Scout, by this point, has become a modern classic in card games and is by far Oink Games’ best seller, now hitting the big stores like Target, all across America. Designed by Kei Kajino and only published in 2019, Scout is a game (loosely and I mean very loosely) about putting on a circus using acts you have in your hand and poaching from other players’ shows. I say ‘loosely’ because this might be what the rulebook says and the cards all have suits of acts and names of performers but that’s where the theme stops. However, theme aside, this is a brilliant game that absolutely never fails.
Scout is a ladder-climbing game which means players are playing cards or sets of cards in order to beat the previous card/set, like Uno. The biggest hook here, however, is that when cards are dealt (various hand sizes depending on player count) you are not allowed to change the order of those cards, much like in Hanabi or Bohnanza. The addition though, that really adds the spice, is that you can start with your hand either side up! We will come to why that’s important in a bit, but for now just agree that it’s a pretty cool first decision to make.
Set Up: depending on player count you will need to remove some cards.
● 3 players – remove the one card with 9 and 10 on it
● 2 or 4 players – remove the 9 cards 10 on them
● 5 players – do not remove any cards
Deal the remaining cards between the players and give each player a ‘Scout and Show’ tile. The player with the card with the top hat symbol on will be the player and they should be given the first player token. Put aside the tickets and point tokens in a general supply and you are ready to start.
When players get their hands they must be careful not to change the order of any of the cards but they must choose which orientation to hold their hand. Each card has two numbers, one top and one bottom. Once all players have decided which orientation to be in, the first hand can be played.
The Greatest Show on Earth
On your turn you have three options:
1. ‘Show’ – play a card or cards from your hand. You must only take cards that are connected in your hand, you must not rearrange anything. When you are playing a card it must be ‘better’ than the previous one on show.
2. ‘Scout‘ – if you cannot, or simply choose not to go you must take a card from either side of the previous show and place it in your hand. It can go anywhere in your hand and in any orientation. The player who’s card you took, takes a ticket/point in return.
3. ‘Scout and show’ – once per round you can do both actions in the same turn following the same rules as before.
So let’s talk about the types of hands you can play. Starting with the easiest, single cards. When playing a single card it must simply be a higher number than the previous card played. If a 10 is in play then it can’t be beaten by a single card.
Next up are runs. A run is a series of cards in ascending or descending order. If following a run, a new run will automatically win if it has more cards in its sequence. A run with the same number of cards as another will win if its highest card is higher than the previously played highest card. For example a run of 4,5 and 6 will beat a run of 1,2 and 3.
Next up is sets, sets are hands of multiples of the same number and these will trump anything else of the same hand size. For example a run of 9 and 10 can be beaten by two 1s.
Every hand that you beat is taken and placed face down in front of you with each one being a point at the end of the round.
As soon as a player empties their hand the ground ends and every tallies up the cards and ticket tokens they have earned BUT they then deduct any cards they have left in their hand taking a point token to keep track of your points from round to round.
There are always as many rounds as there are players and when the last one is complete, final points are tallied and the person with the highest, wins. Congratulations you have put on the Greatest Show on Earth!
Player Count: Scout plays up to five players and works well at all play counts however if playing at 2 there are a few additional rules that makes the game a little fiddly.
Age Recommendation: The box recommends eight years and over. Although the game sounds simple it can be a little much for children to get their head around and so eight feels like the right age to start
