What You Get
Fold-out board
72 balloon cards
6 wooden passenger tokens
6 wooden scoring markers
Hot air balloon basket
4 wild cards
4 special Cloud 9 Dice
Rulebook
How to Play
The object of the game is to win points by daring to stay in the basket as it rises higher and higher with an ever-increasing risk of falling. The longer you stay in, the more points you get. But, if you're in the basket when it plummets, you get no points for that trip.
To Set Up
Place the balloon on the lowest cloud on the game board. Each player picks a passenger token and a scoring marker of the same color. The passengers go in the basket, and the scoring markers get placed at start. Shuffle the cards and deal 6 to each player. Select a player to go first.
Play
Each player takes a turn being the balloon pilot. The pilot's job is to make the balloon rise up to the next cloud. The pilot begins by rolling the number of dice shown on the current cloud. (This number goes up as the balloon rises). Each 6-sided die has different colored balloons on each side, as well as 2 blank sides. When the pilot rolls the dice, whatever comes up he must match with cards in his hand. So, if he rolls one red balloon and one green balloon, he must have both a red and a green balloon card in his hand in order to make the balloon rise to the next cloud. A wild card is used to match an entire dice roll, not just a single die. If a die comes up blank, you don't need a card for that die.
After the dice are rolled, the pilot waits to see if his passengers are going to stay in (if they think he can make the balloon rise), or bail out and take the points on the current cloud, moving their scoring markers that number of spaces. Once his passengers have chosen, the pilot reveals the cards needed to make the balloon rise, if he has them. Note: the only player who cannot bail out is the current pilot. Any cards played to match dice are then discarded.
After the balloon has risen to the next cloud, the pilot's job passes to the next player still in the balloon. Any players who have bailed out are finished until the balloon falls.
If you stay in the basket and the balloon cannot rise to the next level, the balloon falls and those players who chose to stay in get no points for that journey. After the basket has fallen, all players get back in the basket and start again.
If the pilot is able to make the balloon rise but he's the only one in the basket when he does it (because everyone else chickened out), once he is at the next cloud he has the choice to either continue the trip alone or jump out and take his points. The pilot must decide before rolling the dice.
At the start of each new balloon trip, each player draws one more card. Play continues until someone reaches 50 points. If this happens while a balloon trip is still in progress, play continues until the balloon falls or all players have jumped out.
Age Range
The box says 3 to 6 players ages 8 and up. My 7 year old understands and enjoys this game, and it was pretty easy to teach him, so I think most 6 or 7 year olds will enjoy it. It has adult appeal too, though, partly because of the gambling element.
Number of Players
The game cannot be played with fewer than 3, and I've heard that it's better with 4 or 5, though I have not tried it with more than 3.
Time?
The box says this game takes 20 - 30 minutes to play. For us it takes more like 15, but that might not be the case with more players.
Our Recommendation?
We enjoy this game quite a bit. It's good, quick, rowdy fun with a very cool theme, really nice colors and components, and a small package that doesn't take up much room in the game closet. The only thing is that we don't play it that often. It's not one of those super compelling or absorbing games. It comes out every so often as a "filler" when we don't have a whole lot of time and want something quick and lively.
Last edited on 2008-05-03 23:49:59 CST (Total Number of Edits: 1)
Posted Sat May 3, 2008 8:21 pm