Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Simple to learn yet tons of fun to play
Cons: None for me
The Bottom Line:
Numbers fall in line
As you race to organize
One card at a time
Organizing Numbers Has Never Been So Fun
There are some games that are so simple it is amazing no one
thought of them earlier. And yet, these
are often the most fun games. A perfect
example of that is Rack-O, and I just love playing it.
The set up and equipment are simple. There are four trays with slots in them, a
tray for the draw and discard pile, and a stack of 60 cards with one number
each on them. 2 to 4 people can play
(and you can take out some of the cards if fewer than 4 are playing).
To start the game, shuffle the cards and deal 10 to each
person. The rest are put in a draw pile
with the next card turned face up to create the discard pile. Each player lines up their cards in their
holder so only they can see them, and they must put the cards in the holders in
the order received, first in the back, most recent in the front.
The object is to arrange cards in numerical order from
lowest in the front to highest in the back.
To do so, you draw either the top card from the discard pile and trade
it with a card already in your rack or you draw the top card from the draw pile
and either use it in your rack or discard it.
The first person to get all their numbers in order says “Rack-O” and
wins.
See, it really is that simple. Yet it is tons of fun. My family has had this game for several
years, and we always enjoy pulling it out and playing. The game is part luck (which cards you draw
or the person before you throws away) and skill (where you place the cards you
decide to use in your rack). The skill
actually does come into play more than you might think since sometimes you can
wind up with a gap too narrow or where all the cards are already in use. You need to pay attention to what everyone
throws away.
My family always just plays one round at a time, declaring a
winner and then moving on. However, you
can keep score and play until one person reaches the limit. Each card in order from the front to the back
count as 5 points (the points are on the side of the racks), so the first break
in your sequence ends your score. The
person getting Rack-O automatically gets 75 points.
The box recommends this game for ages 8 and older. I’d say you could introduce it younger since
all you need to be able to do is count to 60.
You might need to team up with the younger kids early on, but before you
know it, they’ll be playing on their own (and probably beating you).
This isn't one of the first games we pull out, but we enjoy
it every time we do. Rack-O is a simple
yet fun game that everyone can enjoy together.
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