Rover Rummy consists of a deck of 51 cards, divided into dog "parts" - fronts, rears, bodies, heads, legs and tails. Each set of parts (except the tail) is divided into colors which denote the correctness of the body parts. Green being poor, then Yellow (fair), then Red (good), with Blue being the best (excellent). Each player is dealt 6 cards per hand. Play progresses by a simple "draw and discard" method.

The object of the game is to win the required amount of points to obtain a Championship on your "dog". A Championship is obtained by accumulating 15 "points" (based on the combined values of the colored body parts forming one "dog") over the span of several hands, and 2 major wins ( A major = a hand of 3, 4 or 5 points). The rules of winning a Championship in this game are the same pointwise, as winning a real Championship. The first player to lay down a complete "dog" wins a hand. The hand is counted by adding up the point value of each of the body parts, or in the case of a complete "red" or "blue" dog, the point value assigned to that dog.

The game is so simple, that it can be played and understood by even a 9 year old (anyone who knows me can ask Eric)! The game is designed to teach players about how a dog is evaluated by a show judge, who generally separates a dog into "parts",then grades those parts in combination. I was amazed by my own deeper grasp of the concept of showing for points after playing this game just once! Non-show-folk will certainly learn lots from this game, show persons will gain insight as well I believe! And guess what? It's Fun!

This game gets Four Paws up!

danelady@doglogic.com
Lyn Richards
http://www.doglogic.com

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