I am a banana
I am a banana Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 57 Personality cards
- 49 Banana cards
- 7 Doctor cards
- 7 Couch cards
- 1 game board
- 1 pair of glasses
- 1 sand timer
- Rules
Goal of the Game
The goal of the game for each participant depends on the role they received. The Doctor plays against all the other participants and must guess who each of them thinks they are.
All the other participants are patients. Each of them thinks they are the one who is depicted or shown on one of the Personality cards. The patients play as a team and use gestures to explain to each other who or what each one thinks they are, while not letting the Doctor guess.
Setup
- Choose one participant to take on the role of the Doctor. They put on the glasses, take the Doctor cards with numbers from 1 to 7 and the sand timer.
- Deal cards to the other players. Each patient receives 7 Banana cards of one color with numbers from 1 to 7.
- Place the Personality cards around the game board: one card opposite each of the numbers from 1 to 7.
- Shuffle the 7 Couch cards and deal each patient 1 Couch card face down. Each patient looks at their card, memorizes the number on it and places it next to themselves face down, without saying this number and without showing the card to the other participants. This number determines who or what this patient thinks they are: the Personality card with the needed picture lies at the edge of the game board opposite the circle with the corresponding number.
Example: Anya received the Couch card with the number "3" and now thinks that she is an airplane.
One game lasts 90 seconds!
Course of the Game
The Doctor turns over the sand timer. Within 90 seconds the patients use gestures to explain to each other who or what they think they are. Patients may not stand up, speak, or hide their hands from the Doctor. The Doctor (who may stand up) carefully watches the patients.
If you are a patient: having understood who or what another patient thinks they are, put your Banana card face down in front of them, with the number that is shown on the game board opposite the needed Personality card.
If you are the Doctor: having understood who or what one of the patients thinks they are, put a Doctor card face down in front of them, with the number that is shown on the game board opposite the needed Personality card.
Example Game with 5 Participants
- Sonya is the Doctor. She thinks she has understood who Elya and Fyodor think they are, so in front of each of them she put the Doctor card with the corresponding number.
- Anya thinks she is an airplane. She has the blue Banana cards. She understood who Gosha thinks he is, and put her Banana card with the corresponding number in front of him.
- Gosha thinks he is a washing machine, but he sits calmly, because the Doctor is looking straight at him.
- Elya thinks she is a bull.
- Fyodor thinks he is the Eiffel Tower.
End of the Time
During the 90 seconds players may take back and move their Banana cards and Doctor cards, but as soon as the time ends, doing this is no longer allowed.
Instead of the sand timer you can use the audio track "90" at the link www.lddp.info/banana
Scoring
The patient sitting to the left of the Doctor turns over face up the cards laid in front of them, in the following order:
- the Couch card, so that everyone can see opposite which number their Personality card is located;
- the Doctor card, if one lies in front of them, to check whether the Doctor guessed who or what this patient thinks they are;
- the Banana cards of other patients, if any lie in front of them, to check whether the other participants guessed who or what this patient thinks they are, or not.
Then they count the points received by the team of patients or by the Doctor:
- The team of patients gets 1 point for each correct guess, BUT if the Doctor correctly guessed who or what this patient thinks they are, the team of patients gets no points for that patient.
- The Doctor gets points for each of their own correct guesses. The number of points depends on the number of participants (including the Doctor):
- 4 players: 1 point for each correct guess
- 5-6 players: 2 points for each correct guess
- 7-8 players: 3 points for each correct guess
Then each next patient, clockwise, does the same.
End of the Game
The Doctor wins if they scored more points than the team of patients, or the same number. But... if the patients scored more points than the Doctor, they win and throw a mad tea party.
Tips from the Game's Authors
- In every game, lay out 7 new Personality cards around the game board. Just turn the cards over or take new ones from the box!
- If you are the Doctor, then before the game starts, lay out your cards in order from 1 to 7. This will help you save time.
- If you are a patient, show funny gestures and try to confuse the Doctor ;-)