Pick-a-Dog
Pick-a-Dog Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
96 cards (3 sets of 32 different cards), 1 rules sheet
Set-Up
Shuffle all the cards face-down and form a draw pile. Each player draws one card as their "Captain" card and keeps it face-down in front of them without looking at it. Deal 5 rows of 6 cards face-up, 30 in total, as the "Member" cards and place within easy reach of all players in the middle of the table. Players now say "GO!" (at the same time) to start the first round of the game.
Game Play
Picking members
On "GO!" all players simultaneously turn over their Captain card. Using one hand only, all players try to quickly grab their first Member card from the middle of the table. The first Member card a player collects must feature either no differences or only one difference when compared to his Captain card.
There are five attributes shown on each card:
- Size of the animal
- Color of the animal
- With one/two arms
- With/without sunglasses
- With/without popcorn
Once a player has collected his first Member card, he places it on top of his Captain card and immediately looks for another Member card with no differences or only one difference when compared to the last Member card on top of his pile. Players repeat doing this until one of them thinks that there is no appropriate Member card left that he could grab. This player immediately shouts "STOP" and slaps the table. All players must immediately stop collecting Member cards, and proceed to the examination of cards.
Examination of Cards
Now the players check to see if the player who shouted "STOP!" really has no Member card to grab.
- If he was right, he may pick up any Member card from the middle of the table as a bonus and add it to his winning pile.
- But if he has made a mistake and would have been able to carry on by picking up another Member card, he has to discard all the cards that he has collected during this round, including his Captain card.
Then, all the collected cards of each player are checked. The Member cards have to be examined one after another in the order of collection and must always present no or only one difference when compared to the previous Member card.
If all cards are correct, the player places the cards he has collected in this round, together with his Captain card, in front of him as his winning pile. If he has made any mistake, meaning that at least one of his cards does not fit in the sequence, the player has to discard all the cards that he has collected during this round, including his Captain card.
New round
At the beginning of a new round, each player receives a new face-down card from the draw pile as a starting Captain card. Then the gaps in the rows on the table are filled with new Member cards from the draw pile. If there are not enough Member cards to fill all the gaps, the last round is played with the remaining cards only.
Scoring and End of the Game
The game ends immediately when there are not enough cards in the draw pile to deal each player a new Captain card. Players count the cards in their winning pile. Each card in the winning pile is worth one point. Players score no points for the cards that they have discarded. The player with the most points wins the game.
Pick-a-Pig/Dog! for a Single Player
You may also play this game alone. In a single-player game, the player aims to get as few negative points as possible. Deal 4 rows of 8 cards face-up, 32 in total, and choose any of these cards to begin the game. As in the basic game, you collect cards with no or only one difference when compared to the previous card. When there is no appropriate card left, you put aside the remaining cards. Then you set out new cards and continue the game by repeating the steps above. After three rounds, you add up all the cards set aside – these are negative points. The fewer the negative points you've scored, the better your result. This variation is not about speed but about a the best premeditated selection of the cards to be collected.
Pick-a-Pog! (For Up to 8 Players)
Combine a copy of "Pick-a-Pig!" with its twin "Pick-a-Dog!" The game not only has the number of cards and opponents increased, but also becomes more challenging with an additional attribute to differentiate – type of animal! (note the different NOSES!)
The combination of the two games results in the following changes in the rules:
- Deal 7 rows of 7 cards, 49 in total, face-up for the set-up of each round.
- The player who correctly shouts "STOP!" picks 2 Member cards and adds them to his winning pile as a bonus.
Enjoy the chaotic fun!