My family designed this water balloon battle game for hot summer days. The game is intended for 2-4 players ages 7+ and can be played in as short as 30 minutes. In this Instructable, I describe how to make the game pieces and then the rules of the game.

Supplies

Nylon Rope ( such as 3/16” diameter x 100’), 64 Water Balloons (12 per player + 16 for Game Board), Colored Duct Tape (7 different colors; I used blue, green, purple, pink, orange, gold and black), 4 Large 6-sided Die (1 per player), 10 “Wrist” Bands in 4 different colors (to match 4 of the colored duct tape colors), 4 Old T-shirts (to hold water balloons), 4 Buckets (or some other container to hold game board water balloons), Tape Measure, Scissors

Step 1: Making the Rings

1. Using the nylon rope, measure out 48" and cut with a pair of heavy duty scissors.

2. Tape the ends of the rope together using black duct tape (or electrical tape).

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 in order to make 25 total rings with the following colors:

16 black, 4 orange (I used enough orange tape to completely cover the rope), 1 gold, 1 pink, 1 blue, 1 green, 1 purple

Step 2: Making the "Health" Bracelets

1. Using the flat elastic colored ribbon, measure out 10" and cut with a pair of fabric scissors.

2. Tie the ends together with a single square knot.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 enough times to make 40 total bracelets (10 of each color).

Step 3: Making the T-Shirt Bags

Inspired by SiddharthP127's T-shirt Bags posted on July 6th, 2016, I made these bags and just modified the opening to allow one to wear it as a sling. I made one bag per player using medium sized adult t-shirts.

Step 4: Setting Up the Game Board

Using a level surface, place the rings in a 5 x 5 grid so that the game board is 20’x 20’. Place a bucket next to the 4 orange taped rings and add 4 filled water balloons to each. Add 12 filled water balloons to each t-shirt bag and place in one of the four corners.

Step 5: Playing the Game

Starting the Game: Each player selects a corner ring to begin and then put the corresponding colored bracelets on one wrist. Each player then rolls a die; Lowest roll goes first. Each player begins with 10 health points and 12 water balloons.

Taking a Turn: A turn is composed of two actions: movement and attack. A player first decides to move (can only move one space for a turn, no diagonal moves and only one player can occupy a space at a time). The player then has the option to attack. The player must announce who they will attack and then rolls the die. If the player rolls a 3 or lower, the player can attack with 1 water balloon. If the roll is a 4 or higher, the player can attack with two water balloons. After the attack, play moves to the next person in clockwise order.

Health Points/Attack: If a player is attacked, they must stay in their circle but can otherwise move to avoid being hit. If hit and the balloon breaks on the attacked player, the player loses 2 health points and moves 2 colored wrist bands to the opposite wrist. If the player is hit but the balloon does not break, the player loses 1 health point and moves 1 colored wrist band to the opposite wrist. If the attacked player catches the water balloon, they may keep the balloon as part of their ammunition and the player does not lose any health points.

Orange Rings: The orange rings are a location where a player may gain more ammunition. Once on this ring, the player may pick up the ammunition and proceed to attack another player. The player is only allowed to pick up 1 water balloon from each orange ring during the game (for a total of 4) and can only occupy this space for one turn at a time (must move to another space if possible on the next turn).

Gold Ring: If a player steps into the gold ring, the player gains immunity from being attacked for the entire round. Each player may only gain immunity while on this gold ring once during the game and can only occupy this space for one turn at a time (must move to another space if possible on the next turn).

Player Elimination: When a player loses all health points, the player is eliminated. The player must give any remaining ammunition to the attacking player.

Ending the Game: The game is over when only 1 player remains with health points.

Step 6: Final Notes

My family had so much fun playing this game that we plan to take it to an upcoming family reunion. After testing it out the first time, we added a few additional rules such as an "intended" target zone (no face shots) as well as the loss of a health point if one steps out of the ring when being attacked. I also plan to explore with different water balloon sizes and filling styles.