Row Your Goat
Row Your Goat Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Everyone will take turns playing their cards into a 3x3 grid on the table. Whenever you see 3 matching cards in a row, column, or diagonal, quickly grab a Lifesaver. But be careful – there aren't enough for everyone, and if you're the slowest player you'll have to take a bunch of cards.
The first player to get rid of all their cards wins!
Contents: 60 Cards | 5 Lifesavers
Setup
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Shuffle all 60 cards and deal them face down so all players have the same number of cards. Do NOT look at your cards. Your cards are called your Deck.
You can hold your Deck or leave it on the table, but it MUST be visible to all players.
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Leave some space in the middle of the table for a 3x3 Grid of cards (we'll talk about this more later).
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Grab 1 fewer Lifesavers than the number of players:
Number of Players 2 3 4 5 6 Number of Lifesavers 1 2 3 4 5 Put the Lifesavers evenly around the Grid space. (The more Lifesavers each player can reach, the better.)
Put any extra Lifesavers back in the box. You won't need them.
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Pick a player to go first.
Placing Cards
Starting with the first player and going clockwise around the table, each player will flip the top card of their Deck face up and place it in the Grid. The player to your left can place a card in the Grid as soon as you finish placing yours.
The Grid
Think of the Grid like a Tic-Tac-Toe board – 3 cards wide and 3 cards tall. You must put your card in an empty space in the Grid (as long as there are any).
When you start the game, the entire Grid will be empty, so you can place your card anywhere.
Once the Grid is full, you must place your card on top of another card in the Grid.
Do Not Peek at Your Deck! First choose where you want to place your card, then flip over the top card from your Deck away from you. This is so you don't get to see the card before the other players.
Remember: if it feels like cheating, it's cheating.
The Cards
Each card has a Boat and a Color. There are 4 types of Boats:
- Rowboats
- Rafts
- Inner Tubes
- Jetskis
and 4 Colors:
- Pink
- Blue
- Orange
- Yellow
Stacks and Sets
A Stack is any filled space in the Grid (even if that space has just 1 card).
A Set is 3 Stacks in a row, column, or diagonal where the top cards have the same Boat OR Color.
- 3 of the same Boat
- 3 of the same Color
Only pay attention to the top card in each Stack.
Spotting a Set
When a card is placed in the Grid, it might create a Set. If you spot a Set, quickly grab any of the Lifesavers around the Grid. There's one fewer Lifesaver than there are players, so somebody will always be left empty-handed.
It's okay if you aren't the fastest – you just can't be the slowest!
If you grab a Lifesaver you're safe. If you don't, you must take all 3 Stacks in the Set. Put those cards face down at the bottom of your Deck.
Remember: The taller the Stacks get, the more cards you'll have to take if you're the slowest!
Multiple Sets? If there are multiple Sets in the Grid, take the 3 Stacks from any one of the Sets. You probably want to take the 3 Stacks with the fewest cards!
Leave all the other Stacks in the Grid.
Resetting the Lifesavers
If you're the slowest player, take the 3 Stacks in the Set. Then, return all Lifesavers to the table, spacing them evenly around the Grid. The player to your left gets to flip their next card to resume play.
Remember: You must flip your card into an empty space in the Grid if there are any!
Messing Up
If you place a card:
- after peeking at it, or
- outside a Grid space, or
- on top of a Stack when there's still an empty space, or
- on another player's turn,
take that card back and put it face down on the bottom of your Deck. Your turn is over.
If you touch a Lifesaver when:
- you've already grabbed another Lifesaver, or
- there isn't a Set (because you made a mistake or because someone covered a card in a Set before anyone grabbed a Lifesaver),
take any Stack in the Grid and put those cards face down on the bottom of your Deck. The player to your left gets to flip the next card to resume playing.
Winning
When you have only 1 card left in your Deck, you must shout, "Row my goat!" to let the other players know. Now you must do two things to win:
- Place your last card in the Grid as normal (then, the other players will keep flipping cards without you).
- Grab a Lifesaver the next time you, or anyone else spots a Set.
Pay attention: If another player points at you and shouts, "Row your goat!" before you shout, "Row my goat!", take any Stack and put those cards face down on the bottom of your Deck.
The first player who has no cards and grabs a Lifesaver wins the game!
Ties: If 2 or more players have no cards and grab a Lifesaver, you win together!