Sandbag Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Setup
  • Rocket Cards
• Pass 1 Card to Each Neighbor
• 3 Cards Face Down in Front
• Starting Player
• Gameplay
  • Face Down Sandbag Cards
• Rocket Cards
• Trump Color
  • Multiple Trump Colors
  • No Trump Color
• Swapping Cards
  • Trump Color Changes
• Winning a Trick
• End of Round
• Prior to Scoring
• Scoring
• Rounds 2 & 3
• End of Game
• Hot Air Balloons & Sandbags

Contents

• 11 Teal Balloon cards (0-10)
• 11 Red Balloon cards (0-10)
• 11 Purple Balloon cards (0-10)
• 11 Orange Balloon cards (0-10)
• 11 Yellow Balloon cards (0-10)
• 5 -5 Rocket cards (3-4 players)
• 5 -7 Rocket cards (5-6 players)
• 6 Double-sided Reference cards

Setup

Rocket Cards

• 3 Players: Add 4 of the 5 -5 Rocket cards to the deck (do not use the -7 Rocket cards).
• 4 Players: Add all 5 -5 Rocket cards to the deck (do not use the -7 Rocket cards).
• 5-6 Players: Add all 5 -7 Rocket cards to the deck (do not use the -5 Rocket cards).

3 Players: Remove all cards of one Balloon color (4-6 players use all cards).

Shuffle: Shuffle all of the Balloon and Rocket cards together (Sandbag backs).

Deal: Deal cards face down evenly to players.

Reference Cards: Give each player 1 Reference card.

Pass 1 Card to Each Neighbor

After looking at their cards, each player passes 1 card of their choice face down to the player on their left and another face down card to the player on their right. Players may pass any cards, even Rocket cards!

Tip: Pass cards you don't want to play, such as high value cards.

The 2 cards that are received from neighbors are then viewed and added into the player's hand.

3 Cards Face Down in Front

Each player places 2 cards of their choice face down in front of themselves (their "Basket") and then 1 face down card of their choice (the "face down Sandbag" card) behind those 2 turned sideways.

Tip: Place a card you don't want to play as your face down Sandbag.

Once all players have placed their cards, the 2 face down cards in each player's Basket are turned face up simultaneously.

Tip: Face the cards in your basket away from you, because they are only available to other players.

Sample setup for 4 players: each player has 2 face up cards in their Basket and 1 face down Sandbag card.

Starting Player

The player with the highest trump color card (see Trump Color on page 11) in their Basket is the starting player at the beginning of each round.

In the Setup example, orange is the trump color, and Keven will play first because he has the highest trump color card (the orange 7) in front of him.

If there is more than 1 trump color and more than 1 player is tied for the highest trump color card in front of them, the tied player closest to the left of the dealer goes first.

After the first trick, the starting player is the player who won the previous trick.

Gameplay

The starting player plays 1 card to the center of the table. They may play a card from their hand, their face down Sandbag card(s) (see below), or they may play a face up card from a Basket that is in front of another player (see Swapping cards, page 12).

The player to their left must play a card of that color if they have at least one card of that color in their hand. If they do not have a card of that color in their hand, they may play any card.

Face Down Sandbag Cards

A face down Sandbag card may be played instead of a face up card from the player's hand. A face down Sandbag card may be played even if the player has cards of the led color in their hand. Face down Sandbag cards never win a trick, and they are not turned face up during the round (their values are hidden). If a face down Sandbag card is led, the first player after that who can play a face up card must do so.

Tip: Face down Sandbag cards are great when you want to get rid of the lead.

If all players play a face down Sandbag card (possible near round end), no one gets the cards in the trick; all of them are put aside and same player leads the next trick.

Rocket Cards

Points are bad in Sandbag. Rocket cards give you minus points, so Rocket cards are good! Rocket cards can be played at any time, even if the player has cards of the led color. If a Rocket card is led, the first Balloon card played is the led color.

Tip: If you place Rocket cards in your Basket, you might be able to win them when someone swaps them for a face down Sandbag card (see Swapping cards, page 12).

If all players play a Rocket card, the first player to play the Rocket card wins the trick. If only face down Sandbag cards and Rocket cards are played during a trick, the first player to play a Rocket card wins the trick.

Example: Keven led an orange 4. Peter swapped one of his cards for the orange 0 from Maddy's Basket. Josh played his face down Sandbag card. Maddy didn't have orange, so she played a yellow 8. Keven won the trick.

Trump Color

The highest number of the trump color(s) played will always win a trick, beating the highest card of the led color (see Gameplay on page 8).

The color on the most face up cards in players' Baskets at the end of each trick is the trump color. If there is a tie, the highest sum of the tied cards is the trump color. If there's still a tie, all of the tied colors are the trump color.

In the example, orange is the trump color (there are 2 orange cards and 2 red cards in players' Baskets, but the sum of the orange cards is 8, while the sum of the red cards is only 5).

Multiple Trump Colors

If there is more than 1 trump color, all of the cards of those colors are trump color cards. If there is more than 1 trump color and more than 1 card of the highest trump color value is played, the first card played of any trump color of the highest value wins the trick.

No Trump Color

If all cards in front of players are face down (or the only face up cards in front of players are Rocket cards), there is no trump color.

Swapping Cards

On a player's turn, they may play a card from in front of any other player (not themselves), replacing that card with a card of their own, turning it face down. This can be done at any time, even on the first card of a trick!

The card they take is considered part of their hand and must be played immediately.

Tip: This can allow a player to avoid playing the led color if they have exactly 1 card of that color in their hand. When they place that card face down to swap for a face up card, that card is no longer in their hand.

However, a player may not swap for a Balloon card that is not the led color if they have more than 1 card of the led color in their hand. They must always play a card of the led color if they have it, unless they are swapping for a Rocket card or a Balloon card of the same color.

You may swap a card in your hand for a face up Balloon card in front of another player if:

1. You play first in the trick
2. You take a card of the led color.
3. You have no cards of the led color.
4. You only have 1 card of the led color and use that card to swap.

Players may never swap for a face down Sandbag card from behind another player's basket.

Trump Color Changes

If a face up trump color card is swapped from in front of a player, the trump color may change by the end of the trick. Be sure to assess the trump color at the end of any trick where cards have been swapped.

Example: Keven led a purple 0, and Peter played a purple 1.

It's Josh's turn, and he has a purple card, so he must play it. However, he is allowed to swap that purple card for a face up Balloon card in another player's Basket. He decides to swap his purple 7 for Keven's orange 7, because then he will have no purple cards. That will make the trump color red.

On Maddy's turn, she has 2 purple cards, so she must play one of them. But Keven still has a Rocket card in his Basket, which can be played even if you have a card of the led color, so she swaps her purple 8 for Keven's Rocket card.

Peter wins the trick, which is good news for him, because a Rocket card is now in the trick.

Winning a Trick

After each player has played a card, the player who played the highest card of the led color wins the trick. If any trump color cards were played, the highest trump color card wins the trick. If two or more highest-value trump color cards are played (if there is more than 1 trump color), the first of the highest value trump color cards played wins the trick.

The player who won the trick takes all Balloon cards and puts them face down in a separate pile near them. These represent sandbags and are unwanted points. Rocket cards are kept face up and represent the removal of accumulated points from sandbags.

End of Round

A round ends once all players have played all of their cards, including any face down Sandbag cards.

Prior to Scoring

You will need a pencil and paper to keep track of each player's score.

If the Rocket cards are not all accounted for, check all face down cards and turn any found Rocket cards face up.

Scoring

Each round is scored separately, adding the sum of the previous round(s) as you play.

Each player receives:

• +1 point for each face down Balloon card, including any face down Balloon cards in their Basket
• -5 points for each Rocket card (3-4 players)
• -7 points for each Rocket card (5-6 players)
• +The sum of the values of any face up cards in their Basket

Example (end of the first round): Keven has 6 face down Sandbag cards from tricks and 2 face down Sandbag cards in his Basket, for a sum of 8 points. He has two -5 Rocket cards, so his total is -2 points.

Peter has 15 face down Sandbag cards from tricks and 2 face down Sandbag cards in his Basket, for a sum of 17 points. He has one -5 Rocket card, so his total is 12 points.

Josh has 26 face down Sandbag cards from tricks, and 1 face down Sandbag card and a face up 6 Balloon card in his Basket, for a sum of 33 points. He has two -5 Rocket cards, so his total is 23 points.

Maddy has 1 face down Sandbag card and a face up 4 Balloon card in her Basket, so her total is 5 points.

Rounds 2 & 3

After scoring of rounds 1 and 2, cards are gathered up, shuffled, and dealt again.

At the start of rounds 2 and 3, each player again passes 1 card to each neighbor. Then each player places 2 cards in their Basket and 1 face down Sandbag card in front of them.

In addition to those 3 cards, for every 10 points (rounded down) of a player's total score, they may place 1 additional face down Sandbag card, spread out slightly so all players can see how many face down Sandbag cards they have.

Tip: Extra face down Sandbags are incredibly powerful, as they can guarantee that you won't take a trick, and can also ensure you don't get "stuck" with the lead late in the round.

In the example on page 18, for the next round, Peter will be able to play 1 extra facedown Sandbag card under his Basket (for a total of 2), while Josh will be able to play 2 extra facedown Sandbag cards (for a total of 3).

End of Game

The game ends after 3 rounds.

The player with the lowest score wins.

If there is a tie, the tied player with the lowest score on the 3rd round wins.

If there is still a tie, the tied player with the lowest score on the 2nd round wins.

If there is still a tie, the tied player with the lowest score on the 1st round wins.

If there is still a tie, the tied players lose for wasting everyone's time figuring out the tiebreaker and the player with the next lowest score wins!

Hot Air Balloons & Sandbags

Hot air balloons such as the ones shown throughout this game don't typically use sandbags for ascension; instead, propane is used to heat the air inside the balloon to allow it to rise.

Sandbags are sometimes used for gas balloons that are typically filled with helium. The sandbags are removed upon ascent and the valve to the balloon is opened slightly upon descent.

The depiction of hot air balloons in this game is merely an artistic one, and while we are loath to perpetuate the notion that hot air balloons regularly use sandbags (though they are much quieter to ride in), gas balloons aren't nearly as aesthetically pleasing as hot air balloons. Apologies to any balloonists who might be offended by our artistic license in depicting them this way.