For the past two weeks we've been talking about Euro-games. This week I want to change things up and share one of my all-time favorite card games with you.
When I was a kid and teenager I took piano lessons. As my sisters got old enough they took lessons too. So, three girls and three thirty-minute piano lessons meant we spent a pretty good chunk of our Tuesday afternoons at our piano teacher's house. But we were never bored during this time because our piano teacher had a daughter - close in age to my youngest sister - and she liked for us to play with her while our other sisters had their lessons.
She introduced us to this game and it quickly became a favorite.
Family Game Night #9: Dutch Blitz
Dutch Blitz is a fast moving card game where you don't have to take turns. The basic set includes four decks of cards (blue, red, yellow, green) and each player has their own deck. The goal is to get rid of your personal stack of cards before the other players, by building on to the stacks in the center of play. The catch is: anyone can play on those stacks.
You have a personal stack of cards to try to get rid of (called your "Blitz pile") but the rest of your cards are in your hand and you shuffle through these as you play. You're trying to use what's in your hand to get rid of what's on the table, but everyone else is doing the same thing at the same time and someone else may (for example) slap a blue seven on top of that blue six before you see it.
The game ends when someone finishes their Blitz pile. Scoring consists of counting how many cards you played. You have to subtract cards if you didn't finish your own Blitz pile, but the person who goes out doesn't necessarily win every time because someone else may have played more cards.
It's fast paced and competitive, but you can play several games of it in a row so that losing doesn't feel too tragic. You can keep a running cumulative score, or you could skip that part if your kids aren't up for that.
Other ways you can alter the rules: if you're playing with very young children you could give the older players a handicap by putting more cards in their Blitz pile or fewer cards in the younger players' Blitz piles. You can let young children shuffle through the cards in their deck one at a time instead of the usual three at a time.
Summary of Dutch Blitz:
Number of Players: 4, but you can buy an expansion pack or you could buy two of the regular packs and just alter the card backs so that you have 8 distinct sets.
Recommended Ages: 8 and up, but frankly, I think that's ridiculous. A six year old taught us how to play, all those years ago. We've played with children as young as five (sometimes with the altered rules I shared above).
Reading Required: No. This game uses colors and numbers, but if your child knows 1-10, you're good to go.
Has your family tried Dutch Blitz? Who has the fastest hands in your family?
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