Alien Hotshots
The war of the Numbers...A Card Game for 2 to 4 Earthlings Ages 8 and Up
In the year 4560, an interstellar war broke out between the Evens and the Odds. To win the war, the leader of the Evens invented a secret weapon, the Odd Eater, a being that lived in deep space and could gobble up any odd number. To fight back, the Odds created their own weapon, the Even Eater, which was just as powerful and could gobble up every even number except the 2. The 2 was so disgusting that even the Even Eater wouldn’t go near it. Teams of scientists worked to find more powerful and exotic weapons with special powers. The Space Germ was created, a dreaded danger of space travel, that could infect all Aliens except the number four, which had special medicine. Powerful Plustoids and Minusaurs orbited the planets, waiting to help their favorite side. Flying through hyperspace, aliens on both sides avoided being sucked into the vortex of the evil Black Hole. Win this game and bring peace to the galaxy.
Rules of Play
What Is the object of the game?The first player to collect all of the cards wins.
What are the contents?
55 cards: 38 Alien cards (cards that are numbered 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12), 16 Power cards (Odd and Even Eaters, Space Germs, Plustoids, Minusaurs, and Black Holes), and 1 "Powers at a Glance” card.How do I play?
• Shuffle and deal out all of the cards. (Don’t worry if there is an extra card.)• All players stack their cards, face down, in a pile in front of them.
• Each player takes the top card from his pile and throws it face up into the center.
• If all of the cards are Alien cards, the highest number wins.
• When a player wins a round, he takes the cards from the center and puts them in a pile next to him.
• When players run out of cards, they should shuffle the cards in the pile next to them and use those cards again.
• Keep playing until one player has won all the cards.
What Is a War?
If two or more players throw matching cards, and if those matching cards beat all other cards on the table, there’s a war.• The players with matching cards lay two cards from their pile face down, and a third card face up. (Players not involved in the war sit out until the next round.)
• The player who throws the winning face-up card takes all of the cards in the center.
• if the new face-up cards have equal strength, there’s another war. Continue until the new face-up cards do not match.
• The winner takes all of the cards in the center.
Examples of Wars
• Two matching Alien (numbered) cards (example: 4 and 4)• Any two Eater cards (example: Odd Eater and Even Eater or Even Eater and Even Eater, etc.)
How do I use the 16 Power cards?
odd eaters and even eaters eat odd or even-numbered cards.• When you throw an Odd Eater, it gobbles up odd-numbered Alien cards (5, 7, 11).
• When you throw an Even Eater, it gobbles up even-numbered Alien cards (4,8,10,12) — except for Alien card 2.
Red Alert! Alien card 2 is Inedible!
It is disgusting, slimy and cannot be eaten. Alien card 2 will always win over an Even or Odd Eater.
space germs cause paralyzing space sickness.
• When you throw a Space Germ, tuck all other cards thrown under the Space Germ card in the center — unless it’s the Alien card 4 which is germ-proof, a Plustoid, or a Minusaur.
• Leaving the cards tucked under the Space Germ card in the center, players throw new cards, and the winner takes all of the cards in the center, along with the cards under the Space Germ.
Red Alert! Alien card 4 is germ-proof.
4 cannot be paralyzed. A 4 always wins against a Space Germ card. Also Plustoids and Minusaurs always stay in orbit and cannot be paralyzed, so don’t tuck them under the Space Germ card.
Plustoids and Minusaurs
These cards add or subtract from Alien cards to help you win a round. You can use as many in one round as you like.
• When you throw a Plustoid or Minusaur card, you always send it into orbit by saying, “in orbit” and setting the card aside, face up, until you decide to use it.
• Then throw another card and continue playing.
• You can add or subtract from your cards or your opponents’ cards by using Plustoid or Minusaur cards to win a round.
• You can use Plustoids or Minusaurs to change odd cards to even cards and even cards to odd cards.
• The winner of the round takes all cards in the center, including the Plustoids and Minusaurs.
Red Alert! Plustoids and Minusaurs cannot be paralyzed by Space Germs. They always stay in orbit.
• If you run out of cards, you can use Plustoids and Minusaurs to be allies or enemies of another player by playing your cards to help them win or lose a round.
• If you run out of cards, you can sell your Plustoids and Minusaurs to the highest bidder in exchange for cards at any time during the game, even in the middle of a war, and then rejoin the game with your new cards in the next round.
Black Hole
• When the Black Hole card is thrown, each player puts his next two cards aside (no peeking!), in the box top, and out of play for good.
• Only the player who threw the Black Hole card throws a new card, and the round continues.
• The winner takes all of the cards in the center, including the Black Hole card.
How can the game be simplified for younger children?
Remove all Plustoid, Minusaur, Even Eater and Odd Eater cards.
Note: In all our rules, we use either “he” or “she” to include everyone!
What questions have other players asked about the game?
Q If three people are playing and a 7, 4 and an Odd Eater are thrown, who wins?
A The 4 wins the round because the Odd Eater eats the 7, but can’t eat the 4 because 4 is an even number.
Q If two players each throw a 3, and a third player throws an Odd Eater, is there a war?
A No, the Odd Eater gobbles them both up.
Q If I throw an Odd Eater and my opponent throws an Even Eater, is there a war?
A Yes.
Q If a Space Germ, a 4 and another Space Germ are thrown, who wins?
A The 4, because 4 is germ-proof and beats both Space Germs.
Q What happens if a player uses up his cards in the middle of a war?
A The player is out of the game.
Q In a war, what if a Plustoid or a Minusaur ends face up?
A Put it aside, in orbit, and throw another card.
Q What if two Space Germs land as face-up cards in war?
A There is Space Germ warfare.
Q If an Even Eater or Odd Eater, or both, are thrown against a Space Germ card, what happens?
A The Eaters get paralyzed just like any cards. Throw new cards and continue the game.
Q If a 4, 8 and Space Germ are thrown, who wins?
A The 4 wins because the Space Germ paralyzes the 8, but the 4 is germ-proof and beats the Space Germ.
Q Can you use Plustoids and Minusaurs to go higher than 12?
A Yes.
Word from Gamewright
In this game we wanted to play with the ideas of space travel. Is there life beyond Earth? What would it be like to fly near a Black Hole? The game play is a fun introduction to the ideas of odd and even, and the strategic importance of deterrence. We hope you will be inspired to go and visit your library or local observatory to learn more about space.— Ann Stambler and Dr. Monty Stambler
The Stamblers live and practice in Boston, where they are experts in child development.
Game by Ann and Monty Stambler
Illustrations by Don Sullivan
Gamewright, Inc.
Games for the Infinitely Imaginative®
P.O. Box 120 Boston, MA 02258 tel: 617-924-6006 fax: 617-924-6101
e-mail: card@gamewright.com
http://www.gamewright.com
© 1998 Gamewright, inc.
All worldwide rights reserved. Made in U.S.A.
