Rules to Splash

4-8 players

aged 8 and up

Splash is a squirt gun party between the birthday kiddo and his classmates. Can the kid's best friend protect him while the sibling just wants to just ruin everyone's day? Each player takes the on the role of one of the kids and who knows what will happen with this chaos?

One thing is certain, everyone is going to be all wet.


Components


• 8 Balloon Role cards: 1 Birthday kid, 2 Best Friends, 3 Classmates, 2 Sibling;
• 16 Attendees;
• 80 Playing cards;
• 7 Intertubes
• 1 extra towel for the Birthday kid

GOAL


Each player has their own goal according to their Balloon role card:
Birthday Kiddo: must soak all the Classmates and the Sibling
Classmate: They want to soak the Birthday kid but don't really care if they soak anyone else along the way.
Best Friend: The best friends want the Birthday kid to have a great day and protect the Birthday kid no matter what!
Sibling: They want to be the center of attention and their only goal is to be the last character in play.


SETUP


Each player takes an attendee card(they look like invitations). This can done randomly or you can let the players choose. Once players have their attendee, they announce their name and what ability that attendee has. The abilities allow players to 'break' the rules in different ways. Each player takes as many towel tokens as is stated on their player board much protection they have from being completely soaked.

You will need to count out the following role balloons, depending on the player count.


4 players: 1 Birthday kid, 1 Sibling, 2 Classmates
5 players: 1 Birthday kid, 1 Sibling, 2 Classmates, 1 Best Friend
6 players: 1 Birthday kid, 1 Sibling, 3 Classmates, 1 Best Friend
7 players: 1 Birthday kid, 1 Sibling, 3 Classmates, 2 Best Friend

8 players: 1 Birthday kid, 2 Siblings, 3 Classmates, 2 Best Friend



Shuffle the cards and give one, face down, to each player. The Birthday Kid reveals himself by turning their balloon face up. All other players look at their role but keep it secret.

The Birthday kid takes an additional towel token. 


Put the remaining balloon tokens, towel tokens, and character boards back in the box.
Shuffle the cards, and deal each player as many cards as towels they have. Put the remaining cards to form a draw pile in the center of the table.


Attendee

Every kid at the party has an ability that makes them unique. The number of towels at the bottom shows how many times you can get wet before you are completely soaked. The towels also indicate how many cards you can hold in your hand at the end of your turn. If you only have 3 towels, you may only hold 3 cards. You keep track of how many towels based on the tokens you have. Remember the birthday kid can have 1 more than is printed on their attendee sheet.


GAMEPLAY


The game is played in turns, in clockwise order. On their turn players go through three phases.
1. Draw two cards;
2. Play any number of cards;
3. Discard excess cards.

The Birthday kid begins the first turn.


1. Draw two cards
The current player takes the top two cards from the draw pile. If at any point there are not enough cards to draw, shuffle the discard and create a new draw pile.


2. Play any amount of cards

The current player can choose any of the cards to play from their hand. Some of them may hurt other players, others might help you, or others might just cause chaos at the party.

Most cards can only be played on your turn but Miss and Snack can be played out of turn.

You don't have to play any cards during this phase.

You can only play 1 splash card per turn.

Only one copy of each card can be in play in front of you.

You can only have one water gun in play. (you may play another one if you like it better, but the old one is immediately discarded)


Example. If you put a Hat in play, you cannot play another one, since you would end up having two copies of the same card in front of you. There are two types of cards: cards with a water background (play and discard) and cards with the yellow background (Squirt guns and other objects).


Water background cards are played by putting them directly into the discard pile and applying the effect written on the card.


Yellow cards are played face up in front of you (exception: Time out). Yellow cards in front of players and are referred to as “in play”. These card's effect last until they are discarded.
There is not a limit to how many cards you can have in front of you in play aside from only 1 squirt gun and none of them have the same name.

3. Discard extra cards
Once the current player has played all the cards that he wants to or is able to, then the current player must discard cards from their hand so that they only have as many cards as towels that they have remaining.

The next player in clockwise order then becomes the current player and the sequence is repeated.

Distance between players The distance between two players is the minimum number of places between them, counting clockwise or counterclockwise. The distance is very important, because all cards with a sight take it into account. Normally you can reach only targets (players or cards) within a distance of 1 with your Dinky shooter.
When a character is eliminated, he is no longer counted when evaluating the distance: some players will get “closer” when someone is eliminated.

Soaking an attendee
When a player loses their last towel, they are soaked and their game is over, unless they immediately play a Snack (see below). When you are soaked, show your role balloon and discard all the cards you have in hand and in play. You no longer take turns. 

Penalties and Rewards 

If an Classmate is soaked then the player who soaked the Classmate may draw 3 cards. This happens even if the Classmate is the one who eliminated another Classmate.

If the Birthday kid eliminates a Best Friend, the Birthday kid must discard all the cards they have in their hand and in play.


END OF THE GAME


The game ends when one of the following conditions is met:
a) the Birthday kid is soaked. If the Sibling is the only one not soaked, then he wins.
Otherwise, the Classmates win;
b) all the Classmates and the Sibling are soaked. The Birthday kid and Best Friends win.
Example 1. All the Classmates are soaked, but the Sibling is still in play. In this case, the game continues. The Sibling must now face the Birthday kid and Best Friends alone.
Example 2. The Birthday kid is soaked, but all Classmates are soaked, and one Best Friend and the Sibling are still in play. The game ends with the Classmates winning! They achieved their goal despite being soaked!
• Any player eliminating a classmate (even if the eliminating player is a classmate!) must draw a reward of 3 cards from the deck. 

Now that you are familiar with the rules, let’s see the cards of BANG! in detail!

THE CARDS


Squirt guns

These are cards with a small gun icon on them and lists the range.
You start the game with a Dinky shooter with a range of 1. This is not represented by any card, and is instead printed on the attendee sheet.
Using the Dinky shooter you can only hit targets at a distance of 1, i.e. only players sitting to your right or your left.
In order to hit targets farther than distance 1, you need to play a bigger weapon: place it in play next to you. Squirt gun cards always have their range printed on them.

The squirt gun in play substitutes the Dinky shooter, until the card is removed somehow. Even if weapons are in play, they can still be stolen (e.g. through the play of a Claw) or discarded (e.g. through Slip). The only weapon you can never lose is the Dinky shooter!
You can only have one Squirt gun in play at any time and must discard the other.

Important: squirt guns don't change the distance between players. They represent how far you can reach when shooting.


O.Z. 6400: with this card in play you may play any number of Splash cards during your turn ignoring the restriction at the bottom of the card. These Splash cards can target different players or the same player multiple times.

Splash and Miss


Splash cards are the main way that other players will lose towels.

If you want to play a Splash card to against another players you must first figure out:
a) The distance the other player is from you; and
b) if your squirt gun is able to shoot that far with any applied modifiers.

The player to the left and right to you are considered to be at a distance of 1. Two to the left or two to the right is considered to be a distance of 2 and so on.

Some items provide modifiers to this distance. If a player has goggles in play they can treat other players as if they are one closer. If the target has a skateboard the player who is targeting treats the distance as if they are one farther way.



If you are hit by a Splash you may immediately play a Miss even though it is not your turn! - to cancel the shot. If you do not, you lose one towel token. If you have no more towels left you are soaked unless you play immediately a Snack (see next paragraph). You can only cancel shots aimed at you. The Splash card is discarded, even when cancelled.


Chips


This card lets you regain one towel. You cannot gain more towels than your starting amount!
Chips cannot be used to help other players.
Chips can be played in two ways:
• as usual, during your turn;
• out of turn, but only if you have just received a hit that soaks you (i.e. a hit that takes away your last towel),
and not if you are simply hit.
Chips has no effect if there are only 2 players left in the game; in other words, if you play a Chips you do not gain any life point.

Example. You have 2 towels left, and loss 3 towels from a water balloon.
If you play 2 Chips you will stay alive with 1 towel left (2-3+2), while you would be eliminated playing only one Beer that would allow you to regain just 1 life point. You would still be at zero!


Pizza


All players gain 1 towel(unless they already have their maximum)
You cannot play a Pizza out of turn when you are losing your last life point: the Saloon is not a Chips! 


Backpack and Lunchbox

Draw 3 cards or 2 cards respectively.

Party Favors

When you play this card, turn as many cards from the deck face up as the players still playing. Starting with you and going clockwise, each player chooses one of those cards and puts it in his hands. 

Claw

This states that you take a card from a player within range. Squirt guns do not change this range but skateboard and goggle effects still apply.

Slip

Have a player discard a card.

Hose


The Hose shoots “Splash” to “all the other players”, regardless of the distance. Even though the Hose applies Splash to all the other players, it is not considered a Splash card card. 


Water Bucket


Each player, excluding the one who played this card, may discard a Splash card, or lose one towel. Miss and Hat do not protect against water bucket. 

Beach Ball


With this card you can target any other player. The targeted player may discard a Splash card. If that player does, you may discard a Splash card, and so on: the first player failing to discard a Splash card loses a towel, and the match is over. You cannot play Miss or use the hat during a beach ball match. Cards discarded during a Duel are not accounted towards the “one Splash card” limit. 


Skateboard


When you have a Skateboard in play any players targeting you must apply a +1 modifier to the distance.


Goggles

When you have a Goggle in play, your range is increased by 1

Flip

Some cards ask you to flip a card from the deck. When you are told to do this look in the top right corner, if it has that icon in the top right long time.

Hat


The Hat allows you to flip when you are the target of a Splash: - if you draw a Ducky icon card, you do not have to lose a towel
- otherwise nothing happens.
Example. You are the target of another player’s Splash. You have a Hat in play: this card lets you “draw!” to cancel a Splash and it is successful on a Ducky icon. So, you flip the top card of the deck and put it on the discard pile:
it’s shows a ducky so the hat is successful and you do not need to lose a towel.
If the flipped card does not show a ducky, then the Hat would have had no effect, but you can cancel the Splash with a Miss if you have one.


Time Out


Play this card in front of any player who is not the Birthday kid:
That player must resolve this at the beginning of their next turn turn by drawing a card:
- if they draw a Ducky card, their time out is over: they discard the Jail, and continue their turn as normal;
- otherwise discard the Time out and skip their turn.
If you are in Time Out you remain a possible target for Splash cards and can still play response cards (e.g. Miss and Chips) out of your turn, if you need to.
Time Out cannot be played on the Birthday kid.


Water Balloon


Play this card in front of you: the Water Balloon will stay there for a whole turn.
When you start your next turn (you have the Balloon already in play), before the first phase you must “draw!”:
- if you draw a card showing a snorkel, the Water explodes! Discard it and lose 3 towels;
- otherwise, pass the Water Balloon to the player on your left (who will “draw!” on his turn, etc.).
Players keep passing the Water Balloon around until it explodes, with the effect explained above, or it is drawn or discarded by a different card. If you have both the Water Balloon and a Time Out in play, check the Water Balloon first. If you get wet (or even soaked!) by a Dynamite, this damage is not considered to be caused by any player and nobody gains the bonus cards.


THE ATTENDEES

Sen (4 towels): each time Sen loses a life point, he immediately draws a card from the deck.

Adrian (4 life points): during phase 1 of his turn, Adrian must show the second card he draws: if has a ducky or bubble, that player draws one additional card (without revealing it).

Mika (4 life points): she can use Splash cards as Miss cards and vice versa. If she plays a Miss as a Splash, she cannot play another Splach card that turn (unless she has the O.Z. 6400 in play).

Lil' Brudder (3 life points): each time he loses a towel due to a card played by another player, he draws a random card from the hands of that player (one card for each towel). If that player has no more cards, too bad!, he does not draw. Note that Water Balloon damages are not caused by any player.

Steven (4 life points): during phase 1 of his turn, he may choose to draw the first card from the deck, or randomly from the hand of any other player. Then he draws the second card from the deck.

Darren (4 life points): Before taking damage from a Splash Darren may flip a card and on a Ducky he is missed. If he has a Hat card in play, he can do this twice, giving him two chances to cancel the Splash before playing a Miss or losing a towel.

Robert (4 life points): during phase 1 of his turn, he looks at the top three cards of the deck: he chooses 2 to draw, and puts the other one back on the top of the deck, face down.

Lisa Maria (4 life points): each time she is required to “flip”, she flips the top two cards from the deck, and chooses the result she prefers. Discard both cards afterwards.

Jazzy (3 life points): All other players must add 1 to the distance to her. If she has the Skateboard in play this bonus stacks increasing all distances to her by a total of 2.

Raymond (4 life points): during phase 1 of his turn, he may choose to draw the first card from the top of the discard pile or from the deck. Then, he draws the second card from the deck.

Hayley (4 life points): she sees the other players at a distance decreased by 1. This bonus can stack with scope for a bonus of 2.

Kimmy (4 life points): at any time, she may discard 2 cards from her hand to regain one towel. This can be done any number of times per turn but you cannot have more towels than you started with. 

James (4 life points): players trying to cancel his Splash cards need to play 2 Miss. The Hat effect(or Darren's ability), if successfully used, only counts as one Miss.

Karen (4 life points): as soon as she has no cards in her hand, she draws a card from the draw pile.

Marvin (4 life points): whenever a character is eliminated from the game, Marvin takes all the cards that player had in his hand and in play, and adds them to his hand.

Oscar (4 life points): he can play any number of Splash cards during his turn.


REMEMBER:


• you can only play one Splash card per turn, but you can play any number of other cards
• you can never have two cards with the same name in play in front of you
• you can only have one squirt gun in play, but at least you always have a Dinky shooter.
• squirt guns do not change the distance between players, they represent only your shooting range
• Chips has no effect when there are only 2 players left in the game
• When you are losing your last towel, you can only play a Towel, and not a Pizza.