Shake It Meerkat Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• Card Combination Chart
• Gameplay
• End of the Game

Goal of the Game

In Shake It Meerkat, each card has a number from A (1) to 5.5, and the size of the meerkat on the back matches that number. Use the card back sizes to play cards or to challenge others. The first player to have no cards in hand on their turn wins on their turn wins.

Components

• 50 Meerkat Cards
  • Normal Cards: A through 5, 7 of each.
  • Bluffing Cards: 1.5 through 5.5, 3 of each.
• 1 Game Board
• 35 Penalty Tokens (20 1-point tokens, 15 5-point tokens)
• 5 Reference Cards

Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the table. Put the penalty tokens nearby.
2. Shuffle all the Meerkat cards face down and place them as a draw pile on the game board.
3. The player who looks most like a meerkat becomes the starting player. Going clockwise, each player draws 6 cards.

Card Combination Chart

Cards are played as combinations. More cards beat fewer cards.

• One Card (Weak to Strong): 2, 3, 4, 5, A.
• Two of a Kind (Weak to Strong): 22, 33, 44, 55, AA.
• Three of a Kind (Weak to Strong): 222, 333, 444, 555, AAA.

The printed chart continues below the Three of a Kind row (marked by a vertical ellipsis); the rows after it are not shown in the source.

Gameplay

1. The starting player places any combination of cards face down in any space on the board and announces a number.
   • Numbers must be announced as A, 2, 3, 4, or 5, and bluffing cards must be announced as a number different from the actual number printed.
   • Normal cards can also be announced as a different number.
2. Player on the left chooses one of three actions:
   • A. Pass: If you can't or don't want to play, pass your turn to the player on the left.
   • B. Play Cards: Play a stronger combination than the previous one. Then, reveal the cards currently on the game board and remove them.
   • C. Challenge: Say "Challenge" and flip the face-down cards to check.
     • Successful Challenge: If the revealed cards don't match the announced number, the previous player draws number of played cards + 1. The challenger becomes the new starting player.
     • Failed Challenge: If the cards match the declared number, the challenger draws the same number of played cards. The turn passes to the player on the left.
3. If all other players pass and it becomes your turn again, with your previously played cards still on the game board, reveal those face-down cards and remove them. You become the starting player again and play new cards.

End of the Game

The round ends when a player starts their turn with no cards in hand, or when the draw pile is empty. All other players receive penalty tokens equal to the number of cards left in their hand.

Play 3 rounds, and the player with the fewest total penalty points wins. In case of a tie, all tied players win.