Баклажаба (Eggplant)
Баклажаба (Eggplant) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
83 letter cards. Rules booklet.
Setup
- Shuffle all the cards without looking at their faces and deal each player 8 cards. The remaining cards form the draw deck. Place it face down on the table where everyone can reach it. Leave space to the left of the deck for a discard pile.
- Take the top 2 cards from the deck and place them face up to the right of it. This is the play row (игровой ряд). The leftmost card in the row counts as the first letter of the row.
Example: the last letter in the play row is Н. Slava places О and names the word «НОс» (nose). He could also have named «доНОс» (dronose), «киНО» (cinema), or «аНОнс» (announcement).
The youngest player goes first.
Playing the Game
- On your turn, place one card from your hand at the end of the play row and immediately name a word that contains the two last letters in the row. In the named word the letters must stand together and in the same order as in the play row, but they may be anywhere in the word: at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end.
- After naming the word, discard the first card of the play row. Only 2 letters should remain in the row.
- Pass the turn to the player on your left.
Important: while the active player has not yet placed a card from hand into the play row, any other player may make an off-turn move (see page 8).
Which Words May Be Named?
- Nouns in the nominative case. For example: «топор» (axe), «диагноз» (diagnosis). Not allowed: «коробкой» (boxed, instrumental case), «апчхи» (achoo).
- Proper nouns (names from books, films, and games also count!). For example: «Астрахань» (Astrakhan), «Азерот» (Azeroth).
- Established neologisms. For example: «вайфай» (wifi), «локдаун» (lockdown). Words you invented yourself may not be used.
- In one game, you may not repeat a word, nor name a word that is cognate with a word already named.
If You Cannot Think of a Word
If you cannot find a card to play that lets you name a word for certain, take the top card of the deck instead of making a move. This ends your turn: pass the turn to the next player on your left. All cards in the play row stay where they are.
The Last Card and End of the Game
Play until someone runs out of cards. The player who has 1 card left in hand must announce it to the other players by saying «Ква!» (Kva!). If he forgets to do this and the other players notice, he takes the top card of the deck as a penalty. The player who first runs out of cards in hand is the winner!
Important: if your last card had an effect and you must draw cards according to the result of the toad battle (see page 9), the game continues.
End of the Deck
If the deck runs out and there is still no winner, shuffle the discard pile together with the play row to form a new deck. Then place 2 new cards from it into the play row and continue the game.
Special Cards
Two Letters on a Card
Some cards have two letters in the corner instead of one. When naming a word, you may use either of them, but not both. Here are all such cards: Е/Ё and И/Й.
Effect Cards
Purple cards are effect cards. If you play such a card, the game pauses after you name your word and a toad battle (жабатл) begins (see page 9).
Example card: ДЕЛЬФИНАЛ (Delphinal). Effect text: «Open 1 letter. Everyone names a word that ends with this letter.»
Off-Turn Move
Such a move may be made only before the active player has placed his card from hand. To make it, place a card from your hand at the end of the play row and immediately name a word that contains all three adjacent letters, following the normal rules (see page 3).
Example: the play row holds Н and О. It is Slava's turn, but he hesitates, and Masha intercepts the move. She places К and names the word «биНОКль» (binoculars).
After an off-turn move, the player who made it discards the first card of the play row and passes the turn to the player on his left.
Important: you may not make off-turn moves while players are taking part in a toad battle, nor immediately after one, nor immediately after your own turn.
Effects and Toad Battles
After you play any effect card, the game pauses and a toad battle (жабатл) begins.
A toad battle does not begin in two cases: if the effect card was revealed during setup, and during another toad battle.
Depending on the effect, all players or only some of them take part in the toad battle. The main rule of the toad battle: words are always named at speed. The player who named a suitable word last, or did not name one at all, takes the top card of the deck as a penalty. Cards revealed for the toad battle are discarded (exception: Burunduel, see below).
The five effect cards are: ДЕЛЬФИНАЛ (Delphinal), БУРУНДУЭЛЬ (Burunduel), ПЯТИГРИЦА (Pyatigritsa), СЛОНОСОЧЕТАНИЕ (Slonosochetanie), and КАШАЛОТРИО (Kashalotrio).
ДЕЛЬФИНАЛ (Delphinal)
Effect: reveal 1 letter. Everyone names a word that ends with this letter.
Toad battle: the player who played this card reveals the top card of the deck. All participants, including the player who played the card, must name a word that ends with the revealed letter. The player who named a word last, or did not name one, takes the top card of the deck.
ПЯТИГРИЦА (Pyatigritsa)
Effect: reveal 1 letter. Everyone names a 5-letter word containing this letter.
Toad battle: the player who played this card reveals the top card of the deck. All participants, including the player who played the card, must name a 5-letter word that contains the revealed letter (it may stand anywhere in the word). The player who named a word last, or did not name one, takes the top card of the deck.
БУРУНДУЭЛЬ (Burunduel)
Effect: choose another player. Each of you plays one letter from hand and names a word with these letters.
Toad battle: the player who played this card chooses an opponent. Both participants choose one card from hand and place it face down on the table. Then they reveal the cards simultaneously and must think of a word with these two letters at speed. The letters may stand in any part of the word and need not be next to each other. The player who named a word second, or did not name one, takes the top card of the deck. In addition, both players take back the cards they played.
The Burunduel toad battle is the only one where you play cards from hand and, at the end, return your card to your hand instead of discarding it. If a player has no cards in hand, he takes the top card of the deck, looks at it, and places it as his own card for the toad battle.
Hint: you cannot end the game by playing Burunduel last, because in any case you will take at least one card into your hand and the game will continue. It is advisable to play Burunduel earlier.
If two identical letters are revealed during Burunduel, the players must think of a word in which the revealed letter repeats.
Example: Slava plays the effect card Burunduel and chooses Sasha for the toad battle. They place cards from hand: Slava places the letter А, and Sasha also places the letter А! Sasha names the word «АзбукА» (alphabet) first and wins. Slava takes the top card of the deck into his hand, then takes back his letter А, and Sasha takes back her letter А.
СЛОНОСОЧЕТАНИЕ (Slonosochetanie)
Effect: reveal 1 letter. Everyone names a combination «adjective starting with this letter + noun starting with this letter».
Toad battle: the player who played this card reveals the top card of the deck. All participants, including the player who played the card, name at speed a word combination of a noun and an adjective, both starting with this letter. The words must not share a root: for example, «мохнатая мышь» (hairy mouse) is allowed, but «меховой мех» (fur fur) is not. The player who named a combination last, or did not name one, takes the top card of the deck.
КАШАЛОТРИО (Kashalotrio)
Effect: reveal 3 letters. Everyone names a word with these letters.
Toad battle: the player who played this card reveals the top 3 cards of the deck. All participants, including the player who played the card, try at speed to name a word that contains these 3 letters (not necessarily in a row). The player who named a word last, or did not name one, takes the top card of the deck.
Example: Masha plays the effect card Kashalotrio and reveals from the top of the deck the letters Н, К, and Р. Sasha says «КоНцеРт» (concert), Slava says «КРаН» (crane), and Masha cannot think of a word, so she takes the top card of the deck, and the cards Н, К, and Р are discarded.
Questions
What should we do if a player named an incorrect word, or spelled a word wrong?
If the other players also agree that it was a mistake, he must take the top card of the deck as a penalty. Then, depending on what kind of move it was:
- an off-turn move: it does not count. The player must take his card back. The effect played does not trigger;
- his regular turn: the player may continue his turn and name the correct word;
- a toad battle: it continues until it has been fully resolved.
Players played cards or named words in a toad battle at the same time. How do we determine who was first and who was last?
You can count by the number of cards in hand: the player with more cards is first, the player with fewer cards is last.