Tiny Acrobats Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Before Your First Game
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Card Types
  • Goal
  • Gameplay
  • First Act
  • Second Act
  • Third and Final Act
  • End of the Show
  • Game Aid Card
  • Star Card
• Specifics of Performing an Act
  • Preparation
  • Performance
  • Applause
• Stars
• Variants
  • Show
  • 8 Players

Components

46 cards

• 25 Public Demands cards (6 categories of 4 cards each + 1 "Speed" card)
• 8 Components cards
• 12 Stars cards (2 categories: Humans and Animals)
• 1 play aid card

59 wooden components

• 4 Elephants, 4 Horses
• 12 Accessories (4 Balls, 4 Beams, 4 Barrels)
• 20 Acrobats (8 pink, 3 red, 3 blue, 3 yellow, 3 green)
• 4 Score cubes
• 13 Stars and their 2 Accessories

1 measuring ruler; 1 sheet with 34 stickers; 1 Clap-o-meter game board; 1 rulebook

Before Your First Game

Stick the stickers on the Balls and the Stars.

Download and install the Tiny Acrobats Boardgame app, available on the App Store and Google Play. It will advantageously replace a simple chronometer. No internet connection is required once the application is installed.

Setup

1. Each player takes a Score cube, the 3 Acrobats of the corresponding colour and 1 Ball.
2. Set the Clap-o-meter at the center of the table and put the Score cubes next to it.
3. Shuffle the Components cards to form a face-down pile.
4. Make two piles with Stars cards: one pile with Animals and one pile with Humans.
5. Set 6 face-up piles of 4 Public Demands cards each: one pile for each category. Set the Public Demands "Speed" card next to the 6 piles.
6. Set all the other wooden components on the table, in order to form an accessible reserve.
7. Set the measuring ruler and the game aid card close at hand for the players.

How to Play

Card Types

• Components card: Take the Components visible on this card to enhance your show!
• Public Demands card: Reproduce the scheme illustrated on this card to get Applause!

Goal

Within a time limit, stack wooden components (Acrobats, Animals and Accessories) to perform the tallest, highest circus Acts, while trying to best match with the Public Demands. The player with the most Applause after 3 Acts is the winner.

Gameplay

Important: An Act is made of one or more Feats of Acrobatics. A Feat of Acrobatics is defined as a stack of wooden components.

First Act

Preparation: Each player draws 1 Components card and takes the corresponding wooden components from the reserve.

Performance: Each player has now 7 wooden components in front of them. Start the music with the app. All players have now 2 minutes to perform their Act simultaneously. Once you have finished your Act, you must raise her hands and say "Tadaaaa!".

Applause: Each player gets Applause based on the 2 following criteria:

• The number of Public Demands completed in your Act: Refer to the game aid card to know how much Applause you get (for example, if you completed 3 Public Demands, you win 6 Applause). You complete the Public Demands "Speed" card by being the first player to finish their Act.
• The height of your Act: Use the measuring ruler to measure the height of your highest Acrobatics, in order to determine how much Applause you will get.

If you earn less than 10 Applause by following these criteria, you still get 10 Applause, because the public applauds your efforts.

Scoring example: This Act will give you 6+2=8 Applause. However, because an Act can't score less than 10 Applause, it will give you 10 Applause.

Before moving to the next Act, advance your Score cube on the Clap-o-meter a number of spaces equal to the Applause you just earned.

You can immediately start the game now, and come back to the rules when the first Act is complete.

Second Act

Preparation: Remove the 6 Public Demands cards on top of the 6 piles to reveal the 6 new Public Demands for this Act. The Public Demands "Speed" card stays in place. Each player draws 1 Components card and takes the corresponding wooden components from the reserve.

Performance: Each player now has 10 components to work with. Start the music with the app and perform your second Act in the same way as the first one.

Applause: Each player gets Applause based on the 2 same criteria as in the first Act.

Before moving to the next Act, advance your Score cube on the Clap-o-meter to add the Applause you earned to your total.

Third and Final Act

Preparation: Remove the 6 Public Demands cards on top of the 6 piles to reveal 6 new Public Demands. The Public Demands "Speed" card stays in place. This time, you don't draw a Components card. Instead, shuffle the Star cards "Animal" and randomly deal one to each player. Do the same with the Star cards "Human".

Performance: Start the music with the app and perform your third Act in the same way as the two previous ones.

Applause: Each player gets Applause based on the 2 same criteria as in the previous Acts. Also, add any Applause earned by using either or both of your Stars.

Advance your Score cube on the Clap-o-meter to add the Applause you earn to your total.

End of the Show

The game ends when players have completed their third Act. The player with the most Applause wins the game!

Game Aid Card

This card reminds you of the course of the three Acts, and tells you how much Applause you will get according to the number of Public Demands visible in your Act.

Star Card

• Front: Take the Component(s) depicted here.
• Back: Perform one of the two illustrated schemes on this card to get 4 Applause!

Specifics of Performing an Act

Preparation

Accumulation of Components: From one Act to another, you keep all the wooden components obtained from Components cards during the previous Preparations. Thus, you perform the first Act with 7 components, the second Act with 10 and the third Act with 12, 13 or 14 components (depending on the Stars you have).

Stars: When you draw a Star card, you take the component(s) shown on the front of the card, not the ones which may be depicted on the back (these other components can give you more Applause by using them with your Star). For example, if you have Gringer the Tiger, take the wooden tiger, but take neither the Acrobat nor the Barrel.

Performance

• Before performing your Act: Be sure that all players have their Components in front of them and separated (unstacked).
• Use your components: You are not required to use all of the Components you have; however, it is recommended to use them all in your Act, in order to earn more Applause.
• One or many Feats of Acrobatics in your Act? You can perform several Feats of Acrobatics in one Act, but building a single big one is a good way to reach the highest heights and get more Applause.
• The colour of Acrobats: The colour of Acrobats plays no role. The Acrobats depicted in grey on the Public Demands cards can be of any colour.
• The soundtrack: The music in the application includes cymbal crashes, which tell you how much time you have left to perform your Act.
  • Simple crash: You have 1 minute left.
  • Double crash: You have 40 seconds left.
  • Triple crash: You have 20 seconds left.
  • Final crash and the crowd roaring: All players stop their Act immediately.

Applause

• Satisfy the Public Demands with Stars: Instead of using "standard" Acrobats, you can reproduce the Public Demands with Stars that are the same shape.
• Combined Applause: A single Component can earn you Applause for multiple Public Demands at once.
• You can earn Applause multiple times from a single Public Demands card if different components are used to reproduce the card scheme several times.
• Orientation of cards: On both Public Demands cards and Stars cards, be sure to read the schemes in the right orientation before trying to reproduce them.

Stars

Everything you need to know about using Stars. A symbol on the cards indicates that the Component depicted above it must not touch the game table.

• Luna the Tightrope Walker: The beam must not touch the game table. If you choose to perform the Feats of Acrobatics on the left side of the card, her pole must be perpendicular to the Beam.
• Tarzan: Tarzan must be at the summit of your Act (and no other Feats of Acrobatics can be higher than the one with Tarzan). You have to mimic his famous scream when you put him on top of the Feats of Acrobatics.
• Arnold "Mr. Muscle": He must carry at least 5 other Components without the help of any adjacent Component.
• Otto the Tumbler: He must be the last component to be part of your Act. Press your finger on his plank to make him fly through the air, and catch him. You can now add him to one of your Feats of Acrobatics while saying "Tadaaaa!". His plank is not part of your Act, so it cannot give you extra Applause.
• Tella the Clown: She must be included in an ongoing Feat of Acrobatics and she cannot touch the game table. When you end your Act, push Tella to make her fall from the Feat of Acrobatics she's part of. If one or more Components fall with her, they will not count toward Public Demands and Applause.

Variants

Show

If you want to feel the stage fright like real circus artists, you can perform the third Act one player after the other, offering a real show to your friends! Start with the player who has the lowest score on the Clap-o-meter. The one with the most Applause will go last.

You cannot practise while another player is performing her act.

You complete the Public Demands "Speed" card if you end your Act before the first cymbal crash.

8 Players

• To play with 8 players, you'll need to combine two boxes of Tiny Acrobats.
• Use the Components and Stars cards, and the wooden components from both boxes.
• Use the Public Demands cards from only one box.
• Use 2 Clap-o-meters, each will track points for 4 players.