Bucket King 3D
Bucket King 3D Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 60 plastic buckets (5 colours x 12 buckets)
- 80 cards (5 colours x 16 cards: values 1-8, 2 each)
- This rulebook
Goal of the Game
Players have to protect their own bucket pyramid from being knocked over by the animals. The player with the most remaining buckets wins the game.
Game Setup
(1) Cards
Shuffle all the cards and deal 10 to each player. Place the remaining cards in a draw pile in the middle of the table.
(2) Buckets
For a game with 2-4 players, each player receives 15 buckets, 3 of each colour. For a game with 5-6 players, each player receives 10 buckets, 2 of each colour. Return the unused buckets to the game box.
(3) Building the Pyramid
Players may first look at their own cards and then construct their own bucket pyramid in front of themselves: turn all the buckets upside down and align 5 buckets (2-4 players) or 4 buckets (5-6 players) in a row as the bottom of the pyramid. Place one bucket on top of every two buckets. Each row contains 1 less bucket than its lower level. Continue stacking the buckets until there is only one bucket on the highest level.
Bucket pyramid in a 4-player game
TIPS
- If you have more or higher-valued cards in a colour, you are stronger in that colour and may want to place the corresponding buckets near the bottom of your pyramid.
- If you have no cards in a particular colour, you may want to place a bucket in that colour right at the top of your pyramid.
Game Play
A game consists of a number of rounds. The player who has most recently visited the zoo starts the first round.
Direction of Each Round
At the beginning of each round, the start player decides on the direction of play by pointing to the next player of his choice, the one sitting either to his right or to his left. Accordingly, all players take turns clockwise or anti-clockwise during that round.
Game Turn
On each turn, the active player takes either of the two actions: A) playing cards or B) losing buckets:
A) Playing Cards - to attack!
- The active player chooses from his hand 1-3 cards of the same color/animal, lays them face-up in front of himself and announces the sum of the values shown on the cards.
Only the start player is free to choose any colour/animal as the required suit and any sum at the beginning of a round. In all subsequent turns, if a player (including the start player) chooses to play cards, i) the played cards must be of the required suit. ii) the sum of the cards must be larger than that of the previous player.
If play continues round the table and a player wants to play cards again on his later turns, he simply adds 1-3 new cards to the cards he has previously played and announces the higher sum.
- Regardless of the number of cards just played, the active player then draws ONE card from the draw pile. If a player has forgotten to draw a card by the start of the next player's turn, oh dear, he will have to play with fewer cards!
Example: The start player, after pointing to his left player, leads a Red-5 and draws one card from the draw pile. The player to his left then plays a Red 3 plus a Red 7 and announces the sum as 10. (He could have just played the Red 7 alone as its value is greater than 5.) He then draws one card from the draw pile.
B) Losing Buckets
When a player cannot or does not want to defend his pyramid by playing cards, he removes a bucket of the required colour by pushing, flicking or poking. He can only touch it with one finger. (If he does not have a bucket of the required colour, he removes a bucket of any colour of his choice.)
If other buckets also fall, they are all removed from the game. The illustrations below further explain the different situations:
A) If a bucket changes its position, like the green and yellow buckets, it is out of the game.
B) The yellow bucket has shifted a little from its original place. It can still remain.
C) The yellow bucket has shifted so far that it creates a space as wide as a bucket. It has to be removed.
D) The pyramid is split into two parts, and only one of them can remain.
When a player loses any buckets, the round ends. All cards played during that round are placed together to form a discard pile, which will be reshuffled for use later when the draw pile is depleted.
A New Round
The player who just loses his buckets starts a new round by choosing the direction of play as described above.
Game End & Scoring
In a 2- to 4-player game, the game ends when a player loses his last bucket.
In a 5- to 6-player game, the player who first loses his last bucket is out of the game. He places his cards in the discard pile. The player sitting next to him, but not the one who has just attacked him, starts the new round. The game ends when another player loses his last bucket.
The winner is the player with the most buckets remaining in his pyramid.
For more fun, repeat the game several times and keep track of each player's number of remaining buckets as their score. The player with the most points wins and is the Bucket King!
A Variant for Experienced Players
Play with the Special "ONE"!
This variant is played with all the basic rules above, with an additional function of the card valued "1".
If the active player plays a card valued "1" in the required suit, he may play an additional card of ANOTHER COLOUR and add its value to the sum. He may then draw 2 cards (1 as normal for the card in the required suit and 1 extra for the additional card played).
For example, the required suit is Blue. The player may play a Blue 1, together with a Red 4 as the additional card. He then announce "5" as the sum and draw altogether 2 cards from the draw pile.
If the player plays two cards of the value "1" in the required suit, he may play 2 additional cards of ANY OTHER COLOUR(S), add their values to the sum and draw altogether 3 cards on that turn (1 as normal for the cards played in the required suit and 2 extra for the additional cards played).
Only with this variant can a player exceptionally play more than 3 cards on his turn. The maximum number of cards a player may play in a turn is 5.
For example, the required suit is Blue. The player plays 2 Blue 1s and 1 Blue 6, together with a Red 4 and a Yellow 3 as the 2 additional cards. He plays 5 cards in total but can only draw 3 cards (1 for all the Blue cards played and 2 for the additional cards).
A Variant for Young Players
When having to lose a bucket, instead of poking it with a finger, the player takes it away carefully together with any other buckets it is supporting ONE by ONE.