China Moon (1996)

Once upon a time, in far-off China, there lived a mandarin duck. This duck was very sad because he wanted to give his sweetheart a special gift, but didn't know what would please her. One night, when the moon was full, the frogs that shared his pond decided to help him by gathering a beautiful bouquet of water lily blossoms (the rare and beautiful lotus flowers) for him to give his beloved. The frogs divided into teams of 3, and hopped frantically from lily pad to lily pad, each team trying to gather the most beautiful lotus blossom bouquet. Relive this loony leap-frog race and lead your team to victory by aiding your opponents' frogs - who can't help but do the same for you. Well, let's hope so, anyway! Originally published 1996 as Flower of the Lotus at The Game Cabinet website. At Essen 2003 published under the titles China Moon and Lotusblume by Eurogames / Descartes Deutschland. Republished in 2008 in Klutz's book of the The 15 Greatest Board Games in the World.