Hot Potato (2011)
Hot Potato (2011) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
Pass the Hot Potatoes around the table using action cards. You can play seasonings onto the potato to make it huge, popping, or even flaming! If you can't pass a potato away, it explodes and burns your hands. When all the potatoes explode, the player with the fewest burns wins...unless the player with the most burns can stir up enough sympathy to steal the victory!
Contents
106 action cards, 12 hot potatoes, 42 seasoning duplicator cards, 9 colored pawns with matching chips, 1 golden potato chip card with yellow cardstand, 1 board, 1 rule book.
Setup
Shuffle the action deck (it's green) and place it face down in the center of the table.
Set aside the striped duplicate seasoning cards. They won't be used until later (see page 7).
Insert the Golden Potato Chip card into the yellow card stand. Give it to the oldest player.
Each player takes a colored pawn and the matching colored chip. Place your pawn on the "start" circle on the board. Keep your chip in front of you so everyone knows your color.
Card Types
The 106 green-backed cards are action cards. There are two types of action cards -- brown pass actions and blue seasonings. It is worth noting that there are more leftward pass actions than rightward pass actions.
There are also a set of striped duplicates of the seasoning cards. They are used when potatoes are split or chopped (see page 7).
Hot Potato cards are red on one side and yellow on the other. They have different pictures, but all behave the same during gameplay.
Game Play Overview
There are three rounds in the game. The first round begins with one potato and ends when all potatoes have exploded. In each round after that, there are more potatoes, and the round lasts until all those potatoes explode. After 3 rounds, the game ends. If anyone ever reaches the end of the board (20 burns), the game ends early.
Each round has many turns, in which players play action cards to pass the potatoes around. During each turn, all players do the following steps.
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Play Actions -- All at the same time, all players place actions from their hands face-down onto potatoes currently in front of them. For now, don't do what the actions say, just put them onto your potatoes. You can't ever play cards onto potatoes in front of other players. See page 5.
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Reveal Seasonings -- Players reveal any blue seasoning action cards they put onto their potatoes. The seasonings are placed beneath their potatoes, as permanent modifiers. When you reveal a seasoning, you draw 1 action card. See page 6.
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Chop & Split -- Players reveal any Chop and Split actions they put onto their potatoes. Create new potatoes and pass them as indicated on those cards. See page 7.
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Pass Potatoes -- Players reveal any brown pass actions they put onto their potatoes. Pass the potatoes between players as indicated by those cards. As you pass a potato, flip it between being red and yellow. See page 8.
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Potatoes Explode -- Any Hot Potato that wasn't passed now explodes, burning the player who was stuck holding it. That player moves his or her colored pawn along the board to record the burn. You can tell if a potato didn't get passed, since it will be a different color (red or yellow) than the ones that did get passed. See page 9.
If there are Hot Potato cards remaining, repeat this process, starting with step 1.
Step 1: Play Cards
All at the same time, players place actions from their hands face-down onto potatoes currently in front of them. At this point, don't do what the actions say, just put them (face-down) onto potatoes. You cannot play cards onto potatoes in front of other players.
If there is 1 Hot Potato in front of you: You may play 1 brown action card (face-down) onto the potato. If you do so, then you may also play 1 blue card onto that potato. You don't have to play any cards onto your potato if you don't want to.
If there are several Hot Potatoes in front of you: Play 1 brown pass action card onto each Hot Potato card in front of you. You are not required to play action cards on all the Hot Potato cards. However, every potato that you do not play an action card on will explode and burn you in Phase 3. You may also play 1 blue seasoning card on each potato onto which you played a brown pass action.
If there are no Hot Potatoes in front of you: Do nothing. You can only ever play cards on potatoes in front of you.
Of course, if there are no potatoes in front of you, then you are probably winning, so you should take a moment to gloat.
Step 2: Reveal Seasonings
Now players resolve the cards they put onto their potatoes. Start with the player with the golden potato chip, and go clockwise around the table (to the left).
If you played any blue seasoning cards face-down onto your potatoes, reveal them now. Place each seasoning card face-up behind its potato card, so that just the name of the seasoning sticks out. It is now a permanent modifier on that potato, and will stay with the potato as it moves around.
If there was already a seasoning card on the potato, keep both of them there! A potato can have any number of seasonings on it at a time, and it's OK if a potato has several copies of the same seasoning on it. Of course, remember that you can only play one new seasoning onto each potato each turn.
Whenever you reveal a blue seasoning card, you get to draw 1 action card from the deck and put it into your hand. If you revealed several seasoning cards, you get to draw 1 card for each of them!
Step 3: Chop & Split
Chop, Split Left, and Split Right are brown pass actions that produce new potatoes! When you reveal one of these cards, make an exact copy of the potato you played it on: Take a new Hot Potato card of the same color and put it in front of you. Count up the seasonings on the original potato -- take a matching set of the striped seasoning cards and put them on the duplicate potato. Both potatoes now have the same seasonings.
After making the new copy of the potato, pass away the potatoes as indicated on the Chop or Split card. As you pass away each potato, flip it over so it switches between red and yellow. If you play a seasoning card along with a Chop or Split, then the new seasoning will be copied along with any seasonings already on the potato. You still only get to draw 1 card for the new seasoning card, and you never get to draw cards for seasoning cards already on the potato.
For example, if you play Split Right and Popping onto a Huge potato, you end up with 2 Huge Popping potatoes that you pass to the player on your right.
- Chop: Copy 1 potato -- pass one left and one right.
- Split Left: Copy 1 potato -- pass both left.
- Split Right: Copy 1 potato -- pass both right.
Failed Chop/Split: If you try to copy a potato, but there aren't enough striped duplicator seasoning cards remaining to make an exact copy, then DO NOT COPY the potato. Instead, that potato explodes in front of you without passing. At any time, you can count the remaining duplicators.
Step 4: Passing Potatoes
If you played a brown passing card, reveal and discard the action, then pass the potato as stated on the pass action. As you pass a potato, flip it over so it changes color between being red and yellow. If the potato is Flaming, then the player receiving it immediately takes one burn per flaming card on the potato.
For example, Alice has just revealed a Pass Left card on one of her potatoes. Alice follows the instructions on her card, and passes the potato to Bob, who is sitting to her left. She flips the potato from yellow to red as it goes.
If you did not play an action card on the potato, do nothing. Do not flip the Hot Potato card.
Step 5: Explode Potatoes!
All potatoes that weren't passed in steps 3 and 4 explode! You can tell if a potato was passed by looking at its color -- all potatoes that passed will be the same color (red or yellow), and all potatoes that didn't get passed will be the other color.
When a potato explodes, the player it is in front of takes 1 burn and draws 1 action card from the deck. Whenever you take burns, move your pawn along the board to show how burned you are! If you reach the end of the board (20 total burns), the game ends early -- see page 4.
If an exploding potato is Huge, take one extra burn for each Huge card on it. If the potato is Popping, the players to the right and left of the exploding potato each take one burn per Popping card on it. If the potato was Mashed, the player stuck with the potato does not get to draw a card. See page 10 if you need to clarify a weird situation.
After step 5, check to see if there are any potatoes left. If there are any left, then go back to step 1 -- see page 5. If the potatoes have all exploded, then the round ends and you start a new one -- see page 4. After 3 rounds, the game ends and someone wins -- see page 4.
Game End & Winning
At the end of the third round, the game ends -- that's the round that began with 3 potatoes in play. However, if any player ever reaches the end of the board (20 burns), then the game ends early. Finish the 5 steps for that turn, but then end the game (even if there are still potatoes in play).
The person with the fewest burns at the end of the game wins. However, if two or more people are tied for the fewest burns, then the person with the most burns wins...out of sympathy! If there is still a tie, then the player with the golden potato chip wins!
Round Setup
All players discard any action cards left in their hands from the last round. Deal each player a new hand of 5 action cards. If the action deck runs out, reshuffle the discard pile.
The number of hot potato cards that start in play increases each round.
Round 1: The oldest player takes the Golden Potato Chip. Put one yellow Hot Potato card in front of that player. No one else gets any.
Round 2: The player with the Golden Potato Chip gives it to someone else. The new Golden Potato Chip player starts with one yellow potato. The player to her left also starts with one yellow potato. (2 total potatoes)
Round 3: The player with the Golden Potato Chip gives it to someone else. The new Golden Potato Chip player starts with one potato. The two players to her left also start with one yellow potato each. (3 total potatoes)
In games with 6 or more players, an additional potato starts in play at the beginning of each of the three rounds. After handing out the starting potatoes, the Golden Potato Chip player picks a player to get 1 (extra) starting potato.
If You Really Care...
Bans: The Ban Pass Left seasoning card prevents the Pass Left card from later being played onto that potato. It is still OK to play other leftward cards onto the potato, such as Skip Left, Split Left, Pass Left or Right, or Toss. It's OK to play a Pass Left and a Ban Pass Left card together onto the same potato -- it only restricts future plays.
Flaming: When you play Flaming on a potato, you do not take a burn. However, the player you pass it to immediately takes a burn. In fact, players take 1 burn for each Flaming card on a potato passed to them, as soon as they receive that potato! When the potato eventually explodes, the flaming seasoning card doesn't cause any additional damage. Huge seasonings do not amplify burns taken from Flaming cards.
Mashed: Normally, you get to draw 1 card when a potato explodes in front of you. However, if the potato has one or more Mashed seasonings on it, you don't get to draw. Of course, you still take the burns!
Popping & Huge: When a potato explodes, the player holding it takes 1 burn and draws 1 card. For each Huge card on it, it does 1 extra burn to the player holding it, but they still only draw 1 card. For each Popping card on the potato, each neighbor takes 1 burn, but they do not get to draw any cards.
If an exploding potato is Huge and Popping, the player holding it would take 2 burns and draw 1 card. His neighbors would each take 1 burn and draw no cards.