The lying player can announce what he wants but he must give at least one "Product" card to his opponent during this exchange. The "I lied!" card is discarded after use.

Persuasion (Persuasion) — Must be played during an exchange phase

This card compels another player to exchange with you. The card's owner takes all his opponent's cards, looks at them and chooses the ones he wants. He then gives to his opponent, from his own hand, "Product" cards amounting to an identical face value. The value used is each card's face value and not the value printed on the "Memo" card. That is to say two 10 cards are worth 20 and not 25 points during an exchange. The "Persuasion" card is discarded after use.

Illusion (Illusion) — Must be played during a sales phase

This card creates a virtual product. The selling player computes his gain as if he had one more card of the product. He takes into account the gain printed in the next column of the "Memo" card (2 instead of 1, 3 instead of 2, and so on; 6 instead of 5 is impossible). The "Illusion" card is discarded after use.

Bargain (Soldes) — Must be played during a sales phase

This card compels another player to sell his product at half price, whatever the number of cards of this product he sells. Thus the price on the "Memo" card is halved and rounded up. The "Bargain" card is discarded after use.

Overstock (Surstock) — Must be played during a sales phase

This card prevents another player selling his product, whatever the number of cards of this product he sells. He takes back his "Product" cards and will have to wait another sales phase to sell them. The "Overstock" card is discarded after use.