Fun & Games

Our 2 oldest children are finally at the age, after lots of practice with Dad, where they can play a round or two of a board game without it ending in tears and shouts of "YOU CHEATER!!". It's actually been a good experience for them to learn about the rules, fair play and being a good sport.

We've recently discovered (rediscovered, in my case) some classic games that I remember playing as a child with my family. These are both great games that even a Kindergartner can understand and enjoy.

Guess Who? is a two-player guessing game first manufactured by Milton Bradley in 1979 in Great Britain. It was brought to the United States in 1982.

Each player is given an identical board containing cartoon images of 24 people identified by their first names. The game begins with each player selecting a card at random from a separate pile of cards containing the same 24 images. The object of the game is to be the first to determine which card one's opponent has selected. This is done by asking various yes or no questions to eliminate candidates, such as "Does this person wear glasses?" When one's opponent provides the answer, one eliminates those that do not fit the criterion by 'flipping down' the cards on one's board.

Secret Strategy...figure out early if the person is a man or woman....there are only 5 females on the board, verses 19 males.

Each turn involves one player throwing two model pigs, each of which has a dot on one side only. The player will have points either given or taken away, based on the way the pigs land (see below). Each turn lasts until the player throwing either rolls the pigs in a way that wipes out their current turn score or decides to stop their turn, add their turn score to their total score and pass the pigs to the next player. The winner is the first player to score a total of 100.

Scoring:

An example of a roll in Pass the Pigs.
Single Pig
The pig is lying on its side - 0 Points
Razorback - The pig is lying on its back - 5 Points
Trotter - The pig is standing upright - 5 Points
Snouter - The pig is leaning on its snout- 10 Points
Leaning Jowler - The pig is resting on its snout and ear - 15 Points
Both Pigs
Sider - The pigs are on their sides, either both with the spot facing upward or both with the spot facing downward - 1 Point
Double Razorback - The pigs are both lying on their backs - 20 Points
Double Trotter - The pigs are both standing upright - 20 Points
Double Snouter - The pigs are both leaning on their snouts - 40 Points
Double Leaning Jowler - The pigs are both resting between snouts and ears - 60 Points
Mixed Combo - A combination not mentioned above is the sum of the single pigs score
Pig Out - If both pigs are lying on their sides, one with the spot facing upwards and one with the spot facing downwards the score for that turn is reset to 0 and the turn changes to the next player
Oinker - If both pigs are touching, then the total score is reset to 0 and the turn changes to the next player
Piggyback - If one pig lands completely resting on top of the other, then the player is out of the game.

These family games are tried and true, give 'em a shot!