Wyścig balonów Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• Components
• Gameplay
  • Taking Components
  • Placing Dice
  • Moving Balloons
  • Moving Obstacles
• End of Round
• End of Game
• Variants
  • Variant for the Youngest Players
  • 2-Player Variant

Setup

Setup for 3 or 4 players goes as follows (the 2-player variant is described at the end of the rules):

1. Place the board in the middle of the table.
2. Place the penalty tokens, the movement template, the dice and the 30-second timer (hourglass) next to the board, so that all players can reach them. Place the obstacle tokens nearby, face down, and shuffle them.
3. Place the start tile in the middle of any one of the four rows at the edge of the board, parallel to that edge.
4. Place the 5 balloon tokens on the squares of the start tile, in random order.
5. Place the landing pad tile on any squares of the row along the edge of the board that is on the opposite side from the start tile.
6. Place the landing zone token (round) on any square of the landing pad tile.
7. Place the 9 mail tokens on the squares showing the coats of arms of the cities.
8. Shuffle the 5 balloon cards and deal one to each player, face down. Return the remaining balloon cards to the box without looking at them.
9. Shuffle the order cards and deal one to each player, face up:
   • In a 4-player game, deal all the order cards.
   • In a 3-player game, deal all the order cards except the card "Third" (Trzeci).
10. The player who drew the card of the last player draws 4 obstacle tokens and places them face up on the board, one on each corner square marked with a yellow frame.

Components

(Listed on the movement template.)

• 1 board
• 1 movement template
• 1 start tile
• 1 landing pad tile
• 1 round landing zone token
• 5 round balloon tokens
• 8 obstacle tokens
• 9 mail tokens
• 26 penalty tokens
• 4 order cards
• 5 balloon cards
• 1 30-second timer (hourglass)
• 5 dice

Gameplay

The game of Wyścig balonów is divided into rounds.

Each round (except the first) begins with placing a new obstacle token on the board. The first player in a given round places the obstacle token by putting it on any empty square next to the inner edge of the yellow frame.

Then each player takes a turn, in the order given by the order cards.

Player's turn:

1. Taking components
2. Placing dice
3. Moving balloons
4. Moving obstacles

Taking Components

The player takes 5 dice, the timer and the movement template, and places them in front of himself so that he can handle them conveniently.

On the movement template, as on the board, the start tile and the landing pad tile are marked. They determine the direction in which the balloons move.

When the player assigns the dice, the movement template MUST be set so that the start tile and the landing pad are in the same position as on the board. The player may not freely rotate the movement template.

Placing Dice

The player turns over the timer, rolls the dice and, within the time measured by the timer, must place the dice on the movement template. The value of a die indicates the direction in which a balloon moves.

One die may be assigned to only one balloon, and the value of a die cannot be changed.

If the player fails to place all of the dice within the set time, he takes 1 penalty token for each unplaced die. The unplaced dice, and only those dice, must then be placed on empty squares of the movement template after the penalty has been received.

Note: If a die showing 6 is assigned to a balloon, the player moves that balloon 2 squares in any way. This is the only way to move a balloon along a broken line or backwards, toward the start tile.

Moving Balloons

The player considers the movements of the balloons in the order shown on the movement template: from left to right or from right to left.

Starting from the balloon whose colour is visible on the left or right side of the template, the player moves each balloon in turn 2 squares in the direction indicated by its die.

The order in which the balloon movements are considered may not be skipped or changed.

Example: Dominika placed the dice and decided to start considering the balloon movements from the right side of the template toward the left. She therefore first moves the blue balloon (1), then the pink (2), yellow (3), green (4) and red (5). Thanks to choosing this order, the green balloon (4) does not land on the yellow balloon (3). Unfortunately, the blue balloon, after moving one square, lands on obstacle (1), so Dominika takes 1 penalty token. Note that Dominika assigned a die showing 6 to the pink balloon (2), so she could move it along a broken line and collect a mail token.

If a balloon's movement is blocked by an obstacle token or by another balloon, the player must take 1 penalty token for each square the balloon could not move.

If a balloon's movement is blocked by the edge of the board, the balloon stays in place, but the player does not take a penalty token.

If a balloon ends its movement on a mail square, the player takes the mail token lying on it. Mail tokens on the board are not replenished.

Moving Obstacles

At the end of his turn, the player must move the corresponding number of obstacle tokens:

• 2 obstacle tokens, if he is not the last player;
• all obstacle tokens, if he is the last player.

The selected obstacle tokens must be moved exactly by the number of squares shown on the token. Obstacle tokens may be moved in a straight line (in any direction), onto empty squares. Empty squares are those on which there are no balloons, other obstacle tokens or mail tokens, and which are not the start tile or the landing pad.

End of Round

At the end of the round, the last player collects, shuffles and deals the order cards.

End of Game

The game ends:

• at the end of the round during which all obstacle tokens have been placed on the board;
• at the end of the turn of a player during which any balloon ended its movement on the landing pad tile.

To determine the final results, the players count up points for all the rewards and penalties they received. Each player:

• gains 3 points for each of his mail tokens;
• loses 1 point for each of his penalty tokens;
• reveals his balloon card and loses as many points as there are squares between his balloon and the landing zone token.

The winner is the player with the most points. In case of a tie, the winner is the player whose balloon is closest to the landing zone token. If the tie still remains, all the tied players share the victory.

Example: The race ended because a balloon landed on the landing pad tile during this turn. The players count their points. Monika has two mail tokens, worth 6 points in total, and two penalty tokens, whose value is -2 points. She reveals her balloon card, on which the green balloon is shown. At the moment the race ended, the green balloon was two squares away from the landing zone token, so Monika loses 2 points. In total, at the end of the game she has 2 points.

Variants

Variant for the Youngest Players

In this variant, the youngest players do not use the timer when placing the dice. All other rules remain unchanged.

2-Player Variant

This variant differs from the basic game in the following respects:

• During setup, each player receives two balloon cards (face down).
• When the order cards are dealt, the cards First (Pierwszy) and Second (Drugi) are drawn first, at random, and then the cards Third (Trzeci) and Last (Ostatni). Each player plays two turns in each round.
• At the end of the game, the players score both of their balloons and add up the results obtained.