How to play the Chkobba Kids game?
Once the cards are dealt, the tension raises, you can see the secret messages passed on by eye contact between players and hear their little screams of enthusiasm. The cards scroll between cups of coffee and mint tea …
This is how I discovered the Chkobba game during my first trip to Tunisia but I learned only recently that its origin was the Italian game the Scopa. The thing that impressed me was the ability of children to play at an early age and practice summing up in a fun way. However, it is often essential to simplify the rules so they can play alone.
This is why I “revisited” the original Chkobba rules to create Chkobba kids one for kids! The basic rules have been kept but with a little simplification. I added zellij patterns and fun colors to the numerals used in the Middle East.
The chkobba is a great game that requires strategy, memory, and sometimes taking risks in order to score the maximum points. In the same time with this games 5 to 7-years-old children will learn summing up without even noticing it. 😉
The first Chkobba Kids games have already been shipped to quite a few countries around the world. I hope they will bring happiness to children (and adults) who received them.. And, following the request of several parents and teachers, I decided to write this post to give a more detailed version of the rules.
Main Chkobba Kids rules:
- The game is played in by two players or two teams of two players
- The goal of Chkobba Kids is to reach 11 points (21 points for the original version)
- In each round, each player plays only one card.
- When there are no more cards, the round is over and the points are counted.
- A new round is repeated until a player or a team that reaches 11 points.
Game progress:
The players are take place around a table. Then they choose the “game master”.
The game master distributes three cards to each player, starting with the player to his right and turning anti-clockwise. Then he/she returns 4 cards on the table.
The player to the right of the “game master” begins:
- Either he places a card on the table,
- or he plays a card to capture one or more cards
A capture is made by matching a card in the player’s hand to a card of the same value on the table, or if that is not possible, by matching a card in the player’s hand to the sum of the values of two or more cards on the table. In both cases, the card placed by the player and or captured cards belong to him and are removed from the game.
A “chkobba” is awarded if a player takes all the cards on the table. To easily count “chkobbas”, one of the captured cards is returned and placed perpendicularly to the others.
At the end of the game, the last player who captured cards wins all the cards left on the table, but that doesn’t count as a chkobba ..
Scoring:
Points are awarded at the end of each round. If you play in teams, the two team members combine their cards to calculate points.
3 points per game are distributed respectively to the players/team who have :
- one point to the player/team who won more cards;
- one point to the player/team who won the greatest number of pink cards,
- one point to the player/team who won the pink 7,
And one point is awarded to the player/team for each chkobba won during the round.
That’s it! Simple, fun and dynamic.
Feel free to comment here, and share your experience on our Facebook and Instagram pages by posting your photos and using #chkobbakids.
See you soon !
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