Two educational games by Carlo A. Rossi
MEMO STEAL
Find the pairs and steal them from your opponents
A fun and easy game that stimulates memory, emotional self-control and speed.
To be named “King of thieves” and overcome the notorious Arsène Lupin, each player will have to show that he/she has an iron memory and be quick enough to steal not only the cards on the table, but also those already won by the opponents.
The game is designed for 2-4 players, from 5 years of age onwards. Each game lasts about 10 minutes.
MATERIALS
21 cards with a red background
representing not-precious objects
21 cards with a blue background
representing precious objects
GAME OBJECTIVE
Be the first player to win 2 challenges.
To win a challenge you need to collect as many cards as possible.
If a challenge ends in a tie, victory is not awarded.
PREPARATION
For the first challenge, mix the 21 cards with the red background and spread them face-down in the centre of the table.
For each challenge, cards with a different background are used alternately (cards with a blue background for the second challenge, cards with a red background for the third challenge, and so on).
HOW TO PLAY
Play begins clockwise.
Each turn, the player can choose to:
If there is no match, the cards are turned back over and the turn passes to the next player.
The opponent checks his/her cards to see if he/she has the indicated image:
Each challenge finishes when there are no more cards left at the centre of the table.
WHO WINS
The winner of the round is the player with the most number of cards.
The overall winner is the best of the 3 rounds, so the winner is the person who wins 2 rounds.
To make the rounds more challenging, the players can choose to follow some of the variations proposed in the instruction booklet.
TRACKO
On the trail of the Mayan treasure
An adventure game that trains memory and visual-spatial skills.
The Mayan temple hides precious treasures and riches. To collect as many coins as possible, each player must be able to remember the correct position of the tracks left by the ancient Maya and trace the path to exit the temple, avoiding obstacles and curses.
The game is designed for 2-4 players, from 7 years of age onwards. Each game lasts about 15-20 minutes.
MATERIALS
12 «treasure maps» game boards
with different coloured margins: 3 light green, 3 yellow, 3 orange and 3 dark green, which correspond to the different levels of difficulty
4 «temple» game boards
4 transparent sheets and 4 erasable pens
1 score pad
GAME OBJECTIVE
Within a limited time, players must memorize a map showing the gold coins to be collected, but also trapdoors and obstacles to avoid. Next, players must trace a path on their folder and check if they have managed to exit the temple and how many gold coins they managed to collect.
The aim is to accumulate the greatest number of gold coins.
PREPARATION
Form a pile consisting of 7 treasure maps (1 light green, 2 yellow, 2 orange and 2 dark green), to be placed in the centre of the table with the illustrated side face down.
Each player takes:
The «temple» game board should be placed in front of you so that the box on which the staircase is located is in the upper right corner of the game board, while the box with the entrance is in the lower left corner.
HOW TO PLAY
The youngest player is the Chief Explorer in the first round. In subsequent rounds, this role passes to the player on the left of the previous Chief Explorer.
Each round of play includes three steps:
After checking their routes and writing down the coins earned on the score pad, the players will clean their transparent sheets and be ready for a new exploration.
WHO WINS
The game ends after 7 rounds, i.e. after all the treasure maps have been discarded.
The winner is the one who has collected the most gold coins.
To make the game more complicated and compelling, players can choose to apply the advanced rules proposed in the instruction booklet.
THE AUTHOR
Carlo A. Rossi is author of 31 games currently published by the main German publishing houses. He is specialised in quick-play games and has received 2 nominations for the prestigious Kinder Spiel des Jahres award in 2010 and 2017.