Hippo Hopp
Hippo Hopp Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 28 Hippo Cards (with values from 1 to 8)
- 30 Point chits (20 x 1 Point chits, 10 x 5 Point chits)
- 1 Bird with leg stand
Card fronts are OPEN; card backs are HIDDEN.
Idea and Goal of the Game
The player who successfully jumps over the angered Hippo's backs and lands safely on the backs of the un-angered Hippos scores points and at the same time wins the game.
Preparation
Shuffle all Hippo cards. Then deal out 9 cards to the side creating a hidden deck and put it in the middle of the table. Create a circle with the leftover 19 cards by placing them with front of the cards face up so the numbers are visible. After each player had a chance to look at all the numbers on the cards, flip the cards over, so that only the backs of the hippos are showing.
The Point chits are placed in the middle of the table next to the hidden deck as supply. Place the Bird on any card in the circle. The player who last saw a hippo starts the game. After that the game continues clockwise in player order.
Game Play
On player's turn, he must either
a) flip a card in the circle
OR
b) use a penalty card of another player
The number on the card indicates how many Hippo backs the Bird must jump over.
Penalty cards are first assigned when a player makes a mistake!
a) Flip a Card in the Circle
A player picks any card in the circle that hasn't been flipped open yet. The number on the flipped card tells the players how many Hippo backs he must jump forward with the Bird.
b) Use a Penalty Card of Another Player
At the beginning no player has any penalty cards, but that will quickly change during the game. As soon as any player has one or more penalty cards in front of them, the active player may use one of those cards. He just picks one of the cards and moves the Bird the number of Hippo backs indicated on that card, and then he discards the card from the game.
Regardless of which of the 2 options the player chooses, a) or b), he must land with the Bird on one of the (safe) Hippo backs to score points. If he lands with the Bird on one of the flipped Hippo cards, showing an angered Hippo, the player gets a penalty card.
The Bird Lands on the (Safe) Hippo Back
The player checks and counts how many OPEN cards he jumped over with the Bird. For every OPEN card he jumped over he gets 1 Point. He takes the number of points from the middle of the table placing them in front of him. Then it's the next player's turn.
Lucky move!
Example: Peter flips over a "5". He jumps over 3 OPEN Hippo cards and receives 3 points.
NOTE: If a player uses a penalty card of another player, he only receives max 3 points even if he jumped over more than 3 OPEN Hippo cards.
The Bird Lands on the OPEN (Angered) Hippo
If the Bird lands on the OPEN (angered) Hippo card, the player takes that card and places it in front of himself with number showing as a penalty card. If the card still lies in front of him at the end of the game, he gets -2 points for such a card. All OPEN (angered) Hippo cards in the circle that have a number lower or equal to the taken penalty card are now flipped over to show only the Hippo backs. The gap in the circle is filled by taking a card from the deck in the middle and the Bird is placed now on that card. Then it's the next player's turn.
Now I got you!
Example: Uwe flips over a "4". He lands on the "5" and gets the "5" as a penalty card. All OPEN (angered) Hippo cards that show a "5" or less than "5" are now flipped over to show only the Hippo backs. The gap that resulted from taking the "5" card is now filled with a card from the deck in the middle of the table.
NOTE: If a player lands on an OPEN (angered) Hippo card in his turn, he does not receive any point chits.
End of Game
The game ends when the deck in the middle of the table is empty and after another player has taken a penalty card. Now players must give up 2 points for every penalty card they have. After that players count all their points. The Player with the most points is the winner. In case of a tie, the tied players share the win.