Karate Tomate
Karate Tomate Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 140 Number cards with values from 1 to 5, in five different colors
- 10 Tomatoes with values from 1 to 10
- 40 Triumph cards
Setup
Shuffle the Tomatoes and give one to each player randomly. Put any remaining Tomatoes back in the box.
Shuffle the Number cards and deal five cards to each player (in addition to their Tomato).
Place the remaining Number cards in the center of the table as a face-down draw pile. Leave enough room for the discard pile you'll create next to it.
Shuffle the Triumph cards and place them in the center of the table as a face-down Triumph pile.
Playing the Game
Karate Tomate is played over several rounds. Each round goes as follows:
- Warm-up
- Fight
- Triumph
1. Warm-up
First, turn over Triumph cards from the pile and place them in the center of the table. The number turned over depends on the number of players:
| Number of Players | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Triumph Cards | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Note: If you still have Triumph cards on the table from a previous round, turn over only enough Triumph cards to reach the required number in total.
2. Fight
A fight (usually) includes several "heats." All players always take part in the first heat, but during the round they will start to drop out. Each heat plays as follows:
a. Each player plays 1 card from his hand face down in front of him.
Which cards can I play?
- In the first heat, you can play any Number card (or your Tomato).
- In all following heats, you can only play Number cards that are the same color as the one you played in the first heat. For example: If you played yellow in the first heat, you'll have to play yellow in all subsequent heats.
- In all heats, you must play your Tomato if you can't or don't want to play a Number card.
b. Turn over your cards and check them:
- If you played a Number card, leave it in front of you on the table and continue fighting in the next heat.
- If you played your Tomato:
- You're out of the current fight (meaning that you won't fight again until the next round);
- Take your Tomato back into your hand; and
- Draw two cards from the draw pile or discard two cards from your hand and then draw four cards.
Play as many heats as you need to whittle down the number of players still in the fight to equal the number of face-up Triumph cards on the table (or fewer).
Example: Linda has played her Tomato. She drops out of the fight and draws two cards. Everyone else continues playing in the next heat.
In the next heat, Gabi plays her Tomato and quits the fight. She discards two cards from her hand and draws four cards. Now, enough players have dropped out of the fight for the Triumph cards to be given out.
3. Triumph
If you've made it to the end of the fight without having to play your Tomato, you will now pick one of the face-up Triumph cards. The player who played cards with the highest total value gets first pick, the player with the second-highest total goes second, and so on.
If two or more players have the same total value, they must show the Tomatoes from their hands. The one with the highest-value Tomato picks first, the player with the second-highest Tomato goes second, and so on. Then, those players swap their Tomatoes: The Tomato with the highest value goes to the player who had the lowest Tomato and vice versa, the player with the second-highest Tomato swaps with the player with the second-lowest one, and so on. If there are three or five players involved in the tie, the middle player doesn't swap their tomato with anyone.
If you pick a Triumph card that has Tomato symbols on it, draw one Number card from the draw pile for each Tomato symbol on the Triumph card and put them in your hand.
Place the Triumph cards you've won in front of you, face down. You may look at your own Triumph cards at any time.
Example: Sebastian's cards come up to a higher total (9), so he gets first pick. Betti (5) picks next.
Any left over Triumph cards stay in the center of the table for the next round.
Finally, all players put the Number cards they played during the round on the discard pile.
Note: If the draw pile runs out at any point during the game, shuffle the discard pile and turn it into a new draw pile.
The End of the Game
Continue playing round after round until one player calls for the game to end or there are not enough Triumph cards left to turn over at the start of a round. The game ends immediately either way.
When can I call for the game to end?
Any player who has collected at least 12 trophies may call for the game to end at the end of a round.
When the game ends, all players turn over their Triumph cards.
The player with the fewest kitchen knives loses the game (this can also happen to more than one player). Exception: If all players have the same number of kitchen knives, no one is eliminated by this rule.
Among the remaining players, the one who has collected the most trophies wins the game. If there is a tie, the tied player who also owns the most kitchen knives wins. If there is still a tie, the one with the higher-value Tomato is the winner.
Example: Sebastian has collected 13 trophies and calls for the game to end. However, it turns out that he has the fewest kitchen knives (only two), so he loses the game. Of the remaining players, Linda has the most trophies (9), so she wins!
- Sebastian: 13 trophies, 2 knives
- Linda: 9 trophies, 3 knives
- Betti: 8 trophies, 5 knives
- Gabi: 6 trophies, 3 knives