Pick-a-Dog features the same gameplay as Pick-a-Pig, with the only difference being that dog noses in one game are replaced with piggie snouts in the other. An individual game supports 2-5 players, while combined they support up to eight players.
To set up the game, lay out 30 cards in a grid (49 cards with 6-8 players) and give one card face down to each player. Each card has five attributes, with each attribute having two states: large/small, light/dark, one/two arms, with/without sunglasses, and with/without popcorn. (As noted above, combining the two games adds a sixth attribute: pig/dog nose.) Someone shouts "Go!", then everyone looks at their card in hand. Players then start grabbing cards from the grid and stacking them in hand. The card grabbed must be identical to the top card in hand or differ from that top card in only one way. Thus, as you grab cards, the attributes of that top card will keep changing, forcing you to look for matches in new ways.
Once a player thinks he can't grab any more cards, he yells "Stop!". The round ends, and all players check their card stacks. If someone made a mistake when grabbing cards, that player keeps none of the cards gathered that round. If the player who stopped the round made no mistakes, he earns an extra card (two cards when playing with 6-8). If, however, he stopped the round when he could have collected more cards, then he loses all the cards he's collected in the game, not just those from the current round.
Whoever has collected the most cards when the game ends wins!
To set up the game, lay out 30 cards in a grid (49 cards with 6-8 players) and give one card face down to each player. Each card has five attributes, with each attribute having two states: large/small, light/dark, one/two arms, with/without sunglasses, and with/without popcorn. (As noted above, combining the two games adds a sixth attribute: pig/dog nose.) Someone shouts "Go!", then everyone looks at their card in hand. Players then start grabbing cards from the grid and stacking them in hand. The card grabbed must be identical to the top card in hand or differ from that top card in only one way. Thus, as you grab cards, the attributes of that top card will keep changing, forcing you to look for matches in new ways.
Once a player thinks he can't grab any more cards, he yells "Stop!". The round ends, and all players check their card stacks. If someone made a mistake when grabbing cards, that player keeps none of the cards gathered that round. If the player who stopped the round made no mistakes, he earns an extra card (two cards when playing with 6-8). If, however, he stopped the round when he could have collected more cards, then he loses all the cards he's collected in the game, not just those from the current round.
Whoever has collected the most cards when the game ends wins!
• On Jan. 11, 2013 on its news page, Z-Man Games noted that Ginkgopolis and The Ladies of Troyes should finally be in U.S. stores the week of Jan. 14, with most stores receiving games by Wednesday, Jan. 16.
I checked with Jactalea's Timothee Leroy for more details on these latter two titles, and he said that a French-language edition of Peloponnes will be released in March 2013. As for Full Moon, here's a rundown of this Claude Leroy design:
In Full Moon, the players each want to get all the wolves together to howl in the night. To set up, the players line up the twelve wolf tiles in a random order; the wolves come in four colors, with the wolves in each color having 1-3 prints.
The first player, sitting "below" the row of tiles, moves any 1 wolf tile one space to the left or right, placing it below the wolf tile in that location to form a column. The only restriction on movement is that two wolves of the same color can never be in the same column. (The row of tiles then contracts so that it has no empty spaces in it.) This player then places a moon token above or below the column; the next player has to move a tile that matches the color or number of the tile adjacent to the moon.
When a column of tiles is present, a player can move either the single wolf closest to his side of the table or the entire column of tiles. (This wolf closest to him must be a legal move.) If a player can't move, he loses his turn and the other player can move any wolf of his choosing.
The first player to place four wolves in a column wins!
The first player, sitting "below" the row of tiles, moves any 1 wolf tile one space to the left or right, placing it below the wolf tile in that location to form a column. The only restriction on movement is that two wolves of the same color can never be in the same column. (The row of tiles then contracts so that it has no empty spaces in it.) This player then places a moon token above or below the column; the next player has to move a tile that matches the color or number of the tile adjacent to the moon.
When a column of tiles is present, a player can move either the single wolf closest to his side of the table or the entire column of tiles. (This wolf closest to him must be a legal move.) If a player can't move, he loses his turn and the other player can move any wolf of his choosing.
The first player to place four wolves in a column wins!
• French publisher Funforge has posted a preview image from its next release – The Phantom Society, from Frederic Colombier and Hervé Marly– on Facebook. As with Funforge's 2012 release Tokaido, Naïade once again provides the illustration. Steampunky!
