LAMA Game Rules

Hey there! Welcome to the exciting world of LAMA, the card game that guarantees a great time with friends and family. In this article, I will explain the rules of LAMA and how to play like a pro.

First things first, let’s talk about the goal of the game. The objective of LAMA is simple – you want to get rid of all your cards before anyone else does. Sounds easy, right? Well, let’s see how it works.

To start the game, each player is dealt six cards facing down. The rest of the cards go into a draw pile. The player with the fewest points on their cards goes first. Don’t worry, I’ll explain what points mean in a moment.

On your turn, you have a few options. You can either play a card, draw a card, or pass. If you decide to play a card, it has to follow certain rules. There are four types of cards – number cards, LAMA cards, Plus cards, and Minus cards.

Number cards are pretty straightforward. You can play a card with a higher number than the one on top of the discard pile. For example, if there’s a 3 on top, you can play a 4 or higher. Don’t forget to say “LAMA” when you play your last card!

LAMA cards are special. You can play them anytime, even if it’s not your turn. They allow you to give a card from your hand to another player, which can be helpful if you want to get rid of a high point card.

Plus cards let you increase the value of the discard pile by a certain number. For example, if there’s a 5 on top, you can play a Plus 2 card to make it a 7.

Minus cards, on the other hand, let you decrease the value of the discard pile. They are handy if you want to prevent someone from playing a high number card.

Now, let’s talk about those pesky points I mentioned earlier. Each card has a point value, ranging from 1 to 10. Number cards are worth their face value, LAMA cards are worth 10 points, Plus cards are worth their face value, and Minus cards are worth -10 points. The objective, remember, is to get rid of all your cards with the fewest points possible.

The game continues until one player has no cards left. At that point, every player counts up the points on their remaining cards. The player with the lowest score is the winner!

So there you have it, the rules of LAMA. It’s a game of strategy, luck, and quick thinking. I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I do. Have fun and may the lowest score win!

I, the Mighty Llama, command you to banish all your negative points! Play your cards wisely, or else you’ll accumulate those dreadful negative points. And if you find yourself unable to play a card, you face a crucial decision: Do you throw in the towel, or do you draw a card and hope for a better opportunity to play it?

Negative points, in this game, appear as tokens. If you manage to get rid of all your cards, you can redeem a token, which may be worth either 1 or 10 points. The player with the fewest points by the end of the game emerges as the triumphant victor.

Preparing the Game

Intermix all the cards and distribute six cards to each player. The leftover cards form the draw pile placed facedown. Flip over the top card to initiate the discard pile. Have the tokens on standby, and you’re good to go!

Let’s Play the Game!

Hey there! So, I’m going to explain how this game works. It’s really fun, I promise!

First, let’s talk about the game play. We play the game in rounds, and the youngest player gets to go first. Lucky them! On their turn, they have three choices:

• They can play a card
• They can draw a card
• Or they can quit

After the youngest player takes their turn, it’s the next player’s turn. Simple, right?

Time to Play a Card!

Okay, let’s say you want to play a card. The card you play has to match the value of the top card on the discard pile. Or, if you want to be a bit more bold, you can play a card with a value that’s one higher than the top card. It’s up to you, really!

• When you play Llamas, you can use 6’s or other Llamas.
• You can place another Llama or a 1 on top of a Llama.

I’m Victor, and I’ll start by playing a 6. Now it’s your turn, Judy. What will you play?

Getting a Card

Draw a single card from the deck. Remember, you can’t play a card on the same turn, so it moves to the next player’s turn.

If there are no cards left in the deck, don’t make a new one. This option is no longer available from now on.

Leaving the Game

If you can’t play a card or don’t want to, and you don’t feel like drawing a card, you can choose to quit this round. Just put your cards face down in front of you.

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After a while, I can’t play a card anymore, so I have to give up and set my three 5s face down in front of me.

What Happens at the End of the Round

The round ends right away if:

• one of us has played all of our cards, or
• all of us have given up on the round.

If everyone but one person has given up, that person keeps playing alone. But they can’t draw any more cards.

Jacques, Victor, and Henri have quit for this round. I played my 3 card and both of my 4 cards, but I couldn’t play my two 1 cards or the llama. So, that’s the end of the round.

Scoring

Now, the cards that are left in your hand give you negative points, whether they’re in front of you or in your hand. Each card is worth a certain number of points. Llamas are worth 10 points.

But here’s the thing: you only count each card value once per round. So if you have two 4 cards, you only get four points for them. And all of your llamas together only give you 10 points.

Taking Tokens

The negative points you get are turned into tokens. There are white tokens that are worth 1 point, and black tokens that are worth 10 points. And you can switch them around whenever you want.

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Geez, I’ve got quite the predicament on my hands. Judy, with her pair of ones and that goofy llama of hers, managed to rack up 11 negative points. Talk about bad luck!

Well, as for me, I managed to snag a 1-point token and a whopping 10-point token. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

What To Do With Those Tokens

So, here’s the deal. If, by some miracle, you’ve managed to play all your cards and you still have some of those tokens from earlier, you’ve got a choice to make. You can give back either a 1-point token or a 10-point token – totally up to you.

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So, I have these tokens in the card game: a 1-point token and a 10-point token. I started off with both of them, but I managed to get rid of all my cards in the last round. So, now I get to return one of the tokens.

Well, it’s a no-brainer! I’m definitely going to pick the 10-point token.

Now, let’s shuffle all the cards back together and deal six to each player for the next round. We’ll start a new discard pile with the top card from the draw pile. Oh, and the player who played their card last in the previous round gets to go first in this new round.

And That’s a Wrap!

We keep playing until one of us collects 40 points or more. The player with the fewest points wins the game. If there’s a tie, those players share the victory. Pretty straightforward, right?