Get a large group of people together, sit around the table, and try an old classic card game called Pit. You’ll laugh until you can’t breathe and that’s just in the first round! Initially, the game sounds as if it would be boring: trading commodities like corn, barley or wheat – but the game is much more appealing after you’ve tried a round.
Pit throws the players into action-packed screaming, grabbing and gesticulating wildly, just like on an actual trading floor. If you’re the first to corner the market, that is, get 9 cards of all the same commodity, you’ll win the game – maybe. There are a couple of other factors in play as well.
Although the game can be played with as little as three people the real action starts when you play with a few more. Eight is the maximum number of players and that’s the ideal number for the maximum amount of fun. With 8 players you get much more screaming, giggling, and snatching than with fewer players.
Here’s how the game works: After the cards are dealt the bell is rung and trading begins. You’ll look at your hand of cards and see what you have the most of, for example, corn. So, you decide immediately (this game is fast-paced), that you’ll collect corn. With that decided you set about screaming over everyone else, the amount of barley you have to trade, for instance. So, you’ll yell repeatedly: two barley, two barley, two barley, until someone trades you any two cards they have for the two barley.
With 8 people yelling “two corn”, “three beans”, “four barley”, all at the same time, while grabbing and throwing cards during the exchange, it’ll get loud, it’ll get confusing and it will definitely be a load of laughs.
Everything is not so simple in Pit as it seems, however, since there is also a Bull card and a Bear card. Either of these cards can be traded just as if it’s a corn or barley card, without announcing what it is. The person who has the bull card will win extra points at the end of the game. The player stuck with the bear card at the end of the game will lose points. You can be the winner, by collecting all the commodities first, but if you have the bear card you could still lower your points enough to lose, possibly to the person who had the bull card.
Just because you have the Bull card during the initial dealing, doesn’t mean you can hold on to it the entire hand. If, for example, you have almost all the beans you need, but you also have the Bull card and one corn card. If another player is trying to trade two cards, not one, you might have to pass over the Bull and the corn, in an attempt to get two of the cards you need to finish your hand.
Although initially playing the game might take a slow round or two, until everyone catches on, but after that, woo, the cards start flying, people are doubled over in laughter, cards are everywhere and sometimes you’ll let it slip that you have the bear. Try not to let on, though, since no one will want to trade with you if they know you have it.
Pit is loads of fun and, although recommended for kids 7 and older, you’ll have the most fun if you’re playing with teens and/or adults. Prepare for lots of giggling, grabbing and gesticulating as the game goes on – you’ll become addicted to it after just one game.
Reference:
- See the game and read more about it.Read reviews about the game of Pit.
