Shark Attack

A game for 4 players, contributed by Seth Williams

Object

The object of the game is to win the third round at the end of the game.

Setup

You will need:

• A Playing surface
• A single deck of general purpose playing cards (remove Jokers)
• 4 players

Select a dealer, have the dealer shuffle the deck, then deal 6 cards to each player. Place the rest of the cards in a stack in the center of the table. This is the stockpile.

Round 1

Have each player look at their six cards. Each player will select 3 cards from their six, and place them face down in front of them (be able to distinguish which cards are whose). This is called your 'hand'. After all players are done, have each confirm they are finished. Everyone yells "Shark Attack!" (for extra excitement) and flips over their hand. Look at the scoring table below:

2-10	- Face Value
Jacks	- 11 pts
Queens	- 12 pts
Kings	- 13 pts
Aces	- 15 pts

Whoever had the highest scoring hand is 'eaten' by the shark and is eliminated from the round. Have each player (including the loser, who has just been eliminated) place their three remaining cards - those that they did not use as part of their hand - in a new discard pile in the center of the table, and deal six new cards from the stockpile to each of the remaining players. Everone should place their 3-card hand from round 1 aside (still keeping the hands distinguishable, since they will be needed again shortly). Now it's time for round 2.

Round 2

Round 2 works very much like Round 1. The surviving 3 players each place three of their 6 cards face down in front of them, confirm, yell "Shark Attack!" and expose the 3-card hands they played.

Now, this time around, bring out your 3-card hand from round one, and add the point value from that hand to the point value of your newer 3-card hand. The sum is your Round 2 point total. Again, the player with the highest scoring hand is eliminated. Each player will put both their Round 1 and Round 2 cards in the pile to their side again. Now for the final round.

Round 3

By now, only 2 players should remain, and there will be 10 cards left in the stockpile. The hand cards of the two eliminated players (total 9 cards) are shuffled into the stock, and each of the two surviving players players draws 6 cards from this stock. Again, each player chooses their 3 card hand, slides it to the center face down, and when both are done, they yell "Shark Attack!" again, and reveal. Now, both players pull out both their Round 1 hand and their Round 2 hand. Add all three hands. The loser this time is the player with the lowest sum. The higher-scoring player wins the game, and you can start a new game if you wish.

So, as you can see, the main strategy is keeping a low enough hand to survive the first 2 rrounds, but high enough so that you stand a chance in the third round. Moderate hands are the key.

Variation

Jokers - You can add jokers to the game, and allow the player with the joker to make it worth any number of points 1-15.