Hot Potato!
Hot Potato! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game set up
Give each player a set of six Potato cards, these are your handcards. Don't show them to anyone else. When you are playing with less than four players, leave the leftover sets in the box. Then shuffle the Encounter cards to form a face down deck. Place the Hot Potato somewhere within reach. Take a notepad or telephone to keep track of the score.
Playing the game
At the start of the game, draw the top three cards of the Encounter deck and place them face up on the table so that every player can see them. When every player has had a good look at these cards, shuffle them and put them back on top of the Encounter deck.
The game is played in rounds, every round consists of four steps:
1. Play a Potato card
Every player chooses one Potato card to play from their hand, placing the card face down on the table. All players then reveal their cards at the same time.
Note that the Poteto Potato effect already takes place in this step.
2. Draw the Encounter card
One of the players draws the top card from the Encounter deck, placing it face up on the table for all players to see.
3. Deal with the Encounter
The Encounter card shows a ranking of all Potato's, with the highest at the top and the lowest at the bottom. The player with the highest Potato card wins a point. If there is a draw, as multiple players played the same Potato and this is the highest ranked Potato played, all players who played this card win a point.
4. Use/check Potato effects
Every player that did not win one (or two) point(s) may perform the effect of the Potato they played. If the effect is relevant for the next round, keep the Potato card in front of you. If the effect is not relevant, or if you won a point in this round, discard the Potato card to your personal discard pile. At this point any Potato card that you played last round, with an effect in this round, is now moved to your discard pile. The Encounter card is also discarded, to a discard pile next to the deck.
Play continues with a new round, again going through all four steps.
If all Encounter cards have been played, shuffle the Encounter discard pile and first reveal and shuffle the top three Encounter cards (similar to the game set up) before continuing with the next round.
Winning the game
The first player to reach 10 points wins the game. In the rare case of a tie XYZ
Note: the printed rules read "In the rare case of a tie XYZ". The tie-break rule is not stated in the source; the text is transcribed as printed.
Running out of Potato cards
Whenever at the end of a round you run out of cards to play, you must take all the cards from your discard pile and put them back in your hand to play.
Note that this does not include a Potato card that has an effect still being used in the next round.
Potato card effects
A-peeling Potato: You may look at the top three Encounter cards, then shuffle them and put them back on top of the deck.
Couch Potato: You may return your entire discard pile to your hand.
Poteto Potato: Once all players revealed their Potato cards in step 1, you may put down an extra Potato card before the Encounter card is drawn. If multiple players played the Poteto Potato card, the extra Potato cards are again revealed simultaneously. When you win with either of your Potato cards, discard both cards. When neither card wins, you may use the effect of the extra Potato card you played.
Rambotato: Change the position of the Hot Potato to another player of your choice. If multiple players have played the Rambotato, the Hot Potato moves to a player that didn't play the Rambotato. If the players that played Rambotato do not agree to which player the Hot Potato should move or if ALL players played Rambotato, the Hot Potato is moved to the middle of the table.
Robotato: Next round you and only you are protected against any effects from another player. If the Hot Potato card is directed towards you, it will be moved to the middle of the table.
Sweet Potato: If you win next round, you will gain two points instead of one.
Hot Potato
If a player has received the Hot Potato, that player cannot perform effects from their Potato cards. The only exception is the Rambotato, the effect from this card can still be used. The player can still score points as normal.
Component notes
- Potato cards: the sheet illustrates the Potato cards named in the effects section: A-peeling Potato, Couch Potato, Poteto Potato, Rambotato, Robotato and Sweet Potato. Each player is dealt a set of six.
- Encounter cards: a face down deck; the top card is drawn face up each round.
- Hot Potato card: placed somewhere within reach at set up. Its position is changed by the Rambotato effect, and it is moved to the middle of the table by the Rambotato and Robotato rules as printed.