Ballon Cup seems to have a strange relationship with the crowd here. It always gets recommended to people asking the age old question of "What game can I con my wife into playing?" (Ballon Cup is part of the Kosmos 2-player line) but only behind Lost Cities. I bought Lost Cities a few years ago and have really enjoyed playing it with my girlfriend. I wanted to introduce her to something new. I was afraid that this game was too similar to Lost Cities, that is why I hadn't bought it earlier. Don't get me wrong, I like Lost citied, but you can only play it so many times before it feels like solitaire+

Why are these games consistently associated with each other? Lost cities hovers around 100, but Balloon Cup is all they way in the 300s. This review is for people who have enjoyed lost cities and are thinking about another 2-player game in the same vein.




The Game

The game components are very nice, everything we have come to expect from the Kosmos games published by Rip Grande here in America. The artwork is pleasant and fits well with the theme. The cards are sturdy and the wooden cubes are... well they are wooden cubes. The game comes with a cloth bag that is used to hide the remaining cubes. My only complaint is you can actually see through the bag at times. But this is easily remedied, by looking away when drawing the cubes.



Game Play

The basic gameplay is identical to Lost Citied. You play a card then draw a card, then your opponent does the same thing. The twist is that throughout the game you are collecting wooden cubes that will eventually earn you a trophy.

Player will play their numbered cards to their side, or their opponent side of the "Ballon Hop." This is where the game differs a little from Lost Cities. In Balloon Cup, you may play cards that will hurt your opponent on their side of the hop in addition to your side. Another difference is that the hops can be either mountains or plains. If the ballon hop is a mountain the highest total wins, and if it is a plain than the lowest total wins. One aspect of the game that I really enjoy is that the ballon hops flip over when a player takes the cubes from it. So throughout the game plains become mountains and mountains become plains.

To win the game you need to be the first player to get three trophies. Each trophy is represented by color cubes that are earned through winning the ballon hops. So in addition to playing cards to win the hops, you need to keep track of what color cubes you and your opponent have. This is where the real strategy is in my opinion. You have to play aggressively to get cubes but also defensively to prevent your opponent from earning cubes that will net him/her the trophies.

Games last about 20-30 minutes and will usually result in the loser asking for a rematch.

Final Thoughts
I have heard that it is possible for the game to "lock up." But this has never occurred in my games, and I hear that there is an easy fix. One thing I do however recommend is playing with the designers official variant...

You may not play to an opponents side of the hop until your side of the hop is complete.

This makes the game a little more strategic and the best move is not so easily scene. While i think this game is very different than Lost Cities, I think people who enjoy one will enjoy the other. If you are looking for a good short 2 player game I highly recommend this. I own 5 of the Kosmos two player games, Helles, Jambo, Lost Cities, and Odin's Ravens. I would only put Jambo ahead of this game.