Safari Match – Rules
Object of the game: to get rid of all your cards.
Shuffle the cards well and deal out 5 cards each (7 if playing with just two), place the remaining cards face down to form a stock pile. Take the top card from the stock pile and place it face up to start a discard pile.
The player to the dealers left starts by trying to play a legal card face up on top of the discard pile. A legal card is an animal card that is from the same group (for example a Heavyweight) or has something in common with the top card on the discard pile such as “they are both browsers” or “they are the same weight” or “they share a common habitat”. If the player cannot go then they must pick up a card from the stock pile. That is the end of their turn even if the card they pick up would have been a legal match.
Be careful when thinking of things in common between the current card and your cards. A match can be rejected if all the other players feel that your match is not true or is too easy. For example, “they both have two eyes” is far too easy. If your match is rejected you must pick up 2 cards from the stock pile. You might want to agree levels of match difficulty at the start of the game and allow easier matches for younger players. A good variation is to play themed games where, for example, only ‘habitat’ or ‘behaviour’ matches are legal. In a habitat themed game, matches might include ‘they both live in waterholes’. In a behaviour themed game a good match might be ‘they both hunt at night’.
If the stock pile runs out, keep the top card in the discard pile then turn the others upside down to make a new stock pile, there is no need to shuffle it.
The first player to get rid of all their cards is the winner.
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