Hello everyone!
Today we're going to talk about Flowers Mandala!
Get your clues ready, for 4 to 8 players and from age 12 for 15 minutes, to honor the memory of those who have passed away!
It's November 2nd, and it's the Day of the Dead (Fiesta de los Muertos). On this sacred day, the dead return! And the dead fear only one thing: being forgotten.
Indeed, as long as they are remembered, a dead person is never truly dead, but if they are forgotten… then they wander for eternity! Will you be able to remember all the deceased present tonight? Good luck, or rather, “Buena suerte!”
Fiesta de los Muertos is a cooperative game in which players must find each deceased character present during the game. Each player draws a Character card and looks at it secretly. They then place it face down in front of them.
Then, each player opens their Skull board, secretly writes the name of their Character inside, and closes their Skull board. From this point on, until the "Appease the Dead" phase, the Skull slate must never be opened again!
If a player doesn't know the Character they drew, they can discard it and draw another. On the white space of the Skull's jaw, each player secretly writes one word (no more!) that reminds them of their Character.
When a player has written their word, they color in a Tooth at the bottom of their Skull. Then they pass their Skull to their neighbor on the left. For example, with the character "Hercules," you could write "strength" on your slate.
Each player takes the Skull they were given, reads the word written in the jaw, erases it, and writes another word in its place. This other word must remind them of the word they just erased. Again, when a player has written their word, they color in a Tooth at the bottom of the Skull.
Then they pass the Skull to their neighbor on the left. For example, the word "strength" written previously is erased and replaced with "energy." You will receive another Skull and do the same: erase a word, write another word, color a Tooth, and pass the Skull... Repeat this process until all four Teeth on each Skull have been colored (each player will have written four words). When a player has colored the fourth Tooth on a Skull, they place that Skull face down in the center of the table (so the last word they wrote is not yet visible).
It is forbidden to write a Character or Person name. It is also forbidden to write a word already present on the Character card (for the first word) or a word with the same root as the word you received (for subsequent words). You can only write one word, no more; however, compound words, joined by a hyphen, are allowed. Shuffle the Skulls face down and place each Skull face up underneath. Without looking at it, take each player's Character card and add face-down Character cards from the draw pile to it until you have 8 Characters. Shuffle the 8 Character cards, then place them face up below the Skulls.
Players must then try to find the Character that corresponds to the last word written on each Skull. When they think they have found a Character, they write the Character's name next to the corresponding Skull number on their Deduction board. The game then works by association of ideas, and also by trying to remember words that were erased during the round.
Open the first Skull, then compare the Character name inside with each player's answer. For each correct answer, check off a box on the frieze inside the Skull, starting with the box corresponding to the number of players, then continuing to the right.
If you haven't checked all the blank boxes from the starting box, leave the Skull open. It will take a little while to know if the dead person is at peace... If you manage to check all the white squares starting from the beginning, close the Skull. The dead person is at peace!
The game is now over. The more dead people you manage to appease, the better the celebration will be. The number of closed Skulls allows you to evaluate your game.
As Edith Piaf said, "Death is the beginning of something."
Good day and good game ;)
