The Dog's Meow Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Game Idea
• Setup
• Gameplay
• End of the Game
• The Professional Variant

Contents

• 42 cards
  • 8 object cards
  • 2 Up-Down-Left-Right cards (one red, one blue)
  • 32 task cards (16 red, 16 blue)

Players: 2 to 6. Age: 6 and up. Playing time: about 10 minutes.

Game Idea

For the basic variant, players must keep three things in mind:

1. If "Links" (Left) is written, look on the right. If "Rechts" (Right) is written, look on the left. If "Oben" (Up) is written, look at the bottom. If "Unten" (Down) is written, look at the top. In short: always search on the opposite side.

2. The following object-and-sound pairs are swapped:

   • The object that is called Katze (Cat) makes the sound "Miau" (Meow). The object that is called Hund (Dog) makes the sound "Wau-Wau" (Woof-woof).
   • The object that is called Trommel (Drum) makes the sound "Bumm-Bumm" (Boom-boom). The object that is called Klavier (Piano) makes the sound "Didelim".

   So the dog and the cat are swapped, and the drum and the piano are swapped.

3. If the task asks for the "Name" (Name) of an object, the player must make the sound that goes with it. If the task asks for the "Geräusch" (Sound) of an object, the player must say the name that goes with it. In short: name and sound are swapped.

   Examples as printed: name of [picture of the drum] is "Bumm-Bumm"; sound of [picture of an object] is "Katze".

Setup

For the basic variant, only 4 object cards are needed: Hund (Dog) and Katze (Cat), and Trommel (Drum) and Klavier (Piano). The other 4 object cards go back into the box. Also, only the red Up-Down-Left-Right card and the 16 red task cards are needed. All blue cards go back into the box.

Place the red Up-Down-Left-Right card in the middle of the table. Place one object card against each side: for example, the Hund on top, the Katze on the right, the Trommel at the bottom, and the Klavier on the left. Which object lies on which side does not matter, except that the Hund and the Katze may not lie opposite each other. If the Hund lies on the left, the Katze may not lie on the right.

Shuffle the 16 red task cards and place them as a face-down draw pile.

Gameplay

Any player turns over the top card of the face-down task pile. Important: the card must be turned over as quickly as possible, so that all players see it at the same moment.

The upper area of the task card shows where the players must search. For example, if "Links" (Left) is written there, the players must search on the right.

The lower area of the task card shows what the players must say. For example, if "Name" is written there, the players must say the matching sound.

All players now search at the same time (each silently for themselves) in the correct place. Then the required answer must be called out as quickly as possible. It is basically quite simple. Two examples:

1. Example: since "Links" (Left) is written, the player must search on the right. The object seen in the searched place is shown in the example picture. Since "Geräusch" (Sound) is written, the player must say the matching name. Correct answer: "Hund" (Dog).

2. Example: since "Oben" (Up) is written, the player must search at the bottom. The object seen in the searched place is shown in the example picture. Since "Name" is written, the player must make the matching sound. Correct answer: "Didelim".

The player who first gives the correct answer may take the revealed task card as a prize.

Note: if a player calls out a wrong answer, that player is out for this round and may not call again. The other players keep searching until someone gives the correct answer.

End of the Game

The game is played round after round in this way: the top card of the face-down task pile is turned over, everyone searches, and the first player to call out the answer wins the card. The game continues until the face-down task card pile is used up.

The player who has won the most cards is the winner.

The Professional Variant

The professional variant adds a fourth thing to keep in mind:

4. If the card shows "Rot" (Red), the players must search on the blue Up-Down-Left-Right card. If the card shows "Blau" (Blue), the players must search on the red one. In short: red and blue are swapped.

In addition, the other two pairs of objects are added:

• The object that is called Hahn (Rooster) makes the sound "Kikeriki" (Cock-a-doodle-doo). The object that is called Ente (Duck) makes the sound "Quak-Quak".
• The object that is called Hupe (Horn) makes the sound "Möp-Möp" (Honk-honk). The object that is called Wecker (Alarm clock) makes the sound "Ring-Ring".

Set up both Up-Down-Left-Right cards face up on the table about 30 cm apart. Place the 8 object cards each against any side of the red or the blue card. Where each object lies does not matter at all. Shuffle the 32 task cards well and place them as a face-down draw pile.

The sequence of play is identical to the basic variant: in each round the top card of the face-down pile is turned over, all players search at the same time for the solution, and one player calls out first, and so on. The only difference is that players must now keep four things in mind instead of three.

Example: the task card is red, so the player must search on the blue Up-Down-Left-Right card. Since "Rechts" (Right) is written, the player must search on the left. The object seen in the searched place is shown in the example picture. Since "Name" is written, the player must make the matching sound. The correct answer is "Möp-Möp".

The winner is the first player to win 6 task cards.

Note: when young children play, they should, if possible, sit at the table so that they can see the pictures and the words on the cards the right way up.