Rules FOR THE GAME OF

BRITISH BIRDS

A game for 2 to 4 players

DESCRIPTION

This is a simple collecting game with an original twist to it.

There are 44 cards in the pack and they are made up of 8 sets of 5 and 4 Owl cards. Each of the 8 sets bears a different letter in the top left-hand corner of the card. The 5 cards making up each set are numbered 1 to 5. Each card in the sets picture a different British bird in full colour. Sets A-D are basically land birds; sets E-H basically water birds.

OBJECT OF THE GAME

The object of the game is for players to collect as many sets as possible of 5 cards having the same letter.

HOW TO PLAY

1. Choose a dealer who deals 7 cards face downwards to each player. The dealer places 7 extra cards in the centre of the table face upwards in a row. He places the remainder of the pack face downwards in a pile beside the 7 turned-up cards.

2. Players look at their cards and the player on the left of the dealer begins the game. He may either:

a) Pick up any one of the 7 cards exposed on the table, whether he Holds one of the same set or not. If he does this he must put in its place, face upwards, the top card from the pack on the table. When the pack is used up, players may continue to pick up any one of the exposed cards, until these also are finished; or—

(b) Ask any player for a particular card; to do this the player asking must hold at least one card of the same set as the card he wants. The player asked must hand the card over unless he is able to play an OWL card (see rule 7).

3. If a player picks up one of the 7 cards from the table this completes his turn and the right to ask or pick up passes to the player on his left.

4. If a prayer asks another player for a card and gets it, he may:

(a) Go on asking the same player or other players for cards until he fails to get a card he asked for, when the turn passes to the next player: or,

(b) Pick up an exposed card, which will end his turn.

5. When a player does not get the card he asked tor, because the player asked either has not got it or plays an Owl card (Rule 7), the turn passes to the next player.

6. When a player has no card left in his hand he may still, at his turn, pick up one of the 7 exposed cards, but he may not, of course, ask for cards because he holds no card of any set. See Rule 2/3.

7. Owl Cards

When a player has been asked for a card and it is in his hand, he can, if he wishes, refuse to surrender it provided he has an Owl card in his hand. Instead of handing over the card asked for he places the Owl card on the table. Owl cards so played cannot be used again and remain on the table until the game ends. Playing an Owl card completes the turn, which passes to the next player (see Rule 5).

8. As soon as a player has collected a set of 5 cards having the came letter, he lays them on the table.

9. The game ends when all the sets have been laid on the table.

10. Scoring

Each player scores 5 points for each set he has collected.

Further games are played and each player's scores added up. The winner is the first to score a total of 50 points (or over). If at the end of any game more than one player has reached 50 points the player with the highest score is the winner.