Pablo
Pablo Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
Use your cards and your musical knowledge of dubious taste to score more points. The first player to reach the total number of points agreed at the start of the game is the winner. (See End of the Game.)
Components
- 140 Musical Note Cards:
- 33 Wild Notes (purple)
- 10 Hard Notes (orange)
- 30 Medium Notes (green)
- 67 Easy Notes (blue)
- 120 Point Tokens: 40 of 1 point, 25 of 5 points, 25 of 10 points and 30 of 20 points.
- 30 Onomatopoeia Tokens
- 1 Tomato
- 1 Rulebook
Game Setup
Give 3 Onomatopoeia Tokens to each player. Then shuffle the Musical Note Cards and deal 5 to each player. Place the remaining cards in a face-down pile in the center of the table. Turn over the first five cards and place them in a row next to the pile. Create a reserve (bank) in the center of the table and place the Tomato token there; it just waits for the ruckus to break out.
How to Play
In the first round, the first person who manages to sing a song using Musical Note Cards starts. After the end of their turn, play continues clockwise.
During your turn, you may:
- Sing a SINGLE song, using one or more Musical Note Cards from your hand.
OR
- Ask the audience for help and exchange 1 to 5 Musical Note Cards from your hand.
Singing
The Musical Note Cards must be revealed as you sing the song, keeping the drama and mystery of the scene. Your score depends on your musical performance, according to the difficulty of the Musical Note Cards and the features that are used.
Musical Note Cards
The Musical Note Cards are divided into four categories: easy, medium, hard and wild notes. They have their point value, and it does not matter whether the word is in Portuguese or in English.
You may use either the exact word on the card, or add suffixes and prefixes (or both) to it, as long as the word does not lose its original meaning.
- Easy (blue): 1 point.
- Medium (green): 2 points.
- Hard (orange): 3 points.
Example: on the Musical Note Card shown, the word is "AMOR" (love). You may use amar, amo, amado, enamorado, desamor. Every form of amor is considered fair.
Wild Notes
Why so serious? Wild Note Cards can be used in many ways, and you can get many points with them.
To use the example Wild Note Card (animal), the song you are singing must have in its lyrics any animal, for example "cachorro" (dog), or even the word "animal" itself, "por instinto", "decidido".
Wild Note Cards score differently: each Wild Note Card is worth the number of Musical Note Cards you used when singing a song. If you use only one Wild Note Card, it is worth 1 point; if you use 5 Musical Note Cards, including the Wild Note Card, it is worth 5 points.
...and Me and Everybody Sing Along!
It is also possible to score on another player's turn. If they begin singing a song that you know and you hold a Musical Note Card that can be used, don't hold back: sing along and use your Musical Note Card to score. Anything goes. Remember, though: Onomatopoeia Tokens may not be used on other people's songs.
Onomatopoeia Tokens
Excited? Let your voice out! If the song you sang has an onomatopoeia or any mouth noise that is not words (e.g. "Uhum", "a-ha!", "CH-CH-CHARLIBROW!"), use your Onomatopoeia Token and double your points. An Onomatopoeia Token cannot be used on another person's turn.
Combos
If you manage to use 3 or more Musical Note Cards, including Wild Cards, in a single song, your score doubles, and this bonus can be combined with Onomatopoeia Tokens.
Tomato Token
You go along happily to use a Musical Note Card and the word is wrong! You walked into the fruit market and you are getting a tomato!
The player who notices your mistake takes the Tomato from the center of the table and throws it right in your face*. All your Musical Note Cards are discarded and your turn ends. Draw five new Musical Note Cards from the deck and the turn passes to the next player. Whoever threw the Tomato gains 3 points. If the Tomato is thrown unjustly, the thrower loses 3 points.
* Remember that violence is not for everyone. The tomato is to be thrown slowly. Slowly. Very slowly.
Asking the Audience for Help
Can't remember any song with the Musical Note Cards in your hand? You can ask the audience for help and send those cards away from your hand. On your turn, you may choose to exchange 1 to 5 Musical Note Cards for the same number of notes available to take, that is, face up on the table or face down from the Musical Note Card deck.
If a card has been discarded and some player had their eye on it, any player may discard two Musical Note Cards from their hand to recover it and fulfill the dream of their own combo.
Can or Can't?
In doubt? Can I use this word? Can it be used in this song? Don't stay awake imagining a solution. In case of a deadlock, the most made-up person at the table decides. Why fight?
End of the Turn
At the end of each turn, all players score according to the cards, combos and onomatopoeias used, then discard the cards and tokens.
All players must refill their Musical Note Cards if they have fewer than five cards in hand, starting with the current player and then clockwise. Cards can be drawn from the Musical Note Card deck or from among the five revealed in the center of the table, which must be replenished as soon as the player finishes refilling their hand, so that the next player always has five options to draw from.
End of the Game
The game ends when the first player reaches the points set at the start of the game. To increase the challenge, PABLO has three levels:
- Inocente (Innocent) – 30 points (for those who are starting out and know nothing yet);
- Ali Babá – 50 points (for those who already know how to mix Brazil with Egypt);
- Raimunda – 100 points (for those who can lead PABLO in a proud way).
Someone reached the total points? Enough of heartache, ask for an encore and play one more!
Variant - Pablo for the Hasty
Don't like rules or too hurried to explain? There is an easy, extremely easy mode.
How to play: set aside half of the Musical Note Card deck and place it in the center of the table, then turn over the first card. The first person who manages to sing a song with that word wins the card.
You have to go to the end if you want to win; play until the deck runs out. At the end, each player counts their cards. In this variant, each card is worth 1 point, regardless of category. Whoever has the most cards wins.