AARGH!

AARGH! Ahoy me Hearties! All hands hoay for this exciting high seas adventure as you compete for the position of captain of your own seaworthy pirate ship. There's plenty of booty to plunder and the stakes are high! 

This game is, at its core, a memory/matching game, but it goes far beyond that simple two-card-match game that we are all familiar with.The goal of AARGH! is to plunder as much booty as you can, since the person with the most coins at the end of the game is the new captain. The more matching cards of a single treasure that you can turn over on your turn (up to 5!), the more coins you will collect. How good is your memory?

The cards are sturdy and measure 3" x 3". All cards have a treasure map on one side and a single object on the other. There are four cards with a skull and crossbones, and five cards each for each of these treasures: goblet, treasure chest, crown, silver bracelet, necklace. This means that it is possible to turn over a total of five matching treasure cards per turn and collect five coins.

The shiny plastic coins, marked .999% pure gold (wouldn't that be nice!), are about 1 5/16" in diameter. The wooden pirate ship is lightweight and mine looks a little different from the one in the image above.

Cards, coins and ship.

What are ye waiting for? Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen!

Object:

Have the most coins at the end of the game to become captain of the pirate ship. 

Set up:

Shuffle all the cards together and then lay them face-down in a 5 x 5 grid on the playing surface (see image above). Return the last four cards, unseen, to the game box.

Play:

Players take turns. The first player turns two cards face-up for all to see. If they do not match, the player places the wooden ship on the last card that was turned up, leaving it face-up, and turns the other card face-down again. If the two cards do match, the player continues to turn over island cards until one is turned that does not match. When that happens:

• The player collects one gold coin for each matching treasure that was uncovered.
• Place the pirate ship on the last card (the one that does not match), leaving it face-up.
• Turn face-down all the remaining face-up cards (the matches).
• The players turn is over.

The next person to play must make matches to the card that is still face-up with the wooden pirate ship on it. Repeat the steps as above. 

If the skull and crossbones is ever turned over while attempting to turn over one of the treasure cards, the following will happen:

• The player's turn ends immediately.
• All cards but the skull and crossbones are turned face-down.
• The ship is placed on the face-up skull and crossbones.
• The player does not collect any coins and must return one of the coins he has previously collected. 

The skull and crossbones is now the card to match, so the next player is not penalized for turning over other skull and crossbones and receives gold tokens for any matches when his turn ends.

Keep playing until all the gold coins have been collected. Count coins and award the winner the honor of commanding his own pirate ship. It would be fun if the new captain would name his new ship. 

To read more about why memory games are so popular, read my post Memory Games. Why are They so Popular? This post also has links to the other memory games I have blogged about. 

Try this:

• Practice talking like a pirate to add some fun to the game.
• Play a regular game of memory match using two, three or four of each object. Players must turn over all of each object to make a match and then the player takes those cards off the table. Play until all cards have been collected.
• Keep in mind where all the skull and crossbones are as they are revealed. They will either end your turn or may be needed to make matches.
• Sort out four of each treasure card. Make a grid with all cards face down. Turn two to match and win a coin. See who gets the most coins.
• Place three, four or five of the cards in a line, face-up. Ask the player to memorize the cards and sequence. Turn them over and ask him to build the same line underneath. Flip them all, do they match?
• Play a game of memory. Each time a player makes a match, he gets the ship. Pass it back and forth and see who is the last person to hold it. 
• Mix the cards and place them in a grid, face up. Collect all of one image, then collect all of another image. Keep going until you have cleared them all. Time yourself and see how fast you went. Play again and try to beat your time. 
• Choose one of the images to be the focus of the game, say the treasure chest. Your goal is to be the first person to turn over all five of the treasure chest cards. Take turns turning over cards, ending your turn when you turn over a card that does not match. Don't take sets off the table as you go as you are looking for the treasure chest. Keep turning cards until someone can turn all five cards in one turn for the image you chose at the beginning. You could have a small treasure chest (not included) sitting off to the side with a small prize in it for the winner. Reload the treasure chest with a prize after one game and play again.  

In the box: 29 cards, 30 gold coins, 1 pirate ship

If you are interested in purchasing this this game or just want more information, go to the SimplyFun website, the only place it is sold retail.

Walk The Dogs

Yup, it includes 63 plastic dogs.

Who can resist a game that includes 63 small dogs! Collect 5 dogs of the same breed to win this whimsical dog-walking game. 

 

I debated whether to blog about Walk the Dogs because the manufacturer, Simply Fun, does not sell their games in retail locations. They prefer to sell their products through home parties. However, I see that they are now selling their games through the Simply Fun website so I am going to go ahead and blog about it. Simply Fun has a lot of different types of games that you won't see anywhere else, although they can be a little pricey IMHO.

The cards are a nice quality and there is only one "breed" of dog on the cards, and the dogs are pictured in front halves (take a dog(s) from the front of the line), and back halves (take a dog(s) from the back of the line). There are also cards that allow you to take a dog from another player, lose a string of dogs, and to add special points to your score. You can see the cards in the image above.

The dogs are a sturdy plastic so they stand up well. There are six different breeds of dogs.

Object:

Be the first person to create your own line of 5 dogs of the same breed, or play until all the dogs from the initial line up have been claimed (if no one gets 5 of the same). In the latter case, all players add their score and highest scorer wins.

 

Set up:

Put all the dogs into the black bag and randomly pull them out one at a time. Line up all of the 63 dogs, in the order you have drawn them out, and all facing the same direction (a perfect opportunity to practice in-hand manipulation skills). Deal two cards to each player. If a player gets any Bone or Dog Catcher cards, they are shuffled back into the deck and dealt two more cards. The rest of the deck is placed face-down in the middle of the players. This is the draw pile.

 

Play:

In turn, each player with draw a card from the draw pile and play a card to the discard pile. 

• Draw a Card
• Dog card - Each card shows either one, two or three dog halves (front or back) and you will take that many dogs from the dog line up. More information on this below. The majority of cards are dog cards.
• Leash card - Show everyone what you have drawn and immediately use it to steal a dog from either the front end or back end of any other player's line of dogs. It can be used to help yourself or hinder another player. Discard the card and draw again.
• Bone card - Show everyone what you have drawn and immediately give it to the player who currently has the shortest line of dogs. He keeps the card until the end of the game and it will be worth 3 points. Initial player then draws another card.
• Dog Catcher card - Show everyone what you have drawn and all players immediately lose their longest group of dogs of the same breed (that are line up together). Discard card.
• Play a Card
• Take the number of dogs shown on the card from the initial line up on the table. Cards with either show one, two or three dogs. Cards will also show either front or back of the dogs to indicate which end of the line you should take your dogs from (see image above). You can place the dogs either at the front of your row, at the back of your row, or a combination if you get more than one dog. You are trying to get five dogs of the same breed lined up together in your dog row, so use that to determine where to put the dogs you collect. When you have taken your dogs, place the card you used on the discard pile. Your turn is over.

The game ends when either someone gets 5 of the same dog breed in their row (game ends immediately), or after all of the dogs have been claimed from the initial line up. There is a nice sturdy card that shows the scoring that all players can look at the end. Put it in the middle of the players at this time for scoring. More points are given for groupings of same-breed dogs, so this is always your goal when lining up your dogs.

Try this:

• Have fun just sorting the dogs by breed and lining them up.
• Place the dogs in a pile on the table, hiding parts of some and orienting them in different directions. Ask the individual to find all of one kind of dog. Add them back to the pile, mix, and sort for another breed.
• Use just the cards with dog pictures for a simple game.
• Place the dogs, one at a time, in the individual's palm. Ask him to turn the dog in-hand to get it in position and then stand it up on the table. Place the dogs upside down, backwards, etc. in the palm so that the individual will have to work. Long before 63 this activity will probably get tedious.
• Play with the dogs while you talk about the different breeds. Point out how even though they look different, they all fall into the one category of "dog". How many other categories can you think of? All animals, four legged, pets, barkers, furry, tailed, the list can go on and on.
• Only use half of the dogs for a shorter game and/or require a line of only three or four dogs of the same breed to win.
• Play alone. Use the stack of cards to put the dogs in one long line. Add up your score. How did you do? Or just look for the longest line of same-breed dogs. How many in your longest line? 

 
In the box: 63 miniature dogs, 42 dog cards, 3 leash cards, 5 bone cards, 3 dog catcher cards, 2 score sheets, 1 doggie bag (no treats included)