Wacko! er...I mean RACKO!
Written: Dec 09 '00 (Updated Dec 10 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fun, helps kids learn more about numbers
Cons: None
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| hikini's Full Review: Hasbro: RACKO Card Game |
I played Racko when I was a kid and now it is fun for me to play with the kids who are enjoying it as much today as I did nearly 30 years ago!
The game of Racko comes with a deck of cards with numbers from 1 to 60 on them and 4 plastic card holders. The card holders have slots for the cards with numbers beside them going by fives from the number 5 to 50.
The object is to be the first to have the 10 cards in your card holder going in numerical progression from low to high. For example, your cards could be numbered 2,11,14,29,33,36,41,42,58,60. They are not in perfect order such as 1,2,3,4,5,etc. but they are progressively higher and that is the idea. However, if you do get them in order such as 1,2,3, that is called a run. If you are the person who "Rackos" (meaning you are first to get all of your cards in progressive order) and you have a run of 3 or more, you will earn bonus points of 50 or 100 or even as much as 400.
You keep score and the first person to reach 500 points wins the game. For the players who do not Racko, they count their cards beginning in the #5 slot and going higher until the progression is broken. For example, if your cards were 6,14,18,21,9 you would score 20 points because up to the 21 is where your cards are in progressive order.
You begin play by dealing out 10 cards to each player. As each card is dealt, each player puts the cards one at a time into the card holder, beginning with the front slot (beside the #5) and you continue putting cards into the next highest slot until you have all cards in place.
The undealt cards are placed in the center of the table and one card is turned face up beside the pile. This becomes the discard pile. The first player can then choose to take that face up card and replace one of his cards with that card or take a card from the draw pile. You can either use the new card as a replacement card or throw the card into the discard pile. Only the top card in the discard pile can be drawn, none from beneath that may be used, no matter how loudly anyone cries how much they want that card! When a card is exchanged, the player must put the new card into the slot the old card was taken from. Play continues until someone hollers "Racko!" Or in our family, we usually say "Wacko!"
We have varied the rules a bit over the years. We have varied the way the cards are put into the cardholder. It is always dealers choice and here are some of our variations:
1. The dealer might say you can look at ONE card and decide where in the cardholder to put it, but once you have put it in place and pick up another card you may not move that card until play has begun, then you can exchange it for a card you may have drawn during a turn.
2. Put the cards in from back to front instead of back to front. (Begin at the #50 slot and work down to the #5 slot.
3. Put one card in front, then one card in back and repeat until all cards are in place.
4. Put the cards in from front to back or back to front and then make one switch after the cards are in place, but before play begins. This can make it very interesting!
This game is fun even for younger kids who are learning to count. It is a fun way to teach them about certain numbers being bigger or smaller than others.
I hope your family has as much fun with this game as my family has over the years! WACKO!
Recommended:
Yes
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hikini
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Location: Seattle, WA
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Taking a long sabbatical.
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