OBJECT OF SHADY PETS: The objective of Shady Pets is to accumulate more points than the other players by correctly identifying the unknown Shady Pets.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 5 Players
MATERIALS: 52 Action Cards, 32 Pet Cards, 4 Mystery Card Holders, and Instructions
TYPE OF GAME: Card Game
AUDIENCE: 7+
OVERVIEW OF SHADY PETS
Shady Pets is a strategic game made for the daring. Each player has a hidden hand of Pets. There are four Mystery Pets in the center of the playing area, all of which have points associated with them. Players must attempt to weed out the obvious pets by keeping track on their score cards.
When you feel comfortable, try and guess the Mystery Pets! You may earn points if you are right, but if you are wrong, your points are quickly taken away! The first player to win 50 points wins the game! Will it be you?
SETUP
To begin setup, separate the Pet Cards and the Action Cards. The Pet Cards are then organized into four categories, dogs, cats, hamsters, and reptiles. Shuffle each deck individually.
Draw one card from each Pet Card group, placing them face down in their individual Mystery Card Holders. Place these in the center of the playing area. The rest of the Pet Cards may be shuffled together and dealt to each player.
If there are two players, each will receive 10 Pet Cards, three players will receive 8, four players will receive 7, and five players will receive 5. The remaining Pet Cards are then placed face up on the table so all players may see them.
The Action Cards are then dealt, 5 cards to each player face down. The rest are then placed face down in the middle of the table, creating the Draw Pile. Finally, players will mark dealt Pet Cards and exposed Pet Cards on their score sheet. The game is ready to begin!
GAMEPLAY
The game will begin with the youngest player and continue clockwise around the group. A player may complete one of two actions during their turn. Players may play an Action Card in a Play Pile, thus redeeming its power. They may also expose one Pet Card to the table and draw one Action Card, ending their turn.
If a new Pet Card has been revealed, they may be marked on your score sheet. This gives you the opportunity to eliminate pets when deciding the Pet Cards in the Mystery Card Holders.
Action Cards each describe the action that must be completed. Actions must be completed when the card is played.
Gameplay continues around the group until a player is ready to guess the Mystery Cards. The player must reveal the intention to guess at the beginning of their turn. Other players will then have time to check their hand to see if they have that card. If another player has the guessed card, they will expose it to the table.
If a player guesses incorrectly, points are deducted from their score and they forfeit their next turn. If no other player has the card, the player may remove the card from the Mystery Card Holder and reveal it to all of the other players. If the player is correct, they earn points, if they are incorrect, they lose points.
The first Mystery Pet is worth 5 points, the second is worth 10 points, the third is worth 15 points, and the fourth is worth 20 points. Players will either lose or gain the points associated with the card they are guessing.
If a player guesses correctly, they may continue to guess or end their turn.
END OF GAME
The round comes to an end once all of the Mystery Cards have been exposed. The player who has the most points wins the round! Players may choose to only play one round, in this case, the player with the most points is the winner.
Players may also choose to play to 50 points. The player who first reaches 50 points wins the game in this scenario!
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