Card Game

Don't Wake Daddy

Children's game in which players move by drawing cards and moving to the matching space. If you land on a picture-number space then you have to risk waking Daddy. Daddy is in his bed, a spring-loaded molded plastic gizmo. If you did something that might cause him to stir, you have to press the snooze button on his alarm clock a specified number of times. Daddy might sleep through it... but he might sit up suddenly and send his nightcap flying. And send the kid who woke him up back to bed (the start).

Kittens in a Blender

From the Designers:
You are twisted. I can’t believe you actually want to put these adorable kittens in a blender! I guess that’s none of my business. Maybe you’re more of a dog person. Sure, kittens are curious by nature, but when they get in a kitchen full of dangerous appliances, it is up to you to save them.

This fast-paced card game has players working to save all of their own kittens before the unthinkable happens. But sometimes the only way to save your precious litter of kittens is to let those curious little cats learn the lesson of why you should never play in a Blender!

According to the box: A portion of the proceeds will be donated to a no kill cat shelter.

Objective:
Save your kittens and send your opponents' kittens to The Blender.

Setup & Play:
Put the game box top on the table, open-side up and place the oversized Blender card inside, face-up: that's The Blender. Place the oversized Box card face up in the base of the box: that's The Box. Leave a little space between The Blender and The Box: that's The Counter. Assign each player a Kitten color (red, green, blue or yellow), shuffle the deck, deal each player 6 cards and it's time to start saving adventurous kittens.

On each turn, players play two cards and then draw back up to 6. Kitten cards may be played into The Blender, The Counter or The Box. All other cards are played face up in front of the player so that all players can see which cards have been played.

Players can play Kitties on the Move to move kittens to or from The Blender, The Counter or The Box; the number on the card specifies the number of kittens that can each be moved 1 space. Playing a Blend card will destroy the kittens currently in The Blender, save the kittens in The Box, and move the kittens on The Counter into The Blender unless countered by another player's Blend "Pulse" card.

Players can move kittens around with other cards as well. Kittens in the Blender moves all of the kittens on The Counter or in The Box to The Blender. With These Cats in the Blender a player can move all cats of a chosen color from The Counter and The Box to The Blender. Kittens in the Box moves all kittens in The Blender or on The Counter to The Box, while Cats on the Counter moves all the kittens in The Blender or The Box to The Counter.

Total chaos reigns when the Dog's in the Kitchen as each player gives her hand to the player in the direction indicated on the card.

The game ends when all 16 of the Blend cards have been played. Saved kittens are worth 2 points each, blended kitties cost 1 point each. Highest score wins.

Contents: 1 oversized Blender card, 1 oversized Box card, 110 playing cards (64 Kittens: 16 in each of 4 colors - red, green, blue and yellow; 18 Kitties on the Move: 6 of each number; 16 Blends: 8 Regular Blend & 8 Blend Black; 4 Dogs in the Kitchen: 2 left & 2 right; 2 Kittens in the Blender; 2 Your Cats in the Blender; 2 Cats on the Counter; 2 Kittens in the Box), rules.

Evolution

In Evolution, players adapt their species in a dynamic ecosystem where food is scarce and predators lurk. Traits like Hard Shell and Horns will protect your species from Carnivores, while a Long Neck will help them get food that others cannot reach. With over 4,000 ways to evolve your species, every game becomes a different adventure.

Evolution packs a surprising amount of variety for a game with simple rules. The variety comes from the synergies between the trait cards and from the different personalities at the table. Some players thrive on creating Carnivores to wreak havoc on their fellow players. Others prefer to stay protected and mind their own business. Evolution encourages both play styles by giving each of them multiple paths to victory. And it is the mix of play styles at the table that ultimately determines the eco-system in which the player are adapting. So gather your friends and see who can best adapt to the changing world around them.

Set-up
1) Give every player a food bag.
2) Randomly choose the start player.
3) Shuffle the cards and start playing! (easy peasy)

Turn Sequence for Each Round
1) Drawing cards: 3 cards + 1 card per species

2) Playing cards:
• Play one face-down card to determine the amount of plant food available this round.
• Play cards to create new species and modify existing species.

3) Feeding phase:
• Reveal the food cards and put that number of food on the Watering Hole.
• Feed your species plant food - or -
• Attack another species if you have a carnivore

4) Clean up phase:
• Species that received no food go extinct.
• Reduce the population of species that were not fully fed
• Place the food in your score bag.

End of Game
When the deck runs out, play one final round and then score points.

End of Game Scoring:
• 1 point for each food in your bag
• 1 point for each population of your existing species
• 1 point for each trait on your existing species

Campaign Manager 2008

Campaign Manager 2008 challenges players to develop a winning political strategy within the tumultuous context of the 2008 presidential campaign. Employing a new take on card driven game systems, each player will create a unique deck that represents their advice to their candidate. The players will struggle to influence voters in the critical swing states from this election, while targeting key constituencies that just might put them over the top. Players will try to define the key issue in the states. Will McCain dominate the national security debate, or can Obama play on people's fears over the economy? As the campaign manager of a national presidential campaign, you will either identify the road to the White House, or the road to irrelevance.

User review: The object of the game (and it is a game, not a simulation) is to lead your candidate, John McCain or Barack Obama, to victory by getting 270 electoral votes. Twenty battleground states are up for grabs in this game of cardplay.

Each player has a deck of forty five Campaign Strategy cards; only fifteen can be used in the game. (The rules suggest a selected fifteen cards for novices.) Each player also has a deck of ten battleground state tiles. Each player will select two of their states to put into play. (again, the rules make a suggestion for novices.)
In turn, a player either plays a card from one's own hand and follows the instructions on it or draws a card if fewer than five are already held.

To win a state, a player must get complete support from the state's voters in the issue which has more support of the people. Each state also has two key demographics. A shift in which demographic takes precidence also may affect the effect of a player's cards.

Some cards require players to go "negative." These cards require the opponent to roll a die and the result may give the opponent an unintended benefit.

Whenever a player wins a state, the electoral votes are added to that candidate's tally. A state is brought into play by the winning manager and chance card is put into effect.

The game is over when one manager scores 270 electoral votes. That player is the winner. A tie, resulting in winner, is possible.

Apples to Apples

The party game Apples to Apples consists of two decks of cards: Things and Descriptions. Each round, the active player draws a Description card (which features an adjective like "Hairy" or "Smarmy") from the deck, then the other players each secretly choose the Thing card in hand that best matches that description and plays it face-down on the table. The active player then reveals these cards and chooses the Thing card that, in his opinion, best matches the Description card, which he awards to whoever played that Thing card. This player becomes the new active player for the next round.

Once a player has won a pre-determined number of Description cards, that player wins.