Game setup:

This is quite simple, as you only have to take 16 cards randomly of the 72 cards of the game. These cards are then put aside face-down, and are used in case of ties in the end. After that, you only have to place the pig with the wings on the table, before you can begin to play the game. The player who last saw a pig fly is the first dealer. If no one saw a pig fly (probably in most games you will play), the youngest player starts as the fist dealer.

Cards:

In the game there are 9 different animals in different combinations. The basic animals are: snail, shark, giraffe, crocodile, gorilla, pig, elephant, crab and pelican. Each card of the game shows a unique combination of these animals: The head of one animal with the body of another animal. So far, so good. But there is one problem: The colour of the animal always follows the head of the animal. That means that, for example, a shark-head-crocodile-body animal is completely grey (shark colour) and not half green (crocodile colour). And this makes it extremely confusing and difficult to see and find the matching crocodile-head-shark-body animal that again is completely green. We all concentrate on the colours (especially new player), and are not used to see the true animal behind.

How to play:

This is really easy: the dealer takes the deck of cards and reveals the cards one by one, visible to all other players. If a player (with exception of the dealer) finds a matching pair he/she has to grab the Squeaky Toy Pigasus and squeeze it. The player who grabbed the Pigasus first gets the cards that are from now on victory points for the scoring at the end of the game, of course on the condition that it was a correct pair. In that case, the player becomes the dealer for the next round until another player finds one pair.

If however it was a wrong pair, the player has to discard one of his already won cards per player in the game back. It is possible that two players grab the Pigasus at the same time, in that case the two cards are distributed among the players.

Click on image to enlarge!

End of the game:

After the last card has been scored, the player with the most collected cards wins the game. In case of a draw, the players with the same number of cards continue to play with the 16 cards that were set aside at set-up until one of the players scores, making her or him the final winner.

Team play:

As a variant, you can also play this game in a team. Like in the normal game you can become a dealer and can grab the Pigasus when you find a pair. The only difference to the normal mode is that you have a single pile for the whole team on which you put your scored cards. Wrong grabs are paid by the team's collected cards. This variant is a good choice, if you play the game with experienced and new players at the same time and, of course, also for larger groups.

My final opinion:

Pigasus is a quick and funny game that is made for young and old people likewise. The illustrations on the cards are very good as you can see in the pictures. I especially like the funny combinations of the animals. It takes some time for new players to be able to beat experienced players, but if you play several games in a row you will soon develop a strategy to get better and better. For example, right after we got the game, I still could easily beat my younger brother. But he practised a lot with my mother, and now it is nearly impossible for me to beat him anymore. As said, you can play the game with just two players, but I prefer to play it with my whole family.