Carrousel
Carrousel Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
60 cards, 5 toy horses, 1 board with the carousel, which has 7 spaces.
Object of the Game
Players try to arrange the horses on the carousel as quickly as possible into the order shown on the card in front of them. Every successful arrangement is worth a point.
Setup
Place the 5 horses on 5 consecutive spaces (the order of the colours does not matter). The carousel will turn counter-clockwise.
Shuffle the 60 cards:
- With 2 players, each player receives 9 face-up cards.
- With 3 players, each player receives 6 face-up cards.
- With 4 players, each player receives 5 face-up cards.
The remaining cards, face down, form the draw pile.
Course of the Game
There is no turn order in Carrousel; everyone plays at the same time. Players therefore try to be the fastest at making the first three horses on the carousel turn in the order of the card visible in front of them. The order of play is "whoever touched first".
As soon as a player takes one or two horses in hand, he must be able to put them down without disturbing the others. If, once he has finished, the order of the first three horses on the carousel does not match the order shown on the card in front of him, he loses a point (he must put one of his already won cards on the bottom of the draw pile). The order of the horses on the cards is clockwise.
Moving the Horses
A move always involves 1 or 2 horses (never more). As a result of every move, the 5 horses must stand one after another, with no empty spaces.
- Simple move: swap the positions of two horses on the carousel.
- The firsts become the lasts and the lasts become the firsts: move the horse in first place to last place, OR move the last horse to the very front.
- One horse knocks out another: any horse on the carousel moves to another horse's place, and the knocked-out horse must move to the very first place; OR the first horse of the carousel takes another horse's place, and the knocked-out horse must then go to the very end.
- Total chaos!: take two horses standing next to each other, then place them in an order of your choice on the two empty spaces of the carousel.
Correct Order
If after moving 1 or 2 horses the first three places hold exactly the order shown on your card, you may score a point for yourself (turn the card over and start a pile with it). Draw a new card from the draw pile. If your move did not result in a matching order, you receive a penalty (see "Course of the Game").
Victory
The winner is the first to reach 20 points with 2 players, 15 points with 3 players, or 10 points with 4 players.
Special Cases
Dead end: if nobody manages to achieve a matching order for 20 seconds, move the last horse to the front of the carousel. If the game stops, always do this.
Lucky bird: if at the start of the game, after a dead end has been created, or because of an opponent's mistake, the first three horses are in the same order as on your card, do not bother moving them: score the point immediately, before anyone disturbs the order.
Advanced Rules
In this version ALL cards play a part in creating a good starting order, even those that are in front of your opponents.