Pig Pile is a fast paced game for 3-6 players. In each round, players race to be the first to get rid of all their cards and collect the most pigs. Each player gets 10 cards- 3 that face down (known as the SLOP pile) , 3 that will face up and 4 cards to hold in hand. After each player has the allotted amount of cards, the remaining cards are set in the middle of the table face down (as a deck to draw from). The basics of the game are that you play a card from your hand face up to the center of the table (this becomes the Pig Pile of cards you try to get rid of). If you have more than one of the same card, you can play all of them at the same time. You then draw one card from the deck. The next player does the exact same steps only he must play a card (or cards) that are equal to or higher than the number the last player played. Once a player has no cards left in hand, they can play from the three face up cards in front of them. Once you get down to having no face cards and none in your hand, you move on to playing the SLOP pile (or face down cards). The player who gets rid of all his cards first, wins the round. The next player to go out by getting rid of all his cards comes in second, and so on and so on. To score the round, the player who goes out first takes three pigs. The second player to go out gets two pigs. The player left with the most cards gets no pigs (boo-hoo!) but in a three player game, the third person always gets one pig. You play and play and play the rounds until all the pigs are gone, whoever gets the most pigs at the end wins the game!
Of course, there are some twists and turns thrown in this fun game like the #4 card represents being 'Hog Tied.' The #11 card is a 'Ewe Turn' and when played it reverses the direction of play. The #8 card 'Hog Wash' and the 'Hog Wild' cards are special cards that change the flow of the game even more!
Our thoughts:
I ran this game through the critics (our kiddos) and they adored it- especially because of all the cute, little piggies. The game is for ages 7 and up but our five year old did quite well, with just a little help. With four kiddos playing the game, it seemed to take forever to get anyone out and get through the whole draw pile before moving on to the SLOP pile. We ended up modifying the rules slightly so the game moved along at a quicker pace and the kids didn't get bored with the repetition and waiting. There also seemed to be quite a few rules and getting to know the 'special' cards and their meanings seemed a little confusing at first. The more we played the game, the easier it became. The kids can now play this game alone and I love hearing their giggles when they start collecting 'the little piggies.'
You can get Pig Pile from R&R games for $15.95. They have other fun looking games on their website too, such as birds, bugs & beans and Hey Waiter. Check them out! They are currently offering a 20% discount to anyone purchasing Pig Pile or Flea Circus through the TOS Homeschool Crew reviews. Just enter the coupon code, CREW20, to receive the discount now through December 31. You can also check out the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog for more reviews on Pig Pile and other R & R games.To see what my Crew Mates had to say about the games they received, check out the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog under R&R Games. Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.
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