Animal Olympics Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Setting Up
• Playing
  • The First Turn
  • Subsequent Turns
• Winning the Game
• Rules for Advanced Players

Object of the Game

Be the first to get eight cards face up in your row, in order from the lowest on the left to highest on the right.

You will begin the game with eight cards face down in front of you. On every turn you will receive or draw one face-up card which you must trade for one of your face-down cards. At all times you will have only eight cards. Try to guess where the new card should be so that in the end, when all your cards are face up, they will be in numerical order.

For example, you could win with:

1, 16, 19, 27, 28, 33, 35, 39

but not with:

2, 4, 8, 15, 11, 22, 26, 34

because 15 and 11 are in the wrong order.

Setting Up

Make sure the younger players know how to put the cards in order and understand what a winning row looks like.

Shuffle the cards well, then deal eight to each player. The cards go face down on the table in a row in front of each player. No one may look at any of these cards yet. Put the remaining cards face down in a stack on the table.

Playing

The youngest player goes first. Players take turns in clockwise order around the table.

Remember: once you have turned up a card, you cannot move it or trade it again!

The First Turn

If you are first, draw the top card from the deck and look at it. You must trade this card for one of your face-down cards. Where should it go: in the middle, toward the beginning, or at the end of your row?

• If it's a low number, put it at the beginning.
• If it's a 17, put it somewhere in the middle.
• If it's a high number, put it at the end.

Now take the face-down card you just replaced and pass it on to the player who is next.

Subsequent Turns

On all turns after the first turn you have three choices.

1. You may use the card that was passed to you and trade it for one of your own face-down cards. Remember, you must always try to place the card in the correct order. That is, low to high numbers, reading from left to right.
2. If you don't want the card that is passed to you, place it face down under the stack of cards, draw one from the top of the stack and proceed.
3. If you don't want to use the card you drew, you must pass it on to the next player. Your turn is now over.

Example: Suppose your row looks like this, with some cards face up (3, 7, 10 and 29 are shown face up) and some face down:

• If the player on your right passed you a 6, you would trade it for your second card.
• If you got a 12, you could trade it for your fifth card or your sixth card. (Which trade do you think would be better?)
• If you got an 8, you would be unable to trade it for any of your face-down cards, because it would be out of order. Try for a card from the stack.

Winning the Game

If you're the first person to get eight cards in your row in order from lowest on the left to highest on the right, you win the game!

Rules for Advanced Players

You may choose not to pass your traded card to the next player, and discard it instead. Now the next player must draw a card from the stack.