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English Translation
December 3, 2010
Break the Egg
Number of players: 5-8 (can be extended to 10)
Time to play: 20-40 minutes
Age: 8-99

Components

Game Idea
The first four types of eggs can be broken in order to hatch a chicklet. A Rainbow egg can hatch a chicklet, but cannot be broken. A Rotten egg is already broken and can never hatch a chicklet.

Goal of the Game
The first player to get 10 chicklets wins. With 9-10 players, the first player to reach 8 chicklets wins.

How to Start

  1. Each player dons a headband.
  2. Shuffle the 51 cards and place them face down as a pile.
  3. Place the chicklets nearby.
  4. The player whose birthday is closest to New Year's day [January 1st, the term used also means "round egg"] goes first, or you may randomly pick a start player. This player takes the hammer.
How to Play
Each player takes a card without looking at its face and inserts the card into his own headband so that others can see its face.

[Text that goes with the illustration in the rules]:

  1. Put the headband on.
  2. Insert the face of the card so that others can see it.
  3. The two words on the card should be upside down.
At the start of each round the player holding the hammer proposes the type of egg (chicken, duck, quail or ostrich) to break. He may not propose breaking rainbow or rotten eggs.

Now the player to the right of this player must do one of the following:

  1. Agree
    The player agrees with the proposal. Play then passes to the next player.
  2. Exchange
    The player who chooses this option removes his card from his headband (without looking at it) and places it face down on the table. [The rules don't say what happens to this card; assuming it is placed unseen at the bottom of the discard pile. –editor] He then draws a replacement card from the pile without looking at its face and places it in his headband. A player is only allowed to do this once per round. They now take possession of the hammer and propose a type of egg to break (it can be the same type as previously proposed). Then the round begins anew.
  3. Guess
    The player announces he will try to guess the type of his own egg. He states the type and then removes the card from the headband.
    If incorrect, this person is out for the rest of this round. If he has any chicklets, he must return one, even if the egg was the rainbow egg. Play continues with the player to the right.
    If correct, he receives 2 chicklets, even if the egg was a rotten egg.
Continue with the player to the right until the round is complete. [But it would seem more likely that when someone guesses correctly under option C that the round ends immediately. -editor] Then:
  1. If nobody in this round has correctly guessed using the rules under option (C):
      If all of the players who are still active have agreed with the current proposal the eggs are now broken. Each player removes his egg. If this egg is of the type which was proposed to be broken, such a player does not receive a chicklet. In addition, players holding rotten eggs also do not receive chicklets. All of the other eggs produce 1 chicklet each for their owners.
      The hammer is then passed to the last player who agreed with the most recent proposal.
  2. If someone in the current round did guess correctly using option (C):
      He gets 2 chicklets (as explained above) and everyone else's egg is broken. However, anyone who reveals a rainbow egg nevertheless receives 1 chicklet. The hammer now passes to the player who guessed correctly.
Whenever eggs are broken a round has ended. Anyone who may have guessed wrong is back in play. Now a new round is begun with the player holding the hammer making a new proposal.

Unlucky Egg
When this egg is drawn, it remains face up in front of the player who drew it. When the deck has been used up, this player must re-shuffle all of the discarded cards, making sure that the unlucky egg is part of it.

End of the Game
The first player to get 10 chicklets wins.
If two or more reach 10 at the same time, the game continues until one of them is leading.

Designer: Wang Zhi-gang
Art Design: YOYU
Special thanks to DB, Huang Jing, KayaK, Xia Ling, Jiang Wei, Ling Ji-si, Liu Qi, Club309, FF Boardgame Club.
Publisher: Yoka Games
Copyright 2007-2009 Beijing Boardgame Cultural Development Co.

Text on the Unlucky Egg card:
When you reveal this Unlucky Egg keep it in front of you; when the deck is exhausted, re-shuffle the discards, making sure to put this unlucky one in with the rest.

Translator: Eveleen Tang. Special thanks to Carmen.


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