Sneeze
Sneeze Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
The object of Sneeze is to make other players Sneeze by matching Sneeze cards to their allergies while trying not to sneeze yourself.
You start with just one allergy but get one more each time you sneeze. Once you have four or more allergies you can give them to other players by making them sneeze.
The last player with three or fewer allergies wins!
Contents
- 111 playing cards
- 81 Sneeze cards
- 30 And Now cards
- 1 Large Wind card
Set-Up
Shuffle the two sets of cards and place them facedown next to each other to form the Sneeze and And Now draw piles.
Flip one Sneeze card face-up in front of each player. The card or cards face-up in front of a player is called his "Allergy" or "Allergies."
If you flip a white Windy Day card discard it and draw again. Do not draw an And Now card at this stage of the game.
Place the Wind card about a foot away from the draw piles with the picture of the blowing cloud face-up. See Figure 1.
Figure 1: Set-Up (diagram in the original; see the Downwind Sneeze Pool, Upwind Sneeze Pool and draw piles it shows).
Sneeze Pools
During the game you add to two groups of face-up Sneeze cards called Sneeze "pools."
Between the draw decks and the Wind card is the "upwind pool," which is blowing in your face and might make you sneeze. The other side is the "downwind pool." It is blowing away from you so won't make you sneeze.
To begin with you will normally want to flip into the upwind pool to try and make people sneeze, but later you may wish to flip into the downwind pool instead.
Windy Days
Most of the Sneeze cards show Allergies, but a few are white Windy Day cards.
When you turn over one of these cards (except during Set-Up) the direction of the wind changes. Move the large Wind card to the other side of the draw decks. This turns the old downwind pool into the new upwind pool (and vice-versa), which may make someone sneeze! (see Sneezing)
The Windy Day card is discarded. The player who drew it also gets to draw an And Now card.
Game Play
The player closest to home goes first.
On your turn you must either:
- Flip a Sneeze card into a Sneeze pool
- Play an And Now card (if you have one)
Next check to see if you made anybody sneeze, including yourself! (see Sneezing)
The player to the left then takes the next turn. If either the Sneeze or the And Now draw deck runs out, simply reshuffle its discard pile to form a new draw deck.
Keep your And Now cards face down. You may ignore the writing of them. (purple text)
Flipping a Sneeze Card
Take the top Sneeze card and flip it face up into a Sneeze pool without looking at it. If the card is a Windy Day then the wind changes (see Windy Days). Otherwise the card is added to the pool. It may make people sneeze (see Sneezing).
If you look at the card before you choose which pool to put it in, you must put it in the upwind pool.
Playing an And Now Card
You may play an And Now card on your turn by placing it face up and following the instructions on the card. You can find a detailed explanation in the Appendix.
Instead, any And Now cards may be used to: (purple text)
- Remove one type of allergy from a sneeze pool (see Spring Cleaning)
- Swap one of your allergies with a player of your choice (see Mix Up)
- Flip Double (see below)
If you make people sneeze, you draw more And Now cards as usual (see Sneezing).
Flipping Double
Instead of using its particular effect, you may play an And Now card to Flip Double.
Add two Sneeze cards to ONE pool of your choice at the same time. If one card is a Windy Day, the direction of the wind changes before anyone sneezes. If both cards are Windy Days, nothing happens, but you get to draw two extra And Now cards!
Sneezing
If any player has only one card in her allergy and the upwind pool has a Sneeze card which matches it, she sneezes!
A player with more than one card in her Allergies only sneezes if cards in the upwind pool match every card in her Allergies, including duplicates. See Figure 2.
Figure 2: Sneezing. Anne has a Dog and two Dust in her Allergies. She sneezes if the upwind pool contains at least one Dog card and at least two Dust cards.
When a player sneezes, do the following:
- The sneezing player flips a Sneeze card and adds it face-up to her Allergies.
- The sneezing player and the player whose turn it is both draw an And Now card.
- ALL cards in the upwind pool are cleared away and put into the discard pile.
Making Many People Sneeze
If more than one player has allergies matching the cards in the upwind pool, they each sneeze and the player who made them sneeze draws an And Now card for each of them.
Making Yourself Sneeze
If you make yourself sneeze, you only draw one And Now card for sneezing, not two for making yourself sneeze as well. You still get cards for making other players sneeze.
Windy Day as an Allergy
If a player turns over Windy Day as her allergy then the Wind changes and she gets an extra And Now card. The Windy Day is discarded. She does not have to draw a new allergy to replace it!
Players with Four or More Allergies
If you have four or more Allergy cards and make another player sneeze then you choose one of your Allergies to give to that player (instead of the player drawing a new Allergy for sneezing). If you make more than one player sneeze in the same turn then you may give away one Allergy to each of them.
You still draw a new allergy card if you make yourself sneeze.
Ending the Game
You can win Sneeze in several ways:
- On any player's turn, if you are the only player left with fewer than four allergies.
- On your turn, if you make people sneeze so that every player (including you) has four or more allergies.
- On your turn, if you make four or more different players sneeze during your turn (even if one of them is you!).
The game ends as soon as someone wins.
Appendix
Ignore the card descriptions. Each card may be used as Mix Up or Spring Cleaning. (purple text)
Gust of Wind (3 in deck): Choose either the upwind or downwind pool and clear it, discarding all Sneeze cards and any Mean Trick cards.
I Hold My Breath (3 in deck): Keep the card face up in front of you after you play it. While you have an I Hold My Breath card in front of you, you do not sneeze even if your Allergies match cards in the upwind pool.
Discard the I Hold My Breath card as soon as the wind direction changes. If your Allergies match cards in the new upwind pool, you sneeze immediately. You may have more than one I Hold My Breath card in front of you, but it doesn't help you. They both go away when the wind changes.
Mean Trick (6 in deck): Choose either pool and pick a type of Sneeze card (e.g. Dog or Dust) in that pool. Until that pool is cleared, every Sneeze card in that pool of the chosen type counts as two.
Example: The upwind pool has a Cat and a Smog in it. You play a Mean Trick card on the Cat. There are now two Cats in the pool. If another Cat goes into the pool later, instead of two Cats there will be four Cats.
Playing another Mean Trick on the same type of card in the same pool doubles the number of that card in the pool again.
Mix Up (3 in deck): Swap a Sneeze card in your Allergies with a Sneeze card in any other player's Allergies (you choose both cards). This may make them Sneeze!
Example: The upwind pool has a Cat and a Smog in it. Your allergy cards are a Cat and a Dog. Anne's allergy cards are a Smog and a Pollen. You play a Mix Up card and swap your Cat allergy for Anne's Pollen allergy. Anne sneezes!
Something in the Air (3 in deck): Name any Sneeze card (Cat, Dog, Dust, Pollen, or Smog). An extra card of that type is considered to be in the upwind pool for this turn only. If no one Sneezes because of the Something in the Air, the extra card disappears.
If you play a Something in the Air card in combination with a Mean Trick card, the effects multiply.
Example: The upwind pool has a Cat in it which someone has already played a Mean Trick card on. If you play a Something in the Air card on the Cat, the pool now has four Cats in it until the end of your turn.
Spring Cleaning (3 in deck): Pick either pool and choose a type of Sneeze card in it. Discard all Sneeze cards of that type in the pool, along with any Mean Trick cards affecting that type in the pool.
Weather Forecast (6 in deck): Change the direction of the wind by taking the large Wind card and moving it to the other side of the draw decks. This makes the old downwind pool become the new upwind pool (and vice-versa), which may make someone sneeze!