Kariba
Kariba Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Info
- Designer: Reiner Knizia
- Illustrator: Felix Kindelan
- Players: 2-5
- Ages: 6-99
- Playing time: 15 minutes
Components
- 64 Animal cards
- Watering hole (assembled from card pieces)
- Rules
Setup
Assemble the pieces of the watering hole so that they form a circle, with the numbers running in order around it. Shuffle the cards and deal 5 cards to each player. Place the remaining cards face down in the center of the watering hole.
Goal
Collect as many cards as possible.
How to Play
Choose the first player by whatever method you like. Starting with the first player, players take turns in clockwise order. On your turn, do the following:
1) Play a matching set of animal cards. Play one or more cards from your hand showing the same animal, and place the card(s) next to the watering hole so that the position number matches the number on the card(s). To save space you may partially overlap the cards, but make sure everyone can clearly see how many cards of that animal are in the stack.
2) Chase away a weaker animal, if you can. If, after playing, there are 3 or more cards of the animal you just played next to the watering hole, that animal chases away the nearest weaker animal (i.e. the animal with the next-lower number, closest around the circle). If you chase away an animal this way, take all of that animal's cards from the watering hole and place them face down in a pile in front of you. These cards will earn you points at the end of the game.
Important: The nearest weaker animal may be several positions away from the animal you just played, if the positions in between are empty. If there is no weaker animal anywhere around the watering hole, too bad — you won't take any cards.
If there are already 3 or more cards of one type of animal at the watering hole, you may play a card (or cards) of that same animal to collect the cards of the nearest weaker animal (in other words, by adding a card you satisfy the condition above — "there are 3 or more cards of one animal at the watering hole").
Exception to the rule: The mouse (1) is the only animal that can chase away the elephant (8). Other than the elephant, the mouse cannot chase away anything. It is the only animal that can chase away another animal with a higher number than its own.
Example I: At position 7 next to the watering hole there are 2 rhino cards. On your turn you play 2 more rhino cards. Now there are more than 3. You take the cards of the nearest weaker animal. Positions 6 and 5 are empty, but position 4 has 2 giraffe cards. So you take the 2 giraffe cards. The next player plays 3 elephant (8) cards. As a result, they can take the 4 rhino (7) cards.
Example II: There are already 4 mouse (1) cards at the watering hole. You play 1 more mouse. If there are elephant (8) cards at the watering hole, you take them. If not, that wasn't your best move (since the mouse cannot chase away anything except the elephant).
3) Draw back up to a full hand. End your turn by drawing cards from the deck until you have 5 cards in hand again.
Play one or more giraffe cards to chase away zebras and take their cards.
Play one or more mouse cards to chase away elephants and take their cards.
End of Game
When the deck runs out of cards, keep playing, but do not draw any more cards. The game ends when any player plays their last card and finishes their turn. All players count the number of cards in their piles. The player who has collected the most cards wins!
Note: We recommend playing three rounds, recording the score each time. The player with the highest total score across all three rounds becomes the overall winner!
Variant for Experienced Players
Take the top three cards from the deck and place them face up next to it. At the end of their turn, a player may choose to draw a card from the deck and/or from the three face-up cards. If a player takes one or more face-up cards, reveal that same number of new cards at the end of their turn. Otherwise, all rules remain unchanged.