The Game
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is a fast-paced, fun, hilarious party game. It works with any number of people and is easy to learn for players of all ages. Quick rounds and the competitive nature of the game mean it is easy to play over and over again. Whilst this makes it great fun for adults, the game’s simple, concise rules mean it also works really well for kids.
Setup and Gameplay
The game is very easy to set up. Simply shuffle the deck (which contains cards with depictions of the various items and animals in the title) and deal out all the cards between the players. Each player keeps them in a face down pile in front of them. The object of the game is to get rid of all of your cards.
The first player turns the top card from their pile into the centre. As they do so, they must say the word, “Taco.” Play continues clockwise with the next player turning a card and declaring, “Cat” and subsequent players saying, “Goat”, “Cheese” and, “Pizza” before returning to the word “Taco”. At any point, if a player turns a card which matches the word they are saying as they do so, all players must immediately react, slapping their hand down onto the pile of cards in the centre of the table. The players whose hand ends up on the top of the stack of hands must take all of the cards in the centre and add them to the bottom of their pile.
Be careful; you do not slap your hand down if the card matches the one it is played on top of. You only do so if the cards matches the word you are saying.
Play then recommences from this player, who begins at, “Taco” again. Play continues in this fashion until a player has depleted their supply of cards. They continue to say “Taco”, “Cat” (etc.) but do not need to place a card when they do so. They must also slap their hand down in the middle on the occurrence of a player’s card matching with what they say. However, in order to win, the player without any cards must be the first to place their hand down in the centre. And that’s it…almost.
Special Cards
The deck also contains a number of each of the special cards. These are Gorilla, Groundhog and Narwhal. When one of these is turned – regardless of it automatically triggers everyone having to performs an action and then slap their hand down in the centre. If a Gorilla card is turned, all players must beat their chest three times like a gorilla before slapping their hand down in the middle. The same applies with a Groundhog except that players must knock on the table three times rather than beating their chest. Finally, if a Narwhal is turned up, all players must clap their hands above their heads before slapping their hands down in the centre.
These cards are a great addition to the game since they keep players on their toes whilst keeping with the game’s uniques theme of random items.
Additional Rules
In order to keep the game moving, all players are required to keep a steady rhythm. This makes sure everyone is paying attention and ensures that the game keeps moving. Anyone who fails to keep pace with the game will receive all the cards in the centre as a penalty. Additionally, any player who flinches or makes an incorrect movement towards the cards when it is not the correct time to do so will be given all the cards in the middle.
Game Design
If you are worried about not remembering the order to say the words in, fear not because it is printed on the back of the cards. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is extremely well designed and this is one of many features that make the game so appealing. While fairly simple, the artwork is effective and stylish, tying together the whole game into an aesthetic set. The pastel card backgrounds are impactful without being too strong.
Final Thoughts
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza offers a unique twist on the traditional, quick reaction card game. Not only does this make it easily learnable but also extremely quick meaning you will want to play it many times. Just make sure you are not wearing anything on your hands which could hurt you or other players when slamming your hand down in the middle. Players who like this game will also like Avocado Smash, a game that is structured in a similar way but with a vegetative twist. Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza’s quick and clever mechanics make it a must-have for lovers of pacy card games.
