HAPPY FAMILIES

OBJECTIVE OF HAPPY FAMILIES: The objective of Happy Families is to gather as many families as possible.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 4

NUMBER OF CARDS: 42 cards composed of 7 families. A family is classically composed of 6 members:

  • A grandmother card
  • A grandfather card
  • A motherboard
  • A father card
  • A daughter card
  • A son card


RANK OF CARDS: There is no ranking of cards, they are only valuable as a member of a set of cards (the family).

TYPE OF GAME: Collection card game

AUDIENCE: Family, Kids

HOW TO DEAL HAPPY FAMILIES

One of the players deals 7 cards to all participants. The rest of the cards are used as a draw pile. 

Game setup for a game made for young children, 4 cards per family. Bottom player starts with Daughter and Son cards of the Ghost family

HOW TO PLAY HAPPY FAMILIES

The youngest player starts the game. The first player asks the player of his choice for a card he is looking for (example: In the Magician family, I would like the son). If the questioned player indeed holds the requested card in his hand, he has to give the card to the current player. If he does not have the card, he says “Draw” and the first player must draw a card.

The bottom player asks the top left player for the Ghost father, and is lucky!

If the player draws the desired card while drawing, he must say out loud “Good draw!” in which case can play again by asking for another card to the same player or another player. But if he does not draw the requested card, he says “Bad Draw!” in which case his turn is over. When that happens, the player who had not the requested card may take his turn and ask for a card of his choice.

Look out! A player can only request a family card if he already has one in his hand.

If a player has a whole family (all 6 cards), he announces “Family!” and places the family in front of him, cards face up. When that happens, the player to his left takes his turn.

The bottom player asks the top left player for the Ghost father, and is lucky!

If there is no more draw pile, players continue to play without drawing when they do not get the requested card. The game continues until no player has any cards left in their hand.

HOW TO WIN 

When all the families have been completed, count how many families each player has completed. The winner is the one who at the end of the game has the most families in front of him/her.

End of game, the bottom player wins with three families

Enjoy! šŸ˜Š

VARIATIONS

Depending on the age of the players, you may decide to remove the grandmother and grandfather cards to simplify the game and reduce its duration. In this case, deal only 5 cards per player at the beginning of the game.

If you happen to play with more than 4 players, you should also deal less cards per player, otherwise the draw pile will be empty very quickly.

FUN BLURB

Simple rules, suspense, surprises, playable from 3 to any ageā€¦ What is the happiest thing ever? A happy family playing Happy Families!

Nakoa Davis
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