PLAY PIG PILE AND GO WILD
THE OBJECT
Pig Pile is a fast-paced card 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.
Shuffle the cards and deal 3 down to everybody, then 3 face-up to everybody, and then 4 cards for each to hold in their hand. So each player has 10 cards, 3 faces down, 3 face-up, and 4 in their hand.
1) Alternatively, you can deal 7 cards to everybody (instead of 3 face-up and 4 in their hand) and let them pick which three cards to place face up.
2) The dealer starts by playing a card from his hand face up to the center of the table from his hand (This starts the Pig Pile of cards you’re trying to get rid of). If he has more than one of the same cards, he can play all of them at the same time. He then draws one card from the deck. If there are no more cards left in the draw deck, he doesn’t take any cards.
3) The next player is the player to his left (unless he played an 11 Ewe-Turn which reverses the direction of play in which case it would be the player on the right who goes next). That player does the exact same thing as the first player except he must play a card (or cards) that are equal to or higher than the number that the last player played and then draws a card. IF HE CAN NOT PLAY A CARD that is equal to or higher than the top card of the Pig Pile, he must pick up the entire pile and place it in his hand. His turn ends and the next player goes and starts a new Pig Pile.
4) Any player who plays 3 cards of the same number, or plays a card or a card that is the third one in a row of the same number, gets a Hogwash. The face-up pile of cards is cleared away and set aside until the next round and the player gets another turn to start a new pile.
Example: The top card on the Pig pile is a 5 and I play two more fives on top of it. That’s three fives in a row and I get a Hogwash. I set the Pigpile stack aside and take another turn.
5) A player who has no cards left in their hand can play from the three face-up cards in front of them. If two or more are the same card, they can all be played at the same time. (This can only happen when the Draw Pile is gone).
6) A player who has no face-up cards left and none in their hand can play one of the face-down cards. A player who gets rid of all his card (hand, face up, and face down) first, wins the round. The next player to go out by getting rid of all his cards comes in second.
7) To score, the player who goes out first takes three pigs. The second player to go out takes two pigs. Everyone else except the person(s) with the most cards left gets one pig. The player(s) with the most cards left gets no pigs. In a three-player game, the third person always gets one pig.
8) Play one round per player or until all the pigs are gone. Most pigs win the game!
WINNING
The first player to get rid of all of his cards collects 3 pigs from the ‘Pig Pen’. The second player to get rid of all of his cards collects 2 pigs. The round ends when the second player gets rid of all of his cards. The other players all collect 1 pig, except the player who has the most cards, he gets none. When there is a tie for most cards, all those players score none.
The deal passes to the left and a new round is started. The game ends after 4 rounds or if all the pigs have been released from their pen. The player with the most pigs wins!
Greased Pig Start
To make it easier when playing for the first time with new players. In the first round, deal three cards face down and then deal three cards face up onto the face-down cards. This will speed up your start and eliminate the need for detailed strategy explanations, as to which cards are best as face-up cards, etc. After this first round, deal as normal and let all players select their own face-up cards.
Pile up the family fun in this fast-paced, hog-wild card game where players compete to corral the most pigs. Get rid of your cards first and you'll be awarded the pile of cute little pigs. Sounds easy, but pigs can be slippery! Dump your cards the fastest to build the highest heap of hogs. The player with the largest Pig Pile wins!
Ages 7+ | 3 to 6 players | Playing time 40 minutes
