Components
- 56 cards
- 1 bell
- Instructions
Object of the Game
Nine clowns of different colors are bustling about in the circus ring. Most clowns are happy, but some are very sad, because they have lost their hats.
Whenever two identical happy clowns can be seen in the circus ring, you have to strike the bell really fast and ring it.
Whoever can do this most quickly, gets many clown cards. The one who has got the most clowns at the end wins the game.
The Clown Cards
On each card a clown is shown. There are clowns in nine different colors, of each color five happy clowns and one sad clown without a hat. The happy and the sad clowns are just a little different from each other and that is why you have to be careful.
Setup
The bell is placed into the middle of the table well within reach for everybody. The cards are shuffled and dealt evenly to all players. If there are four players, two players have one more card each at the beginning.
Each player forms a pile with his (her) cards that he (she) places, clown's face down, in front of him (her) on the table.
Game Play
If it is your turn, you turn around the top card of your pile and place it face up in front of your pile on the table.
Then your neighbor on your left takes his (her) turn at once. In this way, an open pile of cards is created in the course of the game in front of each player between the bell and the covered pack.
Attention: When uncovering you must absolutely make sure that you turn the card round to the front.
The other players should see first the face of the card that is being uncovered. Thus you are forced to turn round each card very quickly if you also want to see which clown you are uncovering.
Ringing the Bell Quickly
All the players go on turning round one after the other the top card of their covered pile, until two happy clowns of the same color can be seen.
If this happens, each player must strike the bell as fast as possible, no matter if it is his (her) turn or not.
Example 1: A green happy clown, a pink happy clown, a lilac happy clown and a blue happy clown are uncovered. Until now you must not yet ring the bell. You put a second green happy clown on the blue happy clown. As there are now two green happy clowns to be seen the bell must be rung.
The player who has rung the bell first wins all the open piles of cards including his (her) own. The cards he (she) has won are put, clown's face down, under his (her) own covered pile. The fastest player starts the next round, by turning around a new card.
Attention: The hands of the players must not be too near the bell. During the game, they must always be kept on the table near the players' own cards.
Sad Clowns
Don't be confused by the sad clowns, because they look very much like the happy clowns. It happens all too soon that you ring the bell wrongly because two clowns of the same color were uncovered indeed, but one of them was a sad clown.
Example 2: A yellow happy clown, a red sad clown, a blue sad clown and a blue happy clown are uncovered. Until now you must not yet ring the bell. You put a blue happy clown on the yellow happy clown.
As two blue happy clowns can be seen now you may ring the bell, although the blue sad clown can be seen as well.
Wrong Bell-signal!
If you have struck the bell at the wrong moment, you must give a card to each of the other players from your covered pile. The other players put the card under their covered pile.
End of the Game
If it is your turn and you cannot turn round any more cards, you are out, unfortunately. The other players go on playing until two identical clowns can be seen.
The fastest player collects his (her) cards a last time and then finishes the game. Now each player counts his (her) cards. The player with the most cards has won the game.
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