The Fire Balloons Board Game Instructions
The journey to joining the Martian ranks starts here…
Background: You have just landed on Mars as a new colonist with your family. You want to
become an orb of light like the Martians. However, you can only do so by doing good deeds.
You must journey around Mars and commit good deeds to earn points. But if you commit
wrong doings, you lose points. If you earn enough points and get to the end first, you can
become an orb of light.
How to win: The first player to earn 5 points and get to the end to transform into an orb of
light wins.
Start playing:
 This game can be played by two to four players.
 Get enough paper and pencils for each player.
 Shuffle and place the Peregrine (red cards) and Stone cards (black
cards) into two piles.
 Everyone must choose a game piece and place it on the start tile. The
youngest player goes and then move counterclockwise about the group.
 The first player rolls the die and moves the specified number of spaces starting on
the gray tile and moves counterclockwise about the board.
 The player draws a card if they land on a Peregrine (red tile) or Stone tile (black tile)..
All played cards should be placed in a discard pile. Once the cards run out, shuffle the
discard pile and use those cards again.
 The next player rolls and repeats the process.
Tiles
Peregrine tile (red tile): If the player lands on
this tile draw a matching color Peregrine card
and follow the instructions on the card.
Stone tile (black tile): Likewise, draw a Stone
card and follow its directions.
Wormhole (purple tile): If the player lands on
a worm hole tile, the player is to move their
game piece to the other wormhole tile on the opposite side of Mars. Their turn is now over.
Yellow tile: Nothing happens, and the player’s turn is over.
Grey tile: This is where the players enter the board on their first roll. It acts as a yellow
tile for the rest of the game.
Dot tiles: These tiles are the doorway to the end space. When a player has 5 points, they
need to land on one of the dot tiles to pass into the end space and become an orb of light. If
a player does not have 5 points when they land on one of these tiles, the tiles act as
described above, depending on their color.
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Two Players on a tile: Two players can occupy a tile at the same time.
Quick Start Instructions
Cards
Peregrine Cards (red cards): These cars will assist you in joining the Martian ranks and
transforming into an orb of light. Possible Peregrine cards include:
 Point cards- There are five 1 point cards, two 2 point cards and one 3 point card.
 Extra turn cards-if a player draws this card they can roll the die again.
 Door to Martians-Only one card of this type. The player can use this card to go
directly to the end space to becoming an orb of light. This card is best saved for the
end once the player has obtained the needed 5 points for
Father
passing through the end tile.
Peregrine told
you some
history about
the orb!
Stone Cards (black cards): These cards will set you back in your
journey to becoming a moral orb of light.
You get an
 Lose a point-The player subtracts the specified number of
extra turn
points from their point count. If the player does not have
the amount of points specified, they lose all the points they
do have. If the player does not have any points, they do nothing and their turn is over.
 Skip a turn-The player’s current turn is over and their turn is skipped the next time
around.
 Close the door for a round- The end tile will be closed until the player who played
the card has completed their next turn. No other player can
Father Stone
proceed through to the end tile at this time if they land on a
convinced
doorway tile. The doorway tile acts as a regular colored tile.
people the orb
The player who played the card can also not enter the
in the temple
isn’t real!
doorway on the turn immediately following the turn they
played this card.
Lose a point
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
Each player chooses a game piece and places it on the start tile.
Shuffle all the red cards and all the black cards and make two piles, one of each color.
The youngest player goes first and rolls the die, and then go counter clockwise around
the group. If the player lands on a:
o Black tile- pick up a black card
o Red tile– pick up a red card
o Purple tile– move game piece to other purple tile on opposite side of board
o Yellow tile- nothing happens, turn is over
o Dotted tile- once a player has 5 points they need to land on one of these tiles to
enter the end area and transform into an orb of light.
All played cards are to be placed in the discard pile. Once the cards run out shuffle
the discard pile and reuse the cards.
Players will continue to move around the circle and collect points by picking up red
cards. Keep track of your points on paper.
First player to collect 5 points and land on one of the dotted tiles is the winner!
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