The Other Hat Trick
The Other Hat Trick Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Cards
The game contains 17 cards:
- 7 Props: The Rabbit, The Other Rabbit, The Hat, The Lettuce and three identical Carrots.
- 10 Tricks: Each trick card has a name, a points value, and shows the combination of props that are required by a player to successfully perform the trick. The trick called The Other Hat Trick also shows penalty points that the players holding the Hat or The Other Rabbit will receive at the end of the game if no-one successfully performs this trick.
Card diagram captions (as printed): Points; Choice of prop; Required prop; Penalty points.
Setup
Place the trick called The Other Hat Trick face-down by the side of the play area, then shuffle the other nine trick cards and place these face-down on top, to form a trick deck of all ten trick cards. Flip the top trick card face-up to start the trick pile beside the deck.
Shuffle the seven props and deal two cards face-down in front of each player. Place the final prop card face-down in the middle of the play area without looking at it: this is the '7th prop'.
Aim of the Game
The player who scores the most number of points by the end of the game is the winner.
How to Play
The youngest player always goes first. Play then continues clockwise. On your turn do the following things in order:
- Choose trick: You must first announce whether you will try to perform the trick face-up on the top of the trick pile, or flip over the next trick card from the deck and try to perform that instead.
- Prepare props: You must swap one of your props with a prop in front of another player.
- Perform trick: You may now either successfully perform the trick or announce you have failed.
During the game, remember two important things:
- You may always look at the two prop cards in front of you, but never at the other player's face-down props, or the 7th prop in the middle of the play area, unless the rules allow it.
- Never pick up both of your props at the same time, or swap them round. When you look at your face-down props, always be careful to replace them in the same position.
1. Choose Trick
Look at the trick face-up on top of the trick pile. You must announce that you will either try to perform this trick, or you will flip the next trick face-up on top of it. If you do this, you must then try to perform the flipped trick instead. You can't change your mind!
2. Prepare Props
Before you try to perform your trick, you must prepare your props by swapping one prop in front of you with a prop in front of another player. You must do this, even if you would prefer not to!
Choose one of the two props in front of you and swap it with one of the props in front of another player. You cannot swap your prop with the 7th prop in the middle of the play area.
You cannot look at a face-down prop in front of another player before making the swap. Make sure that each card is placed into the position of the card with which it was swapped.
If one or both of the swapped cards are already face-up (this can happen later in the game), they remain face-up during the swap.
3. Perform Trick
Once you have prepared your props, you have the opportunity to perform your trick.
If your two props create a combination that matches the face-up trick, you may reveal them both and announce you have successfully performed the trick. If you cannot do this, or chose not to, you have failed to perform the trick and must forfeit.
After you perform or forfeit the trick, your turn ends and play continues clockwise.
Success
If you reveal your prop cards to show a combination that matches the face-up trick you have successfully performed it! You may, if you wish, reveal them with a flourish and say "Ta-Dah!": the other players may then greet this with a small round of applause.
Take the trick card and place it face-up in front of yourself. You have now scored the number of points shown on the card.
After a successful performance you must immediately use 'sleight of hand' to rearrange the props and confuse the other players. Pick both of your revealed props plus the face-down 7th prop. Look at all three of these props and secretly choose two to keep face-down in front of yourself. Place the remaining prop face-down in the middle of the play area as the new 7th prop. Remember: The 7th prop is out of play until the next time a player successfully performs a trick.
Note: If the trick pile is empty at the end of your turn, flip the next trick card from the deck face-up, ready for the next player's turn. Do this after you have performed your sleight of hand.
Forfeit
If you do not reveal two props in front of you that match the face-up trick, either because you cannot or because you choose not to, you must announce that you have forfeit the trick.
Your penalty is to flip one of your face-down props, revealing it to the other players, and leave it face-up. If one of your props is already face-up, you must flip the other prop. If both props are face-up, there is no additional penalty.
End of the Game
The game ends when either one player successfully performs The Other Hat Trick, or all three players fail to perform this final trick in turn.
Once the game ends, reveal any face-down props, and count up the points on your successfully performed trick cards. If all players failed to perform The Other Hat Trick, the props The Hat and The Other Rabbit each score a penalty of –3 points to the player or players who have them at the end of the game. If a player successfully performed The Other Hat Trick, then there are no penalties.
The player who scored the most points wins the game.