King Frog Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• Starting Position (and the crowning)
• How to Play
  • 1) Planning (what distance would be best for my frog to leap?)
  • 2) Movement (I hope my frog will reach the tile I have planned?)
  • Example of one game round with four players
  • 3) Mosquito card (what happens to my mosquito card?)
• Winner of the Game (how can I win?)
• Rules for 2 or 3 Players
  • For three players
  • For two players

Components

The set includes:

• 4 frogs
• 20 mosquito cards (with numbers)
• 12 water lily leaf tiles
• 3 special tiles (2 water lily flowers/wild tiles and 1 water tile)
• 1 crown for the King of Frogs (the leading frog)

Fun game for 2-4 players from 7 years of age. Playing time: 15 min.

Note: First of all, the rules are given for 4 players. If only 2 or 3 players play the game, see the end of the rules for some modifications.

Game Setup

Before starting the game, place the tiles with water lily leaves, flowers and water in a circle in the center of the table. Please note that the special tiles (the ones with water lily flowers and water) must be separated by 4 water lily leaf tiles (or by 3 water lily leaf tiles if the game is played by 2 or 3 players). The water lily leaf tiles can be placed between the special tiles in any order but each such segment must contain exactly 1 water lily leaf tile of each color (see Example 1).

Then, each player chooses a frog and takes the colour matching mosquito cards.

Starting Position (and the crowning)

Before starting the game, the players choose the starting tiles for their frogs as follows:

• The youngest player is the first to place his/her frog on any water lily leaf or special tile.
• The player to the left of the starting player can place his/her frog either right in front of the frog of the starting player or right behind it.
• All other players place their frogs either right in front of the frogs that have already been placed or right behind them. This way, the frogs form a continuous starting line. The frogs will be leaping clock-wise.

Please note: the first frog in the line gets the crown.

How to Play

The game goes on in rounds until it is finished. Each round consists of 3 stages (planning, movement, mosquito card).

1) Planning (what distance would be best for my frog to leap?)

All players simultaneously plan how their frogs could reach a water lily leaf of their own color or a water lily flower tile. To do so, each player chooses 1 mosquito card and places it face down in front of himself/herself without showing it to others. The number on the mosquito card indicates how many tiles (water lily leaf or special tiles) the player's frog can leap ahead. The frogs cannot leap backwards.

Then, all the players simultaneously flip their mosquito cards face up. The players cannot change their decision once the mosquito cards are flipped over.

Note: The player who has no mosquito card left loses and leaves the game and his/her frog is immediately removed from the board. In case this was the frog with the crown, the crown is then passed on to the next frog in line. Then the other players continue playing until they have the winner.

2) Movement (I hope my frog will reach the tile I have planned?)

The frogs leap turnwise, clockwise, from tile to tile, according to the number shown on their respective mosquito card, by obeying the following rules:

1. The frog with the lowest number on its mosquito card leaps first, regardless of its placement in the starting line.

   Note: A water lily leaf, flower or water tile can hold only 1 frog at a time. If a tile is already occupied, the frog leaps over it and that tile is NOT counted!

2. If two (or more) players chose a mosquito card with the same number, the player whose frog is the farthest behind makes the move first (the crowned frog always being the point of reference).

3. Once all the frogs have taken their leaps (made their moves), the players check which frog is in the lead. The frog in the lead receives the crown. This way, the players can clearly see who is the first and who is the last frog in line.

Example of one game round with four players

Planning:

• The RED frog plans to take 1 leap.
• The GREEN frog plans to take 2 leaps.
• The YELLOW frog plans to take 1 leap.
• The BLUE frog plans to take 3 leaps.

Movement:

• The YELLOW frog starts (lowest move number AND farthest behind). It leaps over the GREEN and the RED frog.
• The RED frog is the second to make its move. It leaps over the YELLOW frog.
• The GREEN frog takes two leaps and hops over the YELLOW and the RED frog.
• The BLUE frog takes 3 leaps over now vacant tiles. It does not leap over other frogs.

Mosquito cards:

• The GREEN player is the only one to recuperate his/her mosquito card. His/her frog takes the lead and is crowned.

3) Mosquito card (what happens to my mosquito card?)

If a player's frog lands on a water lily tile of his/her very own color or a water lily flower tile (wild), his/her just played mosquito card is returned to that player. This way, that player can remain in the game longer.

If a player's frog lands on a water lily tile of a different than his/her own color or a water tile, then the just played mosquito card is lost, and must be discarded in the middle of the circle.

Winner of the Game (how can I win?)

There are 3 ways to win (and finish the game):

• The game ends when only one player remains in play. The player wins the game and is crowned the new King of Frogs!
• If the last standing players are eliminated from the game at the same time, the player whose frog had the crown at the beginning of that round is the winner.
• The game ends immediately without finishing the current round if the leading (the crowned) frog overtakes the last frog in line. Long live the King of Frogs!

Rules for 2 or 3 Players

Quibbit! is also fun to play for two or three players if certain changes are made to the rules.

For three players

Three players play the game with three frogs. The water lily leaf tiles and mosquito cards matching the color of the frog that is not used in the game are removed and placed in the box. The game is played according to the same rules as the game with four players.

For two players

When the game is played by two players, a third dummy is added. The frog of the dummy player always starts last in the starting line.

The dummy player receives a deck of mosquito cards of the same color as its frog. These mosquito cards are placed face-down as a draw pile. Each round, AFTER the planning (but before the movement), the top card from the draw pile is flipped over and the frog of the dummy player makes its move according to the general game rules.

The dummy player never gets its mosquito cards back even if its frog lands on water lily leaf tiles of the same color as its frog or on a water lily flower tile. When the mosquito cards of the dummy player are all spent, they are shuffled and used as a new draw pile.

Thus, the dummy player can never be removed from the game but it can win it!