Ribbit
Ribbit Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Players and Age
- Players: 2–5
- Age: 6 and up
- Duration: 20 minutes
Materials
- 1 Board
- 5 wooden turtles in 5 different colors
- 52 playing cards: for each color, 1 double-advance card, 5 single-advance cards, 2 retreat cards; plus neutral cards — 3 rainbow double-advance, 2 rainbow single-advance, 5 "last turtle advances 1" cards, and 2 "last turtle advances 2" cards
- 5 square "Turtle" cards, each a different color
- Rules of the game
Goal of the Game
Be the first to reach the salad patch (the last space on the board) with the turtle of your secret color.
Setup
- Place the board in the center of the table and stack all 5 wooden turtles on top of one another on the start space.
- Shuffle the 5 square "Turtle" cards and deal one to each player, face down. Each player secretly learns their color and puts the card back down in front of them, face down.
- The unused square cards are put away in the box face down (no one should know which colors are not in play).
- Thoroughly shuffle the 52 playing cards and deal 5 face down to each player. Each player picks up their 5 cards in hand without showing them. The undealt cards form a face-down draw pile placed near the board.
- The youngest player goes first, and turns then pass clockwise.
Playing the Game
On their turn, the active player chooses one of the cards in their hand and lays it face up next to the draw pile. They then move a turtle as follows:
- The turtle whose color is shown on the card advances 2 spaces.
- The turtle whose color is shown on the card advances 1 space.
- The turtle whose color is shown on the card retreats 1 space (if that turtle is still on the start space, this card cannot be played).
- The last-place turtle advances 1 or 2 spaces, as shown on the card. If several turtles are tied for last place, the player chooses which one moves.
The turtle whose color is designated by the card must always be moved, even if it is not the player's own secret color. A player does not have to play a card of their own color — indeed, having cards of other colors in hand lets them mislead their opponents a little!
But if the turtle shown on the card played is rainbow-colored, the player whose turn it is may move any turtle they choose.
When a turtle lands on a space that is already occupied, it climbs on top of the turtle already there. Any number of turtles may be stacked on top of one another.
When a turtle carrying one or more other turtles on its back is moved, all the turtles stacked on top of it move together with it. However, any turtles underneath it stay where they are.
At the end of their turn, the player draws a new card from the draw pile. When the draw pile runs out, the played cards are shuffled together to form a new draw pile.
End of the Game and Winning
The race ends as soon as a turtle reaches or passes the last space.
Each player then reveals their secret color, and the player whose color matches the turtle at the top of the winning stack is the winner. If several turtles reach the finish at the same time (stacked together), the turtle at the bottom of that stack wins, because it is the one that carried everyone else along. The turtle directly above it finishes second, and so on up the stack.
Example
The player whose turn it is plays a neutral card and chooses the red turtle from among the 3 turtles tied for last place (1). The yellow turtle, which is on top of the red one, is carried along too, but the blue turtle underneath must stay in place (2).
Next, the following player plays a purple card. The purple turtle must retreat 1 space, so the red and yellow turtles riding on top of it retreat as well (3).
The next player plays a red card and moves the red turtle forward 2 spaces, so it must also carry along the yellow turtle stacked on top of the red turtle (4).
Variant
With very young players, colors can be played openly instead of secretly. Each player chooses their favorite-colored turtle and places the matching square card face up in front of them.