We're going to use this space to give the players some strategy tips and an inside look into what it takes to make Bakugan. And remember, if you have any particular question you want to ask us, feel free to submit a question!
Official Multi-Player Rules
You have probably noticed that the rules inside the starters pack only cover a 2 player game. Most games of Bakugan are played this way, but clearly a LOT of folks like to play with more than 2 players. You're probably wondering what changes in a game with more than 2 players, here's the skinny...
There are only a few small changes to the game that will allow you to enjoy Bakugan with lots of folks.
How Gate Cards are Played
When two players play the game, gate cards are played with their short edges touching, with the owner of the card playing their card closer to their opponent. This is essentially the same when playing a game with more than two players. Each player plays their card "as far away from themselves as they can" in the middle of the field with it touching other cards out there. Here is the layout for a 4 player game...
Turn Sequence
You'll want to randomly determine who goes first, second, third, fourth, etc... After you determine that order, you'll want to sit in that order around the field (as in the diagram above). This helps remind players who goes when, and is just a good way to keep track of whose turn is next.
Playing Cards
Players in a multi-player game can only play "play in battle" cards when they actually have a Bakugan at the battle! This includes cards that say "play before a battle" or "play after a battle." Cards that can be played outside of battle, like the cards you can play before or after an opponent rolls, can be played by any player. If two players want to play a card at the same time, the player whose turn is next gets the first chance to play their card.
Running out of Bakugan
While not common, it is much more likely in a 4 player game that a player will find themselves with no Bakugan to roll during their turn, particularly if an opponent has played a Doom Card. If this happens to a player, the player may move any of his standing Bakugan to another Gate card that would start a battle instead of rolling. If the extremely rare situation where no enemy Bakugan are currently standing at the time, then the player moves one of the Gate cards that he has a standing Bakugan to his Used pile along with all of his standing Bakugan.
Winning the Game
Winning the game is exactly the same. The first player to get three Gate cards to their used pile wins!
Odd situations
One final world about multi-player games. Multi-Player games have the potential to have some very unusual and strange things pop up. The rules above provide a good outline for what is different and how to handle situations as they occur. If a situation not covered above comes up, the players at the table should take a quick vote or flip a coin so that the game can keep moving forward. After the game, feel free to send a question here. Every week or so, I'll post the answers to the most asked question in the FAQ section .
