How to play
Everyone is dealt a hand of picnic cards (10 with two players, down to 7 with five). All at the same time, each player picks one card to keep and passes the rest of their hand to the next player. Then you pick again from the hand you were passed, and so on until every card has been kept. That’s a round; the game is three rounds, and the highest total wins.
The cards
- Strawberries: Every pair scores 5.
- Sandwich: 1, 3, 6, 10, 15 for 1 to 5.
- Lemonade (1 to 3 cups): 2 cups. Most cups 6, next 3.
- Cookie: 1 point.
- Cupcake: 2 points.
- Pie: 3 points.
- Whipped cream: Triples your next sweet.
- Ants: −3 each.
- Blanket: Chases off your ants, or 2 points.
- Watermelon: End of game: most +6, fewest −6.
Lemonade is a race: whoever has the most cups in a round scores 6, the next most 3 (ties share, rounded down). Whipped cream does nothing until you keep a cookie, cupcake or pie after it, which then counts three times. Ants cost 3 points each, unless you also have a blanket, which chases off all your ants for the round; with no ants, a blanket is worth 2. Watermelons stay with you all game: at the end the player with the most scores 6 and the one with the fewest loses 6 (no loss with two players).
Tips
Watch what you pass: the hand you give away is what your neighbour picks from next. A single strawberry is worth nothing, so only start a pair when there are enough cards left to finish it. Late in a round you’ll often be stuck with what nobody wanted, which is usually the ants.
Playing together
Seat two to five players in any mix of people and computer players. On one device, each person picks behind a “pass the device” screen. In Play online (when it’s available) everyone picks on their own phone at the same time, and you can change your mind until the last person has chosen.