Game Like a Mother

Quick Take: I've been playing the traditional version of Pass the Pigs for years but we have a summer birthday party coming up and wanted to get a kid friendly yard game so I was very excited to discover there was a Big Pigs Edition. The kids are obsessed with it and have been playing it non-stop. The game sounds ridiculous, it's pig dice and you get different points for different "rolls" or positions that the pigs land in when you roll them. However, it teaches strategy, some probability, there's risk and reward that must be weighed as you play, and it's excellent for practicing some addition skills. It's surprisingly addictive to play and you'll be cheering for a leaning jowler roll in no time! The game itself is excellent, however the Big Pigs Edition has less sturdy pigs than the standard version so that's something to take into account if you're playing with small children. 

How to Play: Whoever gets to 100 points first wins. Games can be very fast or quite long depending on how lucky players are and their level of risk aversion. Each player gets to roll the pigs for as many times as they wish, accumulating points as they roll various adorable positions such as a Snouter, Leaning Jowler, and Trotter. However, if they roll a Pig Out before they have passed the pigs to the next player, they lose all the points they just acquired. If they pass the pigs before they roll a Pig Out, they keep their points and can add on to them on their next turn. The biggest bummer to roll is an Oinker, that's when you roll the pigs and they end up touching. Then even your saved points are wiped out and you go back to zero. A scorecard is attached for adding up points. Take turns rolling the pigs until someone reaches 100 points!

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Variations: With younger kids you can nix the rather devastating rule of a complete score reset if you roll an Oinker.

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Similar Games To Check Out: Yamslam, King's Gold, Qwixx, Rock Paper Scissors War, Roll for it!, Pass the Pigs

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