Hog Wash

Hog wash! That's what the game left us squealing across the table when we were playing it. The name is Pig Pile, but I bet none of us 6 has a clue of its name, even after the whole evening of gaming in Settlers. At least, not for me. We will probably refer it as "Hog Wash" the next time we talk about it.

Below is the description of the game I lifted off (and edited) from BoardGameGeek.

"Pig Pile is an extremely light (and punny) card game. The cards have illustrations of pigs (naturally) and you can be "hog tied" or have a "hog wash".

Players start with 3 face down cards (called "Slop"). And a hand of 7 cards. At the start, you place 3 of your cards on top of the slop cards, leaving you a hand of 4. Each turn you must play to the "Pig Pile" one or more cards of the same value that equal to or greater than the top card of the Pig Pile. If you fail to do so, you must take the entire Pig Pile into your hand.

Special Effect Cards and Pig Tokens
Certain cards have special effects:
- Hog Wild: Wild card which can be played on all cards and reset the top card value to 0.
- Hog Tied (4's): The next player loses his turn.
- Hog Wash (8's): The Pig Pile is discarded out of the game and you get another turn. (A Hog Wash also happens if 3 cards of the same value are played in succession by one or more players.)
- Ewe Turn (11's): (I know ewe's are not pigs, well.) Reverse order of play.

Each turn you draw back 1 card until the deck runs out. If you have no cards in your hand (which can only happen after the deck runs out), you must play a face up card (a card that you laid aside at the start) or if those are gone, a slop card. (Slop cards are played blind, so you could be really screwed.)

The objective is be the first or second to get rid of all of your cards (including the slop). Each player is then awarded a number of pig tokens (3 for the first to clear, 2 for the second, and 1 for the rest, except the player with most cards left in play). The player with the most pig tokens after 5 hands wins the game."

Inevitably, as first timers, we played the game slightly different from the actual rules stated above. It was still fun nevertheless. Of course, we also played a couple of other games.

After intense gaming, we went for late dinner at Waraku (Marina). The dinner is good, on top of all the fun I had playing games. Although it was not easy getting everyone to go out together, and some arrived late, it was an enjoyable evening. Thanks everyone for making it. OINK! =)