- BGG rating
- 6.0
Hold Your Breath! 5-6 Player Expansion
- 5–6 players
- 20 min
- Complexity 1.0/5
- 2015
- BGG rank
- BGG #28,010
- BGG rating
- 5.5
Hold Your Breath!
2014
Rules assistance for Hold Your Breath!
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 20 min
- 6+
- Complexity 1.4/5
Rules assistant for Hold Your Breath!
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Hold Your Breath! is a board game released in 2014 for 2–4 players, 20 minutes per game, and ages 6 and up. It was designed by Christopher Urinko and Daniel Jenkins and its main mechanics are Hand Management and Push Your Luck.
Expansions
- BGG rating
- 6.3
Hold Your Breath!: Bonus Cards
- 2–4 players
- 20 min
- Complexity 1.0/5
- 2015
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About the game
Hold Your Breath! is the final chapter in the "Get Bit Casual Trilogy" by Mayday Games, but you don't need to know ANYTHING about the first two games in the series to play this one other than that we are revisiting the dumbest pirates known to man. They have been kicked off the ship by their captain in Walk the Plank and chased by sharks in Get Bit, and now they face their final challenge. In Hold Your Breath! each player assumes the role of a pirate treading water in the ocean. These brilliant tacticians have decided to play a game of "Hold Your Breath" to see who is the toughest pirate because, you know, what else are you gonna do in the middle of the ocean facing certain death? The game is played in two rounds. In the first round, each player may dive deeper, providing they have the "Swim" and "Air" cards to do so. Players press their luck each turn since it is the pirate who dives the deepest in round one AND resurfaces in round two who is the winner. What about the losers? Who cares, they are losers. But if you really want to know, well, they dove down and ran out of oxygen before they could resurface, so now they are just "resting" underwater until the next game, okay? But we digress... Players can play "Panic", "Shark", and other nasty cards on the other players, slowing their progress. In the second round each player struggles to reach the surface before he runs out of air and therefore decides to take a rest. Most of the pirates may not make it back to the surface, but the one who makes it back alive AND dove the deepest is the winner. Be careful, though, because if you dove the deepest in the first round, you will surely have the toughest time getting back to the surface since A) you swam the deepest and B) no one else wants to see you make it back alive.
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Mayday Games
Questions and answers
Hold Your Breath! supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Hold Your Breath! is 20 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Hold Your Breath! for ages 6 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Hold Your Breath! has a complexity rating of 1.4 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Hold Your Breath! belongs to these categories: Card Game, Humor, and Children's Game. Its main mechanics are Hand Management and Push Your Luck. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Hold Your Breath! are: Christopher Urinko and Daniel Jenkins. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Hold Your Breath! as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.