Hot Heads 2026

In Hot Heads, you play as a reckless pilot in a hot-air balloon race. Try to reach incredible heights, but be careful not to fly too high. After all, high flyers catch a lot of wind and get lost in the storms raging high in the sky. Low flyers, however, score few points and won’t lead you to victory. If you can find the perfect balance, you might just emerge as the winner of the race.

During the game, on their turn, players draw one card and play one card. You may place this card either in front of yourself or in front of an opponent. This way you can help your own team rise, or sabotage an opponent. Cards with positive values make your balloons rise, while cards with negative values pull them down.

If a player draws a storm card, the storm begins. During a storm, all players must play cards from their hand into their own team. The number of cards that must be played depends on how many storm cards have appeared in the game. Each storm card means more cards must be played from your hand, causing your hand to shrink and your choices to become more limited. When the fourth storm card is drawn, players place all their remaining hand cards into their team, and the game ends.

When the game ends, players total the points for each type of hot-air balloon in their team (there are four types in total). For each balloon type, the balloon with the highest value catches too much wind and flies into the storm. Balloons that fly into the storm do not count toward the final score and are discarded. After removing the highest balloon of each type from the table, players add up the points of their remaining team members. The player with the most points wins the game!

—description from the publisher