Red Panda
Red Panda Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
2-6 players, 15 minutes, ages 7+.
Components
- 50 Kata cards (six different Katas, with 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 10 copies)
- 1 Pagoda tile
- 1 Invisibility token
Object of the Game
Get rid of all your cards or be the last player in the competition.
Setup
Place the Pagoda tile in the centre of the table and the Invisibility token on top of it.
Deal 10 cards to each player, face down (8 cards each for a 6-player game).
Each player creates a deck of cards in front of them, face down, without looking at them.
How to Play
The player whose hair is the most reddish starts the game. Turns continue clockwise.
On their turn, a player must perform one of 2 actions: Kata or Meditation.
Action 1: Kata
To perform a Kata in front of an enthusiastic audience, the player flips the first card of their deck, without looking at it, and places it on the corresponding side of the Pagoda.
Each Kata has a different power, which is carried out automatically and immediately when the card is placed on the table.
Kata Powers
Invisibility: Remove the Invisibility token from the Pagoda or, if another player has it, steal it from them. If a player starts their turn with the Invisibility token, they may choose to use it to pass their turn instead of performing an action. Then they return the token to the Pagoda.
Knowledge: Look at the top card of your deck.
Speed: Immediately perform a new action (Kata or Meditation).
Telekinesis: Give the top card of your deck to another player of your choice. Without looking at it, that player must place the card at the bottom of their deck.
Mimicry: Copy the power of a Kata card that is next to the Pagoda. If there are no cards next to the Pagoda, the power of the Mimicry Kata cannot be performed. Note: the Mimicry Kata cannot copy the power of a Double-Kata card.
Double-Kata: Choose to use one of the two Katas on this card. In this case the power is not applied.
Boring Show
If a player places a third identical Kata card next to the Pagoda, its power is not applied and the judges penalize the lack of variety. The 3 cards of this Kata are removed and placed around that player's deck (one on each side).
The game continues with the next player. If a player can no longer place a card next to their deck, that is, they have more than 4 cards, they lose and are removed from the game.
Perfect Show
If a player places the fifth Kata card and, with it, there is at least 1 card of each Kata next to the Pagoda, they take 1 card of each Kata and discard them. Then they choose between:
- Discarding all the penalty cards around their deck;
- Immediately playing another card.
Note: the powers of the Kata cards used to perform a Boring (Repetitive) Show or a Perfect Show are never activated.
Action 2: Meditate
When a player does not want to take a risk, they may choose to Meditate instead of performing a Kata. In this case, they take one of the cards next to the Pagoda and place it around their deck. If there is no free space, they cannot perform the Meditate action.
End of the Game
A player wins the game if:
- They have no more cards in their deck;
- All the other players have been eliminated.
Note: if a player ends their turn with an empty deck but has more than 4 cards in front of them because they have just performed a Boring Show, they have lost.
Tournament Variant
The Red Pandas are honourable fighters and are always ready to fight again. To take the victory in the Tournament variant, a player must win 2 games.
Translator's note: the Spanish text uses "Espectáculo Aburrido" (Boring Show) for the three-identical-cards rule in its heading but "Espectáculo Repetitivo" (Repetitive Show) in the note on card powers; the Portuguese text uses "Espetáculo Repetitivo" throughout. They are the same rule.