Carabande

Produced by Goldsieber
Translated by Frank Branham

Note: this includes translations of all of the text. The basic sections are

Components

Important hints about caring for your game

Make sure that you always lay out the track on an even surface. Otherwise, your discs will be affected by the junctions of the track, and may fly out of the track. Playing on carpet, or on a table made of multiple sections will usually not work.

The track pieces are made of MD-F (compressed wood fiber), a material perfect for this game. Make sure that you do not damage the track, while assembling your raceway. The edge rails should remain attached to the track segments. This means that the parts will not fit back in the box, however.

Overview

First read through this overview, then through the game rules.

The basic idea of the game is to flick the colored discs around the racetrack. See Picture 1 for the basic flipping technique.

Before each race, you can assemble the track in many ways. The edge rails are particularly important in their placing. One should go into each track piece.

Whether to put the edges on the inside or outside of the track is your decision. However, for the first race, we recommend to build the pictured track.

There will be quite a few gaps in the track through which your disc can leave the track. If you knock your disc, or another player's disc off of the track, you lose that turn.

With a really good bounce, you can cover large sections of the track.

So that you can actually make shots, you may use the black disc to put some spacing between your disc and another player, or the wall.

When you cross the Start Line, you finish a lap, and place a check on the scorepad.

First one to complete 3 laps wins the race.

The Full Rules

Setting Up the Game

Before the first game, put stickers on the game discs from the included sheet.

Then set up the track pieces to form an enclosed loop.

Put the walls into the slits on the track, long bits on the curves, and short segements on the straights.

Put the scorepad and the black spacing disc in the middle along with a pencil for marking laps.

Give each player a disc. The youngest player receives the 1 disc and plays first. (With 2-4 players, you may wish to use 2 discs for each player. In that case, give each player a set of 2 discs of the same color.)

Sequence of Play

Each race runs for 3 laps.

The player with disc 1 puts his disc behind the starting line and knocks it as far as possible along the track. The rest of the players take their turns in order of their disc numbers.

Once all players have had a turn, the player with disc 1 then takes another turn to flip his disc from where it lies on the track. After player 1 takes a turn, then the rest take their turns in the same order as before.

Once a player crosses the Start line, he places a mark under his number on the score pad. When he completes his second lap, he will place a mark in the second box.

The first person to finish the third lap wins.

Track Hazards

Spacing Between Discs

You may use the black spacing disc to create some space between your piece and an another disc or the walls around the edge of the track. This can help you make some shots if you are ever blocked.

You may never use the spacing disc if there is a larger gap than the width of the disc. Look at illustration #3 for a couple of examples of spacing.

When you are repositioning pieces to add some space, you may only move your piece, and never that of another player.

Other Player's Pieces

For the most part, you are allowed to knock other player's pieces around as long as you only physically touch your own piece.

Knocking Discs Off of the Track

If a shot is so hard that it flies off the track, then the turn is lost.

The player must move their piece back to where it was at the start of their turn, and their turn then ends.

Tip: It is a good idea to leave you hand in place on the track until all discs have come to a complete stop. That way you can replace your disc easily if it is knocked off.

If you knock another player's piece off the track, then you must attempt to return all pieces that have left the track to their locations before the shot. You must also return your own piece to its original location. Your turn then ends.

Knocking a Disc Upside Down

If you flip your own disc in such a manner that it lands sticker side down on the track, you will miss a turn. Leave the piece in its current position, and on your next turn, flip it back over. That is your entire turn. Upside down pieces may be moved by other player's shots.

If someone else knocks an upside-down piece off of the track, return the piece to its original position before the shot. Leave the disc face down.

End of the Game

As soon as a player completes his 3rd lap, he wins the race. The other players should continue the game until all finish the race

Playing Tips

The Snapping

A good player will use the same technique as the Indian game Carrom. Use the fingernail to actually contact the piece. You can use either the goat-finger (???), the middle finger, or the thumb for the snap. Simply pushing the disc is forbidden.

Bank Shots

As you get better, you should be able to make shots that both bounce off the rails and glide along them for really long shots. Learning to make decent bank shots is essential to help get you out of some nasty situations when you are blocked.

Professional Rules

The Carabande professional rules differ in two important ways:

Pros Don't Use Spacing

You must play your discs where they lie. If you are lying against a rail, you will have to aim in a direction against which you can actually shoot.

You may also not create spacing if you are hedged in by other discs. If there is no way for you to actually snap a finger to your disc, you must miss your turn.

Pros Use Obstacles

You use the black disc as an obstacle disc. Place it anywahere on the track.

If a player knocks his own piece into the obstacle disc, he loses his turn. Move that player's disc back to its starting position, and pass the turn to the next player.

If a disc besides the shooting player is knocked into the obstacle, it remains where it lies. The obstacle disc remains where it lies as well.

Professional Scoring For Tournaments

If you decide to run a tournament to determine the best player, you should use the tournament scoring. Obviously, this only works if the same players are available for each race.

Tournament scoring is added based on a player's finish position:

PositionPoints
1 10
2 6
3 4
4 3
5 2
6 1
7 0
8 0

Pros Also Fight for Pole-Position

Like in real racing, the Carabande player who gets the Pole Position has a strong advantage over his opponents. In the Pro version, you have to compete for the chance to go first.

Choosing Pole Position with each player having 1 disc:

For 2-3 Players

Each player takes a disc and tries to knock it as far as they can with a single shot. Leave the disc on the track, and allow the other players to take shots in turn.

The person who made the furthest shot gets the Pole Position. The person with the second-longest shot takes disc 2 and so on.

For 4 Players

Play a small tournament of duels. First, player 1 and player 2 duel and try for the best shot. Then player 3 and 4 duel for best shot. Then the winners of both duels shoot against each other, and the losers play a duel against each other. The two winners of the first duel take discs 1 and 2. The losers take 3 and 4.

For 5 Players

This works the same as the 4 player selection, save that one of the duels is for two players, and the other has 3 players. The person who loses the 3 player match takes disc 5. The second out of the 3-player match duels with the loser of the 2 player match for discs 3 and 4. The winners duel for the 1 and 2 discs.

For 6 Players

First, run 3 matches of 2 players each. The winners then play a final match for the 1,2,3 discs. The losers play for the 4,5,6 positions.

For 7 Players

Run 2 duels of two players each, and a match consisting of 3 players. The loser of the 3 player match gets the 7. Otherwise, this works like the 6 player scheme.

For 8 Players

Run 4 duels of 2 players each. The winners play each other in duels of two persons similar to the 4 player match. The winners of the first duels receive discs 1-4. The losers play each other for the 5-8 positions.

Choosing Pole Position with each player having 2 discs

With each player having multiple discs, you play duals as above for 2-4 players

For 2 players

Play a duel. The winner gets discs 1 and 3. The loser gets 2 and 4.

For 3 Players

The winner gets discs 1 and 4. The loser gets 3 and 6. The player who was in the middle gets discs 2 and 5.

For 4 Players

The winner gets positions 1 and 5. The second player gets 2 and 6. The third place player gets 3 and 7. The loser get 4 and 8.

The Game Cabinet - editor@gamecabinet.com - Ken Tidwell