Roller Coaster Hippo Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Quick rules
• Roller Coaster Hippo
  • Contents
  • On your marks, get set, go!
  • The game to start
• The special squares explained
  • The mouth
  • The clown's face
  • The hands
  • The ear
  • The exclamation mark
  • The question mark
  • The lucky squares
  • The excitement comes to an end
  • Shorter version

Quick rules

Aim: To be the first hippo to thunder its way to the end of the roller coaster, modelling clay, miming, joking and laughing all the way.

... and the game goes like this:

1. Place the Hippo of your choice on the start square. (Page 3)
2. Throw the picture dice and move the Hippo. (Page 4)
3. If you land on the Mouth: pick up an activity card, think of something as instructed, describe it so that the other players can guess what it is, then move again. (Page 6)
4. If you land on the Question Mark: carry out the task set by the Task I and II cards, collect a counter, move on. (Page 8)
5. If you land on the Clown's Face: mime a word or thing. (Page 7)
6. Obstacle square: carry out the task set by the Task I and II cards. (Page 8)
7. Lucky squares: keep throwing the dice, collect counters. (Page 9)
8. If you land on the Hands: think of a thing and model it with the modelling clay. (Page 7)
9. If you land on the Ear: think of a thing and describe it by making sounds. (Page 7)
10. The first one to reach the end is the champion of the roller coaster. (Page 11)

Roller Coaster Hippo

Contents

• 1 Board
• 6 Pieces
• 16 Activity cards
• 62 Task cards I
• 53 Task cards II
• 9 Blank cards for your own ideas
• 1 Picture dice
• 1 Packet of counters
• 1 Stick of modelling clay
• 1 Hour glass

On your marks, get set, go!

Dear Hippo friends,

you've most definitely picked a real surprise package and won't know what's hit you!

There will be fun and jokes from beginning to end. All the way through you'll be given the craziest things to do when you will mime, show off your skills with the modelling clay, guess words, play act, make noises and much more.

All this just to get your hippo to the end of the roller coaster first.

Roll up your sleeves, warm up the dice, have some paper and pencil nearby (you'll find out why on page 6!), choose a hippo, take a deep breath and .... on with the race.

Each player picks up the hippo of his choice and places it at the start.

Shuffle the activity cards well and place them face down next to the board.

Do the same with the task cards, separating them into piles I and II.

Each player is given one food counter for his hippo which can be added to during the game and which will come in very useful. The hour glass can be set up for when it is needed on page 5.

But now it's time for ...

The game to start

The game is played in a clockwise direction starting with the smallest player, who we'll call "eager Eddie" for the purposes of this explanation. He throws the dice and moves his hippo to the corresponding square.

Now here's the first example:

If eager Eddie throws a pig, he moves his hippo to the square with a pig on it.

On his next turn he continues from that square.

It's bad luck for a player to throw a foot in plaster because this means he misses his turn.

It's good luck for the player who throws a hippo! He can go straight to the next special square. These squares have a red or green background (mouth, face, hands, ear, question mark, exclamation mark).

If a player throws a symbol which does not appear on the board before the next special square he can move directly to that square.

And here's another example for you:

As you know, eager Eddie's hippo is still on the pig. If he throws a pig again he can then move to the first special square which is the Mouth.

He could have done the same thing if he'd thrown the bath tub. There's one thing everyone is agreed on: you have to keep going forward.

It may be a race but every so often a bit of entertainment does not go amiss: hence the reason for the special squares (mouth, clown's face, hands, ear, question mark; exclamation mark).

You have to do something special when you land on one of these squares.

The special squares explained

The mouth

Think of a thing and describe it. Time: 1 minute (use the hour glass)

A player landing on this square must pick up an activity card and think of a thing as instructed.

The other players have to guess what it is.

This is where we need another example:

Eager Eddie picks up an activity card which says "Think of a dish or drink". He then thinks of something, e.g. a giant pizza or a glass of hippo milk.

And now the fun:

Eager Eddie has to describe what he has thought of so well that one of the other players can guess what it is as quickly as possible. Of course, eager Eddie may not refer to the object directly by its name.

All the players can guess (and shout) at the same time. The player to guess first wins a food counter from the bank.

Eager Eddie's reward for giving a good description is being allowed to thunder further along the roller coaster and stop off at the sofa. When his next turn comes round he will play on from this square. His activity card should be put to one side face up. When all activity cards have been used up they should be reshuffled and placed face down in a pile next to the board.

Players who are mistrustful can agree before the game starts that the object which is thought up should be noted on a piece of paper first before it is described to the other players.

If no-one has guessed what the player is thinking of within 1 minute there are two possibilities:

a) Discard the card and try again with a new card on the next turn

or

b) Buy your way out, i.e. if you're lucky enough to have collected 2 food counters, you can pay these to the bank and climb up to the sofa.

Note: The same thing (e.g. a pizza) may not be used a second time in the same game.

The clown's face

Think of something and mime it. Time: 1 minute (hour glass)

If you land on this square you must pick up an activity card and think of something as suggested and describe it in mime form.

• Reward for the correct guess: 1 food counter
• Your reward: progress to sofa.
• Nobody guessed it: as before, try again or buy yourself out.

The hands

Think of something and model it in clay. Time: 1 minute (hour glass)

Now it's routine:

• Pick up an activity card.
• Think of a thing.
• Model the object using the clay provided while the players guess what it is.
• Rules for reward and "failure": as above.

The ear

Think of something and describe it using sounds. Time: 1 minute (hour glass)

O.K. here we go again:

• Pick up an activity card.
• Think of a thing.
• Describe the object by making noises associated with it.
• Rules for reward and "failure": as above.

The exclamation mark

This is an obstacle square which you can leave once you have fulfilled a task.

When you reach this square, pick up a task card from each of the I and II piles and read them both out loud, card I first followed by card II, and carry out the task immediately.

There are 3 possible outcomes:

a) You are able to carry out the task and do it correctly. Reward: proceed to the next sofa square. Carry on from there on your next turn.

b) It is possible to carry out the task but you can't do it. (Perhaps because you're a stick in the mud or something).

Result: Try again on your next turn with a new card.

• or: Buy yourself out with 2 food counters and move your hippo to the next sofa. Continue from here on your next turn.

c) The task cannot be carried out because the "if condition" does not apply.

In this case, bad luck, you miss your turn. Either you wait for your next turn and try again with new cards or buy yourself out with 2 food counters and spring off to the next sofa.

The question mark

On this square you are given the chance of adding to your collection of food counters.

If your hippo finds its way onto a question mark, proceed in the same way as for the exclamation mark.

a) If you can carry out the task you will be given a reward of 1 food counter and the hippo proceeds to the next sofa.

b) If it is possible to carry out the task but you are unable to do so, you proceed to the next sofa but without a reward.

c) If it is not possible to carry out the task because of the condition on card II, the same rule applies: Go on to the sofa but without any reward.

Continue from the sofa on your next turn.

When the task cards are all used up reshuffle them and place them face down in two piles next to the board.

So, let's take another deep breath and go full pelt to the last stage.

The lucky squares

Each player whose hippo has landed on the sofa in front of the lucky squares for a little breather may try his luck on the next go: He may throw the dice as often as he likes until the hippo reaches the Hands. Each time he lands on a lucky square he wins 1 food counter.

We'll go through this slowly:

Eager Eddie first throws a pig, then a hippo, then a boot and then a bath tub (keep moving forwards). This means he has landed on 3 lucky squares before he reached the modelling clay and stopped.

Reward: 3 fat, juicy food counters.

Uses for the food counter are as follows: (some of this you already know)

a) Buying yourself out: If a player can't or won't carry out any of the activities or tasks set when he lands on a mouth, clown's face, hands, ear or an exclamation mark, he can pay 2 counters to the bank and proceed to the next sofa.

b) To avoid missing a turn: A player who throws a foot in plaster usually has to miss his turn. In exchange for 2 counters the player may move forward 2 squares.

c) Turbo charging: For those who are really in a hurry: Anyone who throws a banana, a pig, a bath tub or the boot can pay 1 counter to be able to move to the next corresponding square.

Now the last example:

Eager Eddie's hippo is sitting on the sofa after carrying out his first activity. He throws the dice and gets a banana. Normally he would move one square to the nearest banana. If he pays 1 counter to the bank, he may move to the next banana, which is five squares on.

This turbo charged move can only be made once per go i.e. payment of 5 counters to thunder across half the roller coaster without stopping is not permitted.

Would you like a brief summary?

1. Throw the dice and move as indicated

2. Carry out activities, guess correctly and pick up more counters

3. Carry out the tasks set cards I and II

4. Pay out lots of food counters

5. And charge full pelt towards the end.

The excitement comes to an end

The player who is the first back to the START after successfully carrying out the task set on the last exclamation square (or is able to buy himself out) is the victor and champion of the day.

Right, now go ahead and play another round!

Shorter version

If you've only got half an hour to spare to play the game, we recommend you make the starting point the sofa after the second red square (lefthand corner of the board).

We hope you have lots of fun with your roller coasting hippo.