Hot Heads
Hot Heads Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 69 hot air balloon cards (in 4 different types + wild cards)
- 21 ballast cards (in 4 different types + wild cards)
- 5 sabotage cards
- 4 news helicopter cards
- 4 storm cards
- 2 setup cards (in 2 languages)
Goal of the game
In this game, you try to fly as high as possible with your balloons, but not too high. Because whoever flies the highest at the end of the game will fly straight into the storm! Find the right altitude by balancing balloons with ballast cards and sabotage the other players' plans by playing cards to them.
Setup
Quick setup (setup card):
- Set the storm cards aside.
- Deal 10 cards face-down to each player.
- Return a portion of the cards to the box: 2-3 players return 1/2 | 4 players return 1/3 | 5 players return 0.
- Prepare the draw deck as follows: divide the draw pile into 4 stacks and shuffle 1 storm card into each (A). Combine 2 stacks, shuffle again, and place face-down (B). Place the remaining 2 stacks on top without shuffling (C).
Game Preparation:
- Set the setup cards aside. You can use these for the next game to prepare more quickly.
- Set the storm cards aside and shuffle the remaining cards into a face-down draw pile.
- Deal 10 cards face-down from the draw pile to each player.
- For a 2-player game, also prepare the dummy pilot by dealing it 4 face-down piles of 4 cards from the draw pile (see Dummy Pilot).
- Depending on the number of players, return a portion of the draw pile to the box.
- For 2 or 3 players, return about half.
- For 4 players, return about a third.
- For 5 players, use all the cards.
- Divide the draw pile into 4 equal stacks and shuffle 1 face-down storm card into each stack (A). Combine 2 stacks, shuffle again, and place this pile face-down on the table (B). Place the remaining 2 stacks on top without shuffling (C). This forms your final draw pile.
- Choose a starting player.
Short Game Play
Take turns drawing 1 card and playing 1 card, either to yourself or to an opponent. Cards have positive or negative values that cause the balloons to ascend or descend. The game ends when all 4 storm cards have been drawn and resolved.
Placement Rules
Hot air balloon and ballast cards come in 4 types. You will form 1 column of each type (see the Final Scoring example). You place your first card (hot air balloon or ballast) of a type in an empty space in front of you on the table, and the subsequent cards of this type are placed under or above that card. You must therefore play these in the correct column. In this way, you form a maximum of 4 columns. You can recognize the different types by the icon in the corner.
Playing a Turn
On your turn, you always perform 2 steps in a fixed order. Step 1: Draw 1 card and Step 2: Play 1 card. After this, the player to your left takes their turn.
Step 1: Draw 1 card. Draw the top card from the draw pile. If this is a storm card, resolve it first (see Storm Cards). If not, add the card to your hand.
Step 2: Play 1 card. Play 1 card from your hand. Play this to yourself or to your opponent. Below, we explain how the different cards work.
Hot Air Balloon Cards
Hot air balloon cards make a hot air balloon ascend. Always place these at the top of a column, partially overlapping, so that you can always see the number on the cards below. Make sure you place your card in the correct column.*
Ballast Cards
The ballast cards make a hot air balloon descend. Place these at the bottom of a column, partially overlapping, so that you can always see the number on the underlying cards. Make sure you place your card in the correct column.*
*Note: Place the first hot air balloon and ballast cards in your column edge to edge, not overlapping each other.
News Helicopter
Place a news helicopter directly above a column already containing balloon and/or ballast cards. This card is now linked to this column. The news helicopter does not increase or decrease the altitude, but it does score 3 points provided the linked balloon is not removed at the end of the game.
Wild Cards
You may use wild cards for any type of your choice, but be aware that you cannot start a new column with a wild card.
Sabotage Cards
When you play a sabotage card, you discard it. You may now discard the top or bottom card of a column on the table, either from yourself or from an opponent. If this creates a column with only wild cards, discard the entire column.
Storm Cards
When you draw a storm card, your turn pauses and the storm phase begins.
Storm phase: During the storm phase, all players must play cards from their hand into their own columns. The amount of cards each player plays equals the total number of storm cards drawn so far. (For example: for the first storm card, each player plays 1 card, for the second storm card, 2 cards, and so on.)
Each player takes the number of cards from their hand and places them face down in front of them. When all players are ready, they reveal their cards. Play balloon and ballast cards in your own columns.
Wild cards, news helicopter cards, and sabotage cards may be played during the storm phase, but are discarded immediately.
If the 4th storm card hasn't yet been drawn, the game continues. The player who drew the storm card now draws a replacement card from the draw pile and continues their turn. This may be another storm card, in which case a new storm phase begins immediately.
End of the game
When the 4th storm card is drawn, the game ends after the storm phase. Now check per type, which of the hot air balloons flies highest. You do this by adding up the hot air balloon and ballast cards of each type.
Flying too high
The highest-flying balloon of each type flies into the storm and does not count towards the final score: remove the corresponding balloon, ballast, and any news helicopter cards. In the event of a tie, all equally highest balloons of that type fly into the storm and are discarded.
Determine the winner
Add up the value of all your (remaining) cards. The player with the highest score wins the game. In the event of a tie, the player with the most hot air balloon cards wins. If there's still a tie, you split the win.
Final score example: Player 1 counts only balloons 1 and 4 and scores 9 points. Player 2 counts balloons 2 and 3 and ends up with 7 points. Player 1 wins.
Dummy Pilot
If you're playing with 2 players, you'll play with an additional dummy pilot. You, as players, may play cards on the dummy pilot just as you would on your opponents. The dummy pilot does not take any further turns; they are only active during the 4 storm phases. During a storm phase, you take 1 of the face-down stacks and place the 4 cards with the dummy pilot's balloons. Discard any wild, news helicopter and sabotage cards.