Pigeon Explosion
Pigeon Explosion Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 88 Research cards
- 30 Explosion cards
- 20 Pigeon cards
- 2 Summary cards
What you can do on your turn
- Draw 2 cards, or
- Play cards:
- 2 Food cards on your own Pigeon
- 1 Food card on your own Pigeon and 1 Food card on an opponent's Pigeon
- 1 Food card anywhere and 1 Action card
- 2 Action cards
- 1 Food card anywhere
- 1 Action card
Setup
- Separate and shuffle the decks (Research, Explosion, Pigeon) and place them in the middle of the table.
- Each player draws 1 Pigeon card and keeps it face up in front of them.
- Each player draws 4 Research cards to keep in hand.
- The first player is the person who was most recently pooped on by a pigeon.
Description of the Cards
Pigeon cards represent the Pigeons that players must feed or protect during the game. They are placed face up in front of the player. Each Pigeon card provides a special ability. When a Pigeon becomes happy or explodes, the Pigeon card is flipped over and the player draws a new Pigeon card to continue the game.
The Research deck and the Explosion deck both contain Food cards and Action cards.
Food cards - Play these cards face up next to a Pigeon card (yours or an opponent's), from left to right. Each Food card has a value X that contributes to making the Pigeon happy. A Food card may have a poop symbol. A Food card shows: value, poop icon, name, effect, and (in some cases) a table of values by number of cards.
Action cards - Apply the effect as soon as you play these cards, then discard them. An Action card shows: name and effect.
Goal of the Game
The first player to get:
- 2 happy Pigeons (in games with 4 or 5 players), or
- 3 happy Pigeons (in games with 2 or 3 players)
wins the game. Alternatively, a player who is the only player left in the game wins.
Turn Sequence
The game is divided into turns, which pass clockwise starting from the first player until the game ends. During your turn, choose to perform one of these two actions:
- Research - Draw 2 cards from the Research deck. If the deck is exhausted, reshuffle the discards to form a new draw deck.
or
- Feed - Play up to 2 Food and Action cards from your hand.
The only restriction on the Feed action is that you may play only one Food card on an opponent's Pigeon. The possible combinations of cards you can play on your turn are listed in the table below.
| Cards you may play |
|---|
| 2 Food cards on your own Pigeon |
| 1 Food card on your own Pigeon and 1 Food card on an opponent's Pigeon |
| 1 Food card anywhere and 1 Action card |
| 2 Action cards |
| 1 Food card anywhere |
| 1 Action card |
You may play the cards in any order, but you must apply the effect of each card before playing the next. At the end of your turn, play passes to the player on your left.
IMPORTANT! Action cards that show the instant symbol are considered Instant. Instant Action cards do not count toward the limit of 2 cards played on your turn with the Feed action, and may be played without limit even during opponents' turns.
In the rare case that several players play Instant Action cards at the same time, the order in which they are resolved is the playing order, that is, clockwise starting from the player whose turn it is.
Example 1
1.1: This is the situation after a few turns.
- Giorgia has the Bully Pigeon with a Food value of 7 (Pigeon ability: opponents cannot play Heist cards on this Pigeon). With one more Garbage card this Pigeon will explode, but with another Grain card it will become happy! (Her Pigeon has a Garbage card worth 3, and Grain cards worth 2 and 2.)
- Marco has the Mutant Pigeon with a Food value of 3 (due to the effect of the Crumbs). Pigeon ability: this Pigeon explodes with 3 Garbage cards (instead of 2). Poop cards cannot be played on this Pigeon (Rocks, value 0, are in play there).
- Martina has the Nerd Pigeon with a Food value of 5. Pigeon ability: when this Pigeon enters play, you may swap it with another one already in play. (She has Fast Food, value 2, and Garbage, value 3.)
1.2: Marco plays a Delicacy on Giorgia's Pigeon. The Delicacy's effect is applied, which discards all the other Food cards on that Pigeon. Now Marco cannot play any more Food cards on opponents' Pigeons.
1.3: Marco plays a Crumbs card on his own Pigeon. Martina plays a Swoop card to steal it, but Marco plays a Coo Coo card to cancel its effect and protect his Crumbs!
Happy Pigeon
A Pigeon becomes happy when the total value of the Food cards played on that Pigeon reaches or exceeds 10 (sum of the values of the Food cards), or through the effects of Food/Action cards.
When your Pigeon becomes happy:
- Turn the Pigeon card face down and keep it in front of you.
- Discard all the Food cards that had been played on that Pigeon.
- Draw a new Pigeon card and place it on top of the flipped card, covering the exploded Pigeon illustration (on the lower part), so that the happy Pigeon illustration on the upper part remains visible.
- All players who have more than 4 cards in hand discard cards until they have 4 cards in hand (each player chooses which cards to discard).
IMPORTANT! When your Pigeon becomes happy, your turn ends immediately.
Exploded Pigeon
A Pigeon explodes when there are 4 or more Foods of different colors played on that Pigeon, or through the effects of Food/Action cards.
When your Pigeon explodes:
- Turn the Pigeon card face down and keep it in front of you.
- Discard all the Food cards that had been played on that Pigeon.
- Draw a new Pigeon card and place it on top of the flipped card, covering the happy Pigeon illustration (on the upper part), so that the exploded Pigeon illustration on the lower part remains visible.
- Draw 2 Explosion cards. All other players draw 1 Explosion card.
Note: In games with 2 or 3 players, when your second Pigeon becomes happy or explodes, flip the card as usual. Take care that the new active Pigeon card covers the correct part of the previously flipped cards, so that all happy or exploded Pigeons remain visible.
IMPORTANT! If a Pigeon simultaneously meets the conditions to be happy and to explode, it explodes!
Player Elimination
A player is eliminated from the game when they have:
- 2 exploded Pigeons (in games with 4 or 5 players), or
- 3 exploded Pigeons (in games with 2 or 3 players).
End of the Game
The game ends when one of the following events occurs:
- A player is the only one left in the game.
- A player has 2 happy Pigeons (in games with 4 or 5 players) or 3 happy Pigeons (in games with 2 or 3 players).
In both cases, that player is the winner.
Example 2 - Happy Pigeon
2.1: Martina plays a Fast Food card on her own Pigeon, applies its effect and draws the first card from the Research deck: it is a Grain Food card that she must play on her own Pigeon. The Food value is now 11 and the Nerd Pigeon becomes happy! (Pigeon with Garbage 3, Grain 2 and Fast Food 2, then Grain 2.)
2.2: Martina discards all the Food cards played on the Pigeon that became happy. She turns the happy Nerd Pigeon face down and draws a new Pigeon card, which she places so that the "happy Pigeon" illustration remains visible.
(The new Pigeon's ability reads: when a Pigeon explodes (including this one), draw 1 extra Explosion card.)
Example 3 - Exploded Pigeon
3.1: Martina plays a Fast Food card on her own Pigeon, applies its effect and draws the first card from the Research deck: it is a Crumbs Food card that she must play on her own Pigeon. The Food value is now 10, but this Pigeon has eaten Foods of 4 different colors, so it explodes!
3.2: Martina discards all the Food cards played on the Pigeon that exploded. She turns the exploded Nerd Pigeon face down and draws a new Pigeon card, which she places so that the "exploded Pigeon" illustration remains visible.
Appendix
Crumbs (Briciole): One card has value 1, two cards on the same Pigeon have a total value of 3, three cards on the same Pigeon have a total value of 6, four cards on the same Pigeon make it happy!
Drumsticks (Cosciotti): Value from 1 to 4. Playing this card does not count toward the limit of two cards played on your turn with the Feed action (it can however not be played out of turn).
Hawk (Falco): Make a Pigeon explode. That Pigeon card is discarded: it does not count as an exploded Pigeon.
Fast Food: Value 2. When it is played on a Pigeon, the owner of that Pigeon draws the first card from the Research deck. If it is a Food card, they must play it on their own Pigeon and apply its effects. If it is an Action card, they discard it.
Cat (Gatto): Instant. Cancel the effect of a Food/Action card that was just played. Discard the cancelled card. The Cat cannot be cancelled by either a Cat card or a Coo Coo card.
Grain (Granaglie): Value 2. Three Grain cards on the same Pigeon make it happy!
Coo Coo (Gru Gru): Instant. Cancel the effect of a Food/Action card that was just played on your Pigeon or on a card you played. Discard the cancelled card.
Note: if an opponent plays a Coo Coo card to cancel a card you played, you can use a Coo Coo card to cancel its effect.
Swoop (Picchiata): Instant. Take the Food card that an opponent is playing (that player does not activate its effects) and play it instead on your own Pigeon (activating its effects).
Note: if you play Swoop, another player may play Swoop right after you to steal the Food card you wanted to steal.
Power Up: At the end of the turn in which you played this card, take another turn.
Delicacy (Prelibatezza): Value 4. When it is played on a Pigeon, discard all the other Food cards from that Pigeon.
Poop (Pupù): When it is played on a Pigeon, discard from that Pigeon all Food cards that have the poop symbol. If at least one card is discarded, draw a card from the Explosion deck.
Heist (Rapina): Take a Food card already played on a Pigeon and play it on another Pigeon (including your own), applying its effects.
Garbage (Rifiuti): Value 3. Two Garbage cards on the same Pigeon make it explode!
Sadist (Sadico): If you made an opponent's Pigeon explode this turn, make your own Pigeon happy.
Rocks (Sassi): Value 0. Once played on a Pigeon, Poop Action cards cannot be played on that Pigeon.
Satisfied (Soddisfatto): If you play this card and your Pigeon has a total Food value of at least 8, make it happy.
Worms (Vermi): Value +1 for each Poop symbol on the Food cards played on the same Pigeon.