Blue Penguin
Blue Penguin Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 60 Penguin cards: Blue (1-12), purple (13-24), red (25-36), orange (37-48), yellow (49-60)
- 5 Color cards in 5 different colors
- 5 Value cards (2, 1, 0, -1, -2)
Goal of the Game
Each player tries to attract the cutest penguins: The smaller they are, the cuter they are.
The problem is that penguins always follow the bigger penguins. The player with the most cuteness points at the end of the game wins.
The Blue Penguin is the smallest penguin in the world.
Setup
Place the 5 Color cards FACE UP on the table in the following order: Blue, purple, red, orange, yellow.
Place the corresponding Value card next to each Color card in the following order: 2, 1, 0, -1, -2.
Shuffle all Penguin cards (all colors) and deal 2 to each player to form their hand. Each player can look at their cards but must keep them hidden from the other players.
The remaining Penguin cards form a draw pile to be placed in the middle of the table.
Choose the first player at random.
Fig.1 Setup.
How to Play
Each player plays in turn, starting with the first player and continuing clockwise.
On their turn, each player must:
- Play a Penguin card from their hand, face up, in the middle of the table.
- Draw a Penguin card from the draw pile to have 2 cards in their hand again.
At the end of the round, after all players have played a Penguin card, compare the numbers on the cards played. The player who played the Penguin card with the highest number on it collects ALL the Penguin cards and lays them face down in a pile in front of them: These cards will determine their cuteness points at the end of the game.
This player will play first in the next round.
Note: Cards with highest numbers on them are the strongest cards but correspond to minus points! Cards with lowest numbers on them are the weakest cards but correspond to positive points!
Fig.2 Example of an end of round with 4 players. The player on the top left has played the highest card and wins the round. They collect all the Penguin cards and will start the next round.
End of the Game
When the draw pile runs out and all players have played all the cards from their hand (including the last card), the game ends and you count the cuteness points.
The score set by each player is not determined by the numbers on the collected cards, but by the values associated with the COLORS (see game setup) of their collected cards.
To simplify the counting, we suggest discarding the cards with a value of 0 (zero), discarding the pairs of cards with opposite values (1 /-1) and (2 /-2) and adding up the remaining cards.
Remember, if you add up the score of every player, the answer must be 0 (zero).
The player with the highest cuteness score is the winner of the game. In the event of a tie, both players win.
Two-Player Game
The rules are the same. The only difference is that the round ends when the players have laid 4 Penguin cards on the table, i.e., 2 Penguin cards each.
The round is played as follows:
- First player: Plays and draws
- Other player: Plays and draws
- First player: Plays and draws
- Other player: Plays and draws
The round ends and the player who played the highest card collects all 4 Penguin cards from the middle of the table.
They become the new first player.
Variant for Experts
What if cuteness isn't determined by the size of the penguins?
The rules are the same. The only difference is that the setup is not predetermined.
Place the 5 Color cards on the table, face up, in the usual order: Blue, purple, red, orange, yellow.
Shuffle the Value cards and randomly place them next to the Color cards.
Then play as usual, paying attention to the values associated with the card colors, which vary from game to game.
Fig.3, Fig.4 and Fig.5: examples of casual setup in the variant for experts. The Value cards associated with the Color cards are placed randomly.