Rio Grande Games Balloon Cup

by Rio Grande Games

Product Features

• 2 players
• 30 minutes to play
• Mesopotamian temple builders
• Strategy game

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 1.2 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0006HCWEE
• Item model number: 214RGG
• Manufacturer recommended age: 10 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,085 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Follow the path of those who took this legendary Jules Verne trip around the world. Do it less than 80 days and faster than your opponents and win the game. Win or lose, all will enjoy this game as you travel by train, boat, elephant, and balloon around the world.

Product Description

"Balloon Cup In Balloon Cup, the players compete in several short balloon flights (hops) to collect the colored cubes associated with each hop. When a player has collected enough cubes of a given color, he earns the trophy card for that color. Players may even trade 3 otherwise useless cubes for 1 they can use. The first player to earn 3 trophy cards is the winner! Each player has a hand of eight balloon cards. The players play their balloons on mountain or plain hops. Players play their high-valued balloons on the mountains and their low-valued balloons on the plains. Players usually play their balloons on their side of the hops, but winds (and cunning) can cause them to play on their opponents side, a move that can ruin their opponents plans. 2 players, aged 10 and up, length: 30 minutes, author: Stephen Glenn FUN"

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flying High, October 30, 2005

By 

K. Sampanthar "Inventor of ThinkCube" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Rio Grande Games Balloon Cup (Toy)

This is a great 2 player card game. For people who are new to the influx of European style board and card games, the 2 player game genre is dominated by the likes of `Battleships'; boring games from you childhood, `Magic the Gathering'; geeky games played by the black t-shirt crowd, or `Chess', highly strategic games. So a game like `Balloon Cup' gets overlooked far too often since it doesn't fall into any of those categories.

Balloon Cup is a great 2 player game that appeals to a more mainstream audience who is looking for something more challenging than `Battleships', not as brain-draining as Chess and doesn't require purchasing a whole wardrobe of black t-shirts.

Balloon Cup is an addictive game that has a nice balance of luck and strategy to make those long winter evenings fly by. The best compliment you can give to a game is after finishing one game; your immediate thought is for a re-match.

For those who are familiar with the European games movement, and have played games like `Lost Cities' and the Kosmos 2-player game series; Balloon Cup ranks up there with Lost Cities as one of the best 2 player games of all time. I am totally addicted; this is my new favorite 2 player game!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent two-person game, June 30, 2010

By 

M. Smith "cenmad" (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Rio Grande Games Balloon Cup (Toy)

I received this game as a gift from some gamer friends who had heard great things, but never played it themselves. My husband and I have had so much fun with it, I've since bought my friend a copy of her own. Gameplay is very simple, set up is quick, and a game takes about 30 minutes to play. The cardboard tiles and laminated cards are thick and seem durable, and the artwork is typically attractive euro-game quality. It's designed for only two players, which we actually prefer since so many larger games just don't scale down very well (Carcassone, Stone Age, and Race for the Galaxy are notable exceptions).

Most simply put, players try to rack up points while blocking their opponent's attempts to do the same. The game mechanics (place cards on either side of the center tiles) couldn't be simpler, and we actually worried that it was *too* simplistic. We were wrong - there's considerable strategy in your card placement, especially when it comes to blocking your opponent. This is a game that can get downright diabolical if both people are even a little ruthless. Luck comes into play in your card draws, or when you're forced to place a "bad" card against yourself or a "good" card for your opponent.

I'd highly recommend this for those new to gaming or game enthusiastics alike, but especially for anyone competitive. This is definitely not a cooperative game, so anyone who doesn't like the idea of "playing to win" should probably pass on this one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun game for two!, March 8, 2009

By 

Lizi (New Orleans, LA) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rio Grande Games Balloon Cup (Toy)

This is a great game! It's designed for two players. The pieces are all of high quality. The game itself usually takes only 15-30 minutes to play, which is nice -- it's quick and doesn't drag on. Also, because of the design, you feel like you're playing a new game every time you play it. It's not a game you can play every night (it'd get old), but we pull it out maybe 3-4 times a month and have fun with it. This game is fun for adults, and I think it would be fun and easy to play for children, too (I don't have kids so I'm not sure...).