Belle of the Ball
Belle of the Ball Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 60 Guest Cards
- 27 Belle Cards
The front of each Guest card depicts a unique combination of three interest icons along the top.
Some guests have the honorific Lady or Lord above their name. You can also spot them by their color-coded backgrounds. Lords have a blue background, Ladies have a purple background, and everyone else has a tan background.
Each guest also has a Title and County, which are only used in advanced play. These are also represented by two icons on the top right of the card. If you're playing the basic game, you can ignore these icons for now.
The back of each Guest card is a Regret. Though Regrets and Guests are two sides of the same card, they are NOT used interchangeably. It's important to keep them separate when you're playing the game.
Each Belle card is an action that the Belle is doing at someone's party. The icon and italic text explain how each Belle card is put into play. Then the following instructions explain the card's effect.
Setting Up
Regrets
Randomly deal three Guest cards to each player face-down. (In a two-player game, deal four to each player.) These cards will be used as Regrets, so it is important to always keep them face-down during the entire game so they don't get mixed up with the other cards. Regrets change hands often during play, but new Regrets will not be added to the game nor will Regrets be removed from the game.
The Lines
Shuffle the Guest cards and Belle cards into separate decks. Deal five from each deck in a row, face-up, in the middle of the play area. Place the face-up decks at an end of their row. This creates two lines of six face-up cards each, including the face-up card on the top of each deck. Over time, as cards are removed from either line, new cards will be revealed from the deck. Leave room for discarded Belle and Guest cards.
Starting Parties and Groups
Deal three Guest cards face-up to each player. Arrange them in a row. These are the beginnings of each player's collection of Guests, called a Party. A party has room for three stacks of cards, called Groups. A group can contain only four cards, at which point it is considered "full." Parties are visible to all the players.
How to Play
Goal of Play
Score points by grouping guests with similar interests. You may also score points with the various effects of Belle cards. The game ends when the last guest is invited from the line. Then each player scores a few compensatory points if they have any cards leftover. The player with most points at the end of the game wins!
Overview of Play
The game is comprised of turns taken by each player, one at a time, clockwise around the play area. Each turn has three steps: Play a Belle Card (Optional), Invite a Guest or Belle Card, Score Points from any Full Groups. Turns continue until the last guest is invited from the line, at which point the game ends immediately.
Step 1 (Optional): Play a Belle Card
You may play one Belle card from your hand.
Note: This means a Belle card cannot be played in the same turn in which it was invited. It has to be in your hand first in order to be played.
Belle cards are played in three distinct ways:
- The card is discarded for an instant effect.
- The card is placed in one of your groups.*
- The card is placed in one of your opponent's groups.*
*You cannot place any card in a group that is full.
Step 2: Take a Card
You must take a card from either the Guest line or the Belle line.
- You may take the first card in either line for free.
- OR you may pay Regrets to take cards from further back in a line, as described below.
If you want to pay Regrets, place one Regret beside each skipped card. You may continue skipping as many cards as you have Regrets to spend, all the way up to the top card of the deck. Regrets paid to the Belle line or Guest line are independent of each other. Cards might have several Regrets beside them, if they've been skipped several times.
If you take a card with Regrets beside it, add those Regrets to your supply. Remember: keep them face-down so they don't get confused for Guest cards.
If you take a Belle card, place it in your hand. This means that you cannot play a Belle card in the same turn you take it from the line. There is no upper limit to the number of cards you can have in hand.
If you take a Guest card, place it in any group in your party that is not full. In other words, any group that has zero, one, two, or three cards. If a group has four cards, it's full and cannot have new cards added. Your party has room for three groups. As you add Guest cards to the groups in your party, stagger the cards so their interests are visible.
After a card is taken from a line, move the remaining cards in that line forward to make room for a new card to be added to the back of the line from the deck. Regrets move along with their respective cards.
Regret example: If you paid a Regret each to the first and second cards in a line, you could take the third card. Once invited, you would move the remaining cards in the back of the line forward to fill in that space.
Step 3: Score and Discard Any Full Groups
A group is full if it has four cards, either Guest cards or Belle cards or a mix of both. If you have a full group, count the number of matching interests shared by all the Guests in that group. Score one point for each matched interest.
You may have to adjust that score if you have Belle cards in the group. Some Belle cards increase the value of certain interests while others decrease their value.
Scores typically range between 6 and 10 points per group, but can be higher with Belles and exceptionally good matches. You may score multiple groups in the same turn if they're all full.
Then, discard any full groups from your party. In doing so, you make room for new groups to join your party.
Note: This is the only time you can score a group. There may be times when one of your groups is filled during someone else's turn, but it will not be scored until this step of your turn.
Example scoring: A full group scores 8 points because it has eight matched interests. Then it's discarded.
End of Game & Victory
Continue taking turns until there are no more guest cards in line. Then each player scores half a point for each Guest, Belle, or Regret card they possess. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.