YOU’VE GOT CRABS

Hey there! Have you heard of the game called You’ve Got Crabs? It’s super fun, especially when you’re playing with a team that is totally in sync. The goal of the game is to collect four cards that are the same and then secretly signal your teammate. If your teammate catches on first, you score a point!

But watch out! If an opponent catches your secret signal before your teammate does, they steal the point from you. So, be careful and stay on your toes! The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. And hey, if you want to mix things up and add more excitement, expansion packs are available!

SETUP

Let’s get ready to play! To start, form teams of two players each. Remember, there can be up to five teams for a smooth game. Each team will huddle up privately to come up with a secret signal that they can use to show that they collected four of the same card. And remember, this signal has to be non-verbal. Keep it a secret!

Alright, here’s the deal. We’re gonna play a game, but there are a few ground rules. First things first, no secret signals or whispering allowed. We want to keep it fair and square. Got it? Good.

Now, let’s gather ’round the table with our teammates. Make sure you sit diagonally across from someone from the other team. This is gonna get interesting!

Alright, the next step is assigning each table a side. You can either choose side 1 or side 2. Each team should have a member on each side. This is where the action happens!

Now that we’re all set up, it’s time to start playing. Shuffle the deck of cards and place it face down in the middle of the table. This is our Draw Pile. Don’t forget to put the Crabbing License on one side of the Draw Pile, leaving space for the Discard Pile and four Crab Cards.

Each player gets two Crab Tokens, and we’ll place eight more tokens on the table to create the Crab Pot. Now, grab four cards from the Draw Pile for each player. Place four more cards beside the Draw Pile to create the Ocean. Ready to dive in?

The first to go will be the side that is chosen. Turns will then alternate between the sides throughout the game. And now, we are ready to start.

LET’S PLAY!

The main goal of each player is to collect four cards of the same kind. At the same time, all the players on one side can exchange any of their cards with a card from the Ocean. Remember, you should always have four cards in your hand, while leaving four cards in the Ocean.

Once you have finished swapping cards to your satisfaction, place your cards face down in front of you. When all the players on your side are done swapping cards, it’s time to turn the Crabbing License and let the other side begin their turn immediately.

Let’s say we reach a point where neither of us wants to trade any cards. In that case, we’ll discard all the cards in the Ocean and replace them with four new cards from the Draw Pile. After that, we can start trading in whichever direction the Crabbing License indicates.

Now, once you have a set of four cards that match, it’s time to try and give your partner your secret signal. If your partner figures out your signal first and you indeed have the four cards, your team earns a point. But if they guess wrong, you’ll lose a point. And here’s the tricky part: if an opponent spots your signal before your partner and calls it, they get a point.

But don’t worry, if your opponent wrongly accuses you of using your secret signal, you get to take a Crab Token from them as punishment. The game keeps going until there are no more tokens left in the Crab Pot. Then we tally up the points, and the team with the most points wins!

The End of the Game

When all the Crab Tokens in the Crab Pot have been used up, the game comes to an end. It’s time to tally up your points! Take into account all the points your team has earned throughout the game. The team with the most points at the end is the winner!

So remember, once the Crab Pot is empty, it’s time to add up your points and see who came out on top. Good luck!