Cloud 9

Ride a hot air balloon cloud by cloud and decide when to jump out before it drops.

Designer: Aaron Weissblum
Published by: F.X. Schmid
Editions by: Out of the Box Publishing

Cloud 9 is a hot-air balloon ride where greed is the danger. Everyone places a passenger token in the basket and holds six balloon cards. Each round a different pilot rolls an increasing number of dice, and the dice show how many cards of each color the balloon needs to stay aloft. The higher the balloon climbs, from cloud to cloud, the more points you are earning, and the bigger the risk it all comes down. Before every roll, you choose whether to trust the pilot or jump out and keep your points. Wild cards add bluffing to the mix. A 1999 push-your-luck game for three to six players, about thirty minutes.

Passenger tokens ride the balloonA rotating pilot rolls more dice each cloudJump out to keep your points

Who it's for

You like push-your-luck games where you read your friends' faces, and have three to six players ready to gamble.

Not for you if…

You want much control. This is about nerve, bluffing and a dose of dice.

Vibe's take

Tense and funny. Everyone holds their breath as the pilot rolls, and the groan when the balloon falls is half the fun.