Introduction:

One night, a panda bear sat between some bamboo plants and chewed dreamily on a few bamboo leaves.

Looking up at the night sky, he wondered why he wasn’t one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. «Then I’ll think of something where I’ll be mentioned in the same breath as these animals, and even play a special role», he thought. And when he turned to the next leaf, the idea for «Panda Spin» was born ...

Panda Spin is a card game in which the cards show the animal/element combinations of the Chinese zodiac - supplemented by the panda. The aim of the game is for you to discard your cards faster than the others by winning tricks and collecting «bamboo for the pandas», i.e. points in the form of bamboo tiles. If you win a trick, you discard the cards you played. But even if you lose a trick, you have an advantage: you take the cards you used back into your hand rotated 180 degrees (spin) and thus increase their value. So in order to collect more points it can be useful to lose a trick from time to time …

Game Overview:

In Panda Spin you have 5 suits of cards representing the 5 elements of the Chinese zodiac.

These elements are associated with colors: Fire (red), Earth (yellow), Wood (turquoise), Water (black) and Metal (grey). You can identify the suits by the colored element symbols at the top and bottom of the cards, see example below. In each suit there is 1 Element card, which does not show a value but a special function, and 13 Animal cards which show a value and sometimes an additional symbol.

One half of an Animal card shows an animal from the Chinese zodiac with white background behind the values, and the other half shows an improved blue version, hereafter referred to as the White side and the Blue side. The White sides shows the physical representation of the animal, the Blue side the spiritual one. The value of an Animal card varies depending on the White/Blue side: the White side has a single value, while the Blue side either has a higher value, 2 or 3 identical values or one of the symbols: Panda, Bamboo, Water or Fire. When you play an Animal card, only its upper half is relevant.

The game is played over several rounds and ends, when after a round at least 1 player has collected 15 or more points.

A round consists of several tricks and ends when all players but 1 have discarded all their cards.

In a trick, you play cards in turn until all but 1 player have passed. Those cards are called your bid. You may receive points, when you

• show out, i.e. end a round without any cards in your hand • play 1 or more cards with a Bamboo symbol • play 1 or more cards with a Panda symbol

General Rules for Playing Cards:

• If you want to play cards, you have to play a higher bid than the player before you. For this you either play 1 or more Animal cards or a single Element card. • If you play Animal cards, you have to use all their values, but you can decide not to use the symbols. Example: You can use a double 6 to beat a double 5, but not a triple 6. • Before playing cards or passing, you can discard 1 or more Element cards unused (that can be necessary at the end of a round).

Playing a Round:

Shuffle the selected Animal and Element cards and deal 12 of them to each player. Take the cards into your hand so that all the White sides are on top. Set the rest aside as a face-down draw pile. Leave some space next to it for a discard pile, where you can place cards that you discard later face up.

Tip: In your first game or to make it easier you can leave out the Element cards.

Start a trick Whoever starts the trick plays 1 or more cards of a certain Combination Then, in clockwise order, the other players decide in turn whether they want to beat the bid or pass.

Beat To beat the current bid, you have 3 options: • You play the same type of Combination with the same number of values as in the current bid, but with a higher value (for Runs and Formations, the highest single value is decisive). • You play a Bomb, which can only be beaten by a higher Bomb. • You play a single Element card and win the trick.

Pass If you cannot or do not want to beat the current bid, you pass and may not play any more cards for the rest of the trick.

If you have already played cards to the current trick, there are 2 cases: • If you have only played cards with White sides up, you spin all of them 180 degrees and take them back into your hand. • If you have played at least 1 card with the Blue side up, you discard all the cards you have played to this trick.

Winning a Trick You win a trick when everyone else has passed. Discard all the cards you played to this trick.

Showing out If you have no more cards in your hand after a trick, you successfully show out of the current round. It doesn’t matter whether you won the trick or discarded your last Animal cards when passing. You receive points: Everyone counts the cards in their hand. You receive the highest number of them as points, but no more than 7. Note: It can happen that several players discard their last card in the same trick. All of them get the same number of points. If no one has any cards left in their hands, nobody receives points.

Next trick • If at least 2 players still have cards in hand: Whoever won the previous trick starts the next trick. If this player has showed out, the player with the most cards begins. Ties are broken by the player who is next in the order of play. • If at most 1 player still has cards in hand: see Next round or End of Game.

Next Round or End of Game:

Has anyone of you 15 or more points?

No: you play the next round. The player with the fewest points starts the next round. In the case of a tie, the round is started by the player, who played his last cards earlier in the last round. Continue at Play a round.

Yes: the game ends! The player with the most points wins the game. In the case of a tie, winner is, who played his last cards earlier in the last round.

Combinations:

There are 5 possible Combinations to start a trick: Single, Set, Run, Formation, Bomb:

Single The highest Single value is the Chinese 2, followed in descending order by A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. This order also applies to the other Combinations: The higher the highest Single value, the higher the value of the Combination.

Set A Set consists of 2 or more identical values. Examples: 5, 5 or 7, 7, 7.

Run A Run consists of 2 to 5 consecutive values, where by the Chinese 2 may not be part of a run. Examples: 5, 4, 3 or A, K, Q.

Formation A Formation is a Set of Runs. Examples: Q, Q, J, J, 10, 10 or 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6.

Bomb A Bomb consists of at least 4 identical values, whereby no Water symbol may be used. Examples: 8, 8, 8, 8 or 3, 3, 3, 3, 3.

More rules for Bombs: • You can beat a Bomb by another Bomb if it either has the same number but higher values or has more values. • You ignore all symbols when playing a Bomb. If you want to use the Water symbol, you still can play these cards as a Combination, but not as a Bomb. • If you pass after your Bomb was beaten by another Bomb, you still discard the cards you have played to the trick.

Elements/Colors:

Fire (Red) After spinning, a Fire card has either a double value or a high single value with a Fire symbol. For each Fire symbol you play, you may discard an Animal card from your hand.

Metal (Gray) After spinning, a Metal card has several identical values. This makes it easier to create Sets, Formations and Bombs.

Water (Black) After spinning, a Water card shows a Water symbol. You can use this symbol as a wild second value in a Set, in a Run, in a Formation, or ignore it. In other words, the card will have two values - the face value plus the one you select. This wild doesn’t have to be adjacent to the single value of the card.

Earth (Yellow) After spinning, an Earth card has either a double value or a high single value with a Panda symbol. Depending on the Panda mood tile there are 2 different rules: For each Panda symbol you play, • you receive 1 point from the player who played before you in the trick, provided they have points (Hungry Panda) • you may spin 1 of your hand cards from White to Blue side (Spin Panda)

Wood (Turquoise) After spinning, a Wood card shows a Bamboo symbol. For each Bamboo symbol you play, you receive 1 point from the supply.

Element Cards:

You can play an Element card instead of a Combination. An Element card beats all Combinations except Bombs, and win the trick immediately. Before playing cards or passing, you can discard 1 or more Element cards unused. The following rules apply: • You may only play an Element card if the condition on it is fulfilled. • Immediately after playing a card, you must draw 2 cards from the draw pile and place them in your hand with the White sides facing up. • You win the trick and discard the cards you have played as usual. All other players have to pass and treat their cards accordingly.

Fire: You may only play the Fire card if you have 7 or fewer cards in your hand, including the Fire. Metal: You may only play the Metal card if someone has played both White and Blue sides to the trick. Water: You may only play the Water card if the highest bid has at least 3 values (same or different). Earth: You may only play the Earth card if the trick contains at least 1 Panda symbol. Wood: You may only play the Wood card if the trick contains a Chinese 2 or an A.

These rules were copied from the rulebook on Board Game Geek.