Crazy Circus Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Setup
• Starting the Game
• End of the Game
• The Five Possible Commands
• Advanced Variant
• Example Round

Components

• 1 polar bear
• 1 elephant
• 1 lion
• 24 task cards
• 5 command cards

Goal of the Game

Your goal is to collect as many task cards as possible. During each round, you'll build a chain of commands to arrange the animals in a particular way. Try to do this faster than the other players, and don't make a mistake with the commands!

Setup

1. Shuffle the task cards, form them into a deck, and place it face down on the table.
2. Reveal the top card of the deck.
3. Arrange the animals as shown on that card.
4. Put the revealed card back in the box.
5. Place the 5 command cards face up on the table so that everyone can see them.

All players should sit on the same side of the table, so that they can see the animals and the play area from the same point of view.

Starting the Game

In Crazy Circus, everyone plays at the same time. The game lasts 23 rounds, each of which goes as follows:

1. One of the players reveals the top task card from the deck and places it face up on the table so that all players can see it.
2. Now all the players simultaneously think about which command (or series of commands) needs to be called out to arrange the animals the way this card shows. In most cases, this requires two or more of the commands listed below.
3. The first player who believes they know which commands need to be called out says them out loud.
4. The players together check whether their sequence of commands is correct.
5. If the sequence of commands is correct (the animals end up arranged the way the open card shows), the player who called it out takes the open task card and places it face up in front of themselves. If the sequence is incorrect, the player who called it out puts the animals back the way they were positioned at the start of the round, and no longer takes part in the current round. They must stay silent while the other players keep looking for the correct sequence of commands.
6. Once someone has found the correct sequence of commands, the animals stay in the position they were just placed in, a new task card is revealed, and the game continues!

End of the Game

The game continues until the task cards in the deck run out. Once the deck is empty, the game ends, and the player with the most task cards is declared the winner.

The Five Possible Commands

Each command moves an animal in a particular way, so with the commands the animals change position and players can arrange them the way a card requires. The same command can be repeated several times.

NI – The animal on the bottom of the red pedestal moves to the top of the red pedestal.

MA – The animal on the bottom of the blue pedestal moves to the top of the blue pedestal.

KI – The animal on top of the red pedestal jumps sideways and lands on top of the blue pedestal.

LO – The animal on top of the blue pedestal jumps sideways and lands on top of the red pedestal.

SO – The animals on top of the red and blue pedestals swap places.

Advanced Variant

For extra difficulty, or to balance the game when players are of different skill levels, you can remove the SO command from the game. All tasks can still be completed, but it won't be nearly as easy!

Example Round

The animals are currently arranged in a particular way.

A new task card is revealed... Allez-oop!

One of the players has thought of a sequence and calls out: "KI-KI-MA!"

The sequence is checked against the animals on the pedestals.

Everything is correct, and the player takes the task card!