G@mebox author Ralf Togler writes about the game:

Hai-Alarm is a new card game from DREI MAGIER SPIELE, a German publisher that concentrates on the design of family games and games for smaller children. The game comes in a small box with 64 lovely illustrated cards, one half of them with sharks, the other half with dolphins. Next to this there are only the rules in five languages, giving most players the chance to understand the rules in their native language. It is a game of bluffing, and this is a feature you can find quite often in games from DREI MAGIER SPIELE.

The rules are very easy to explain and thus are suitable for smaller children, too: At the beginning each player takes three cards face-down from the shuffled stack of shark and dolphin cards. Then each player has the following options during his turn:

1. Play a card from his hand face-down in front of him. These cards should be memorized, since there is no chance to check them until they are turned around and evaluated.
2. Uncover one of the face-down cards in front of the player. This sometimes results in a surprise, if the player did not remember the card correctly.
3. Uncover a card of an opponent. This alternative can be chosen when the player has at least one uncovered shark card in front of him. If the uncovered card of his opponent is a shark, the player may place it face-up in front of him and as compensation he gives the other player one of his own cards from hand face-down. If however the uncovered card is a dolphin, he must put this card in front of him and as compensation he has to give the other player one of his face-up sharks.

The game can be won in different ways. Either a player has seven uncovered dolphin cards and then wins directly, or a player has three more uncovered sharks than his opponents. In the second case another player can claim victory to himself, if he can reveal five dolphin cards from his uncovered cards without turning around any shark.



Now, that is all and you might think: Is this enough for an exciting game? And exactly this was my first thought, too. In praxis however, I must confess that the game reveals its own charm. Despite the simple rules, the game develops an interesting game-play and you must think a little bit tactical, too. Of course it does not satisfy the experienced, strategic orientated gamer, but that is not the thing Hai-Alarm lays claim to. Try it with your whole family - especially if you still have smaller children - then you will understand what the game was designed for. I personally did have some entertaining rounds with grown-ups, but I guess it will be even better when my son is old enough to be my opponent…

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Copyright © 2008 Frank Schulte-Kulkmann, Essen, Germany