Banana Matcho
Banana Matcho Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Materials
- 1 gameboard
- 1 squeaky banana
- 6 monkey disks
- 6 fruit dice
- 3 Matcho dice
Object of the Game
Once your monkey has climbed up to the top of the wonder tree, you win!
Set-up
Put the gameboard in the middle of the table. Each player takes one monkey disk and places it on the starting space, on the very bottom of the wonder tree. You take the 6 fruit dice. Your left neighbor gets the 3 Matcho dice. Then you place the squeaky banana exactly between the two of you. And off you go!
Course of the Game
You roll all the fruit dice. At the same time, your left neighbor rolls the 3 Matcho dice. Your goal is to roll a (valuable) fruit combination faster than your left neighbor is able to roll 3 Banana Matchos (monkeys)…
Three Matchos… or one fruit combination!
Your left neighbor keeps rolling until each Matcho die shows a Matcho. After each roll, he leaves the Matchos he has rolled on the table and immediately continues rolling the remaining ("blank") dice. When all 3 dice show a Matcho, he slaps on the banana so that it squeaks. For this, his monkey climbs one step up the wonder tree. You go away empty-handed.
To prevent this, YOU have to make the banana squeak BEFORE HE DOES. To this end, you have to roll a combination of fruits – the more valuable, the better. In order to achieve this, you may roll any number of fruit dice as many times as you want:
- After every roll, you may leave on the table as many dice as you want and continue rolling the remaining ones.
- You also may roll dice again that you had previously left on the table.
Hint: Roll your dice one after another as quickly as possible, always keeping an eye on which fruit you have rolled and put aside.
Even if you have already achieved a (not particularly valuable) combination, you may keep rolling if you think you might be able to roll an even more valuable combination. But keep in mind that your monkey may only climb if YOU make the banana squeak BEFORE your left neighbor does.
Hint: Be content with a less valuable combination if you notice that your left neighbor is close to rolling the 3rd Matcho. If he has not gotten that far yet, though, you can take a greater risk and keep rolling for a longer time to generate a more valuable combination.
After you have made the banana squeak, the chart on the board shows you how many spaces your monkey climbs upwards on the wonder tree for the fruit combination you have rolled. Your left neighbor goes away empty-handed.
Several monkeys can be sitting on the same space of the wonder tree. In this case, just pile the playing pieces one on top of the other.
It may occur that you make the banana squeak and then realize that you haven't yet rolled any valid fruit combination. In this case, you call out "Continue" and move your monkey on the wonder tree one space downwards (unless the monkey is still sitting on the start space). Then you both continue rolling.
Next duel
After that, you pass the fruit dice to your left neighbor. He passes the Matcho dice to his left neighbor. Again, the banana is placed between the two dice rollers.
Example: You have rolled two pineapples and roll the other dice once again. Meanwhile, your left neighbor has rolled his first Matcho.
Your next roll includes 3 coconuts. You choose to leave them on the table and to roll the pineapples again along with the sixth die. Now you get another coconut. Since the other player has not yet rolled more than one Matcho, you don't make the banana squeak yet but continue rolling.
Your next rolls don't show any coconuts, but then you roll two star fruits. This combination (4 fruits of the same kind + 2 of the same of another kind) gives you 7 points. So you decide to make the banana squeak. Almost at the same time, however, your left neighbor has rolled two more Matchos. His hand reaches the banana first and makes it squeak. His monkey climbs one space up. Your monkey may not climb up. (If you had made the banana squeak, your monkey would have climbed 7 spaces. Your left neighbor's monkey would not have climbed.)
Combinations
The rulebook shows these fruit combinations, each with its value (the number of spaces the monkey climbs; the example above equates the 7 points of a combination with 7 spaces):
| Combination | Value |
|---|---|
| 3 of the same fruits | 2 |
| 4 of the same fruits | 4 |
| 5 of the same fruits | 8 |
| 6 of the same fruits | 10 |
| 4 of the same fruits + 2 of the same fruits | 7 |
| 3 of the same fruits + 3 of the same fruits | 6 |
| 3 x 2 of the same fruits | 5 |
| 6 different fruits | 12 |
The rulebook also shows the Matcho combination: 3 Matchos (=1), which is the combination the left neighbor rolls with the Matcho dice.
Ending and Winning the Game
This is how the game goes on in turn until one player's monkey reaches the fruit basket at top of the wonder tree. This player is the winner and, of course, the new Banana Matcho.