Upples
Upples Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction to the Game
On Planet U live strange beings called komupples, who love very unusual fruits called upples. These fruits, shaped like a square apple, come in a variety of colors and grow from the ground. In many cases, they have very peculiar effects on these beings.
Have fun changing shapes, jumping, eating dozens of delicious upples, and being the most gluttonous!
Millions of possible configurations await you, where, thanks to your intelligence and a pinch of luck, you'll test whether you're the biggest upple eater.
Upples is an original game of logic and chance for 1 to 4 players. You'll have to eat as many Super Upples as you can while planning strategies, executing clever moves, and performing fun jump combinations, all while competing with your friends and family for the tastiest Upples.
Content
The game consists of 124 square cards and 8 circular character tokens. Each player will have two character tokens of the same color, choosing among blue, pink, green, or yellow. These tokens give each player four possible character states: on one token, a white komupple with white or red hair; and on the other token, a red komupple with red or white hair.
The component overview on the rules page shows the card groups: Classic upples (four cards, each marked 20), Special upples (four cards, each marked 4), Super upples (two rows of four cards, marked 4, 3 and 2), Golden super upples (four cards), Character cards and Character tokens (one per colour: blue, pink, green and yellow).
- Training mode is designed for 1 player.
Game Preparation
The playing field will consist of 49 cards, forming a grid of 7 rows and 7 columns, as can be seen in the image.
Step 1: Separate the 4 character cards and the 4 golden super upples from the rest of the cards, leaving a deck of 116 cards.
Step 2: Shuffle the 116-card deck thoroughly and randomly select the cards needed to form the initial playing field. For one player, choose 48 cards; for two players, choose 47 cards; for three players, choose 46; and for four players, choose 45 cards (always adding up to 49).
Step 3: The necessary character cards are added to the previously selected cards, and the cards are shuffled without looking at the 49 cards.
Step 4: The 49 selected cards are placed face up on a table, forming a 7x7 grid, as shown in the figure.
Step 5: Once the playing field has been revealed, each player replaces their character card (square) with their character token (circular), and everyone starts with the white komupple character with white hair.
Step 6: In either case (for 1, 2, 3, or 4 players), the remaining undrafted cards (except for unnecessary character cards) are shuffled with the 4 golden super cards and left face down. These are the cards that must be drawn at the end of each turn to complete the playing field.
Objective of the Game
The objective of the game is to eat as many Super Upples as possible, while using the best jumping strategy and card combinations to be the player with the most Super Upples.
There are four game modes: Training mode for one player, and Glutton, Naughty, and Survival modes for 2 to 4 players (or teams).
Game Mechanics
Starting with the youngest person at the table and proceeding counterclockwise (only the first time; in subsequent games, the first person must rotate). Each player has one jump per turn, which they can extend as many times as they can by eating super upples or using special upples that allow an extra jump. Jumping is mandatory whenever possible. Jumping in "empty" or invalid positions is not allowed. With each valid jump, the player will "eat" the cards they land on and remove them from the playing field (with the exception of tunnels or other players' character tokens). The super upples cards obtained (yellow background) will be kept by each player, and the remaining cards will be discarded face up on the lid of the box.
At the end of each turn, each player is responsible for ensuring that no empty spaces remain on the playing field before moving on to the next player's turn. That is, if cards are eaten or eliminated, they must be replaced by randomly drawing new cards from the deck at the end of each turn.
If a player cannot make any moves while in their current state, their turn ends, and they transform into the opposite state. That is, if their state is shy (a white komupple, regardless of their hair color), they become angry (a red komupple with red hair); and if their current state is angry (a red komupple, regardless of their hair color), they become shy (a white komupple with white hair). If, on the next turn, they cannot make any moves while in this new character state, they will swap places with the opposite card on the playing field (for example, if they were in a corner, they swap places with the card in the opposite corner). Without jumping, they lose their turn again.
Glutton Mode
In Glutton mode, the game ends when the playing field cannot be filled with the remaining cards. At that point, the person or team that has eaten the most Super Upples wins, taking into account their value and adding up their total points.
Scoring example from the rules page: a group of Super Upples worth 4 points, 4 points and 1 point totals 9; a group worth 3 points, 3 points and 5 points totals 11.
Characters
The komupples are our gluttonous protagonists of the game and very sensitive to the upples they eat. When they have white bodies (shy), they can only eat white upples, but the curious thing is that if they eat a white upple with red spots, their hair turns red; and if they eat two, they get angry and their body also changes color (to red with red fur).
Just the opposite happens when they have red bodies (angry): they can only eat red upples, but if they eat one with gray spots, their hair will turn white; and if they eat two, they will change completely to white (with white fur), becoming shy. It is noteworthy that this transformation cycle is one-way, and once the komupple changes its fur or body color, it never returns to its previous state, but continues the cycle, as described in the image. Additionally, when they are shy (white body, regardless of their hair color), they can only jump in a cross shape, one or two cards' length apart, up, down, right, or left; and when they are angry (red body, regardless of their hair color), they can only jump in an L shape, with a maximum of 8 possible jumps in each case.
Therefore, we must remember that white-bodied komupples (regardless of their hair color) jump in a cross shape and can only eat white upples (with gray or red spots). Red-bodied komupples (regardless of their hair color) jump in an L shape and can only eat red upples (with gray or red spots). The following illustrations show all the jumping possibilities in each case.
Transformation cycle of the komupples: the rules page shows a four-state loop diagram, with a white komupple with white hair, a white komupple with red hair, a red komupple with red hair and a red komupple with white hair, each linked by an arrow from the upple that triggers the change. The diagram is pictorial and is not reproduced in text here; the sequence is described in the paragraphs above.
Example, white komupple: In this case, the white komupple would have 5 possible valid jumps: 4 white upples and the bomb.
Example, red komupple: In this case, the red komupple would have 7 possible valid jumps: 5 red upples, the tunnel and the bomb.
Types of Cards
Classic upples: There are 4 types: white with grey spots, white with red spots, red with grey spots, and red with red spots. White upples can only be eaten by white komupples (white bodies, regardless of their hair color), and red upples can only be eaten by red komupples (red bodies, regardless of their hair color). They do not grant an extra jump, and therefore the turn ends when they are eaten.
Illustrated: White upple with grey spots; White upple with red spots; Red upple with grey spots; Red upple with red spots.
Special upples: There are 4 types, each with different properties. They affect all komupples equally:
Multicolour: Changes your color. Once you eat it, you must choose between two possible states: white komupple (white body with white hair) or red komupple (red body with red hair). Eating it removes it from the playing field and grants you an extra jump.
Rock: They are inedible, so you can't jump on them (an invalid position), although you can jump over them. Rocks can only be eliminated with a bomb if they are nearby (in one of the eight positions around it).
Bomb: If you jump on one, it will explode and the 8 cards around it will disappear. But be careful: if there is a Super Upple among those 8 cards, you can eat it (regardless of its color). Only tunnels can survive this explosion. Also, if any of those 8 spaces contains another character, it will change to the opposite color (white with white hair or red with red hair). When it explodes, the bomb is removed from the playing field and grants you an extra jump.
Illustrated, bottom row: Upple multicolour; Upple rock; Upple bomb; Upple tunnel.
Tunnel: Tunnels are gateways to underground passages on Planet U. Jumping into one will take you to another tunnel of your choice, with an extra jump. If there is only one tunnel on the playing field, you can bounce over it (jump and jump again). However, you are not allowed to use a tunnel if it doesn't allow a valid subsequent jump. Once a tunnel appears, it cannot be removed or moved during the game.
Super upples: The goal is to eat as many as you can. White ones can only be eaten by white komupples, and red ones can only be eaten by red komupples. The most valuable are the golden super komupples, which can be eaten by any character and are worth 5 points. Each one gives you an extra jump.
Illustrated: the white super upples are worth 1, 2, 3 and 4 points (top row); the red super upples follow the same progression (bottom row); the golden super upple is worth 5 points.
Other Game Modes
Naughty mode. In this mode, in addition to the rules above (for Glutton mode), you are allowed to jump on other players by bouncing on them. The crushed player will then lose a super upple card, which will be randomly stolen by the player who jumped on them. This is limited to one bounce on the same player in the same turn, and two players are not allowed to end up in the same position, one on top of the other, at the end of the turn.
Survival mode. Added to the previous rules of Naughty mode, each time a player collects a golden super upple card, the game is paused and a tally of the super upples collected at that time is made. The player with the fewest points is eliminated (at least one, or more if there is a tie), disappearing from the playing field and returning their super upples cards to the deck, to be taken face down after shuffling them with the remaining cards. In this game mode, the last player not eliminated wins the game.
Training mode. This mode is designed for one player, and the objective is to maximize jump combinations in the fewest possible turns, before running out of cards. To do this, the player will keep the last upple they ate each turn (one per turn) until the available cards in the deck run out. The challenge is to try to finish each game with the fewest upples collected (or turns taken) possible.