Go Fish has become the namesake of a game that adults really despise, but one that is tremendously popular amongst the younger set. As a child, I never found much use for it myself, but I was certainly a very small minority among my peers. As soon as I read the rules for Pet Detectives (Morning Star Games, 2005 – Allen Wolf), I recognized that it was basically a glorified version of Go Fish. It added more strategy, and more luck at the same time. I immediately called in my panel of experts (young children) and played it several times.
With both elementary children (kindergarten and above) and even the special “tween” category, Pet Detectives is a game that will be fun for them, educational, and teach some smidgens of strategy. For myself, the game was a drag, really; but I was able to muster up some excitement to play it with my daughter and other children. It’s not a game for adults or even most teenagers but can be a fun game to play with your children and might be worth buying to entertain them.
A deck of eight pet cards is shuffled, and five of them are dealt to each player with the remainder placed face down on the table. Another deck of twenty-six action cards are shuffled and placed in a pile next to a pile of $20 bills. One person starts the game, and then play passes around the table.
The pet cards are composed of forty pairs of animal pets - with a name, picture, and a dollar reward (multiples of $20). The pairs are split into a "Lost" card which is colored green, and a "Found" card which is colored blue. Both the front and the back of the cards is the same color. On a player's turn, they must first draw up to five cards if they have less. Then, they must ask if another player has the matching card for a specific one in their hand (like Churchill the Cat or Pogo the Parrot). If the player has the card that was asked for, they must give it to them. The player receiving the pair places it face up in front of them and takes the reward indicated on the cards. If the asked player does not have the matching card, they say "Go Fish!" - ahem, I mean "Investigate!". The asking player draws the top card from the deck and adds it to their hand (which may result in a matching pair.)
When a player receives $100 in reward money, they must immediately spend it for the top action card, and do whatever the card says. Cards might make a player discard a pair of animals, take another turn, etc. Either way, play then passes to the next person. Players continue to take their turns until all the animals have been matched up. At this point, the player with the most matches wins the game!
Some comments on the game…
1.) Components: The game comes in a metal lunchbox, bringing back my childhood memories of carrying one of those colorful, clunky things around - proudly showing off the pictures. Inside, there is a pretty large cardboard insert that holds the money and cards in it. Since the game is merely a deck of cards and some money, I've moved it to a smaller box, and gave the lunchbox to my daughter, who uses it for…lunch. So I guess one could say that the game comes with a free gift! The cards themselves have a nice selection of animals pictured on them - real photographs, and even children who can't read well (like my daughter) were able to differentiate easily between them. The Action cards have more text on them, and younger children may need a bit more help when using them. I'm not too terribly fond of the paper money included with the game - it's a bit flimsy - and kids are certainly enthusiastic about using it! The game also includes some custom cards that can have your child's personal pet pasted to them if their little heart so desires.
2.) Rules: The rules come on one two-sided sheet - with one side having a short explanation of the rules, and the other with tips and hints about how to play. More importantly, the game is a real snap to teach to kids from all grades. For the younger kids, you can simply ditch the money and action cards and simply play a variant of Go Fish with them. For the ones that are older, they'll work on their reading skills and counting skills (with the money).
3.) Luck: I'm really not sure what the point of the action cards are. They simply add a level of randomness that I as an adult find a bit repulsive. On the other hand, kids seem to LOVE the hit and miss nature of the cards, so maybe it's just the fact that I'm a cranky grownup. My daughter loved to flip over the action cards and spend money, so maybe it's not that big of a deal.
4.) Strategy: On the other hand, a little bit of strategy is added in that players know that every matching pair has one green card and one blue card. Since you can see your opponent's backings, if they have a handful of one color, you can ask them if they have an animal for which you have the other color. So children can learn just a bit about turning the statistics in your favor. It's not a lot, but it's a start.
5.) Fun Factor: My daughter says that this game is "REALLY fun". Well, I can't argue with that. It certainly is aimed at children, so I doubt that the wrong audience will find it. And every child I've played it with so far has really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun. And I certainly admit that the pet theme is one that will catch many kids' fancy.
If you have a pet loving child, then this might be an excellent gift to buy for them. You won't find a tremendous game inside, but you will find enough fun to keep the little ones occupied for a while. It seems like it's best for second, third, and fourth graders, and the nice lunchbox will be an added bonus for them. It's fun to carry, fun to play - an excellent gift for the young kids. So make sure that's who you purchase it for.
Tom Vasel
"Real men play board games"
www.tomvasel.com
