Description

A game celebrating the USA during its Bicentennial year. It has 50 state cards, each with the following info:

• The state's name.
• The capital city of another state (used for game 1). (The first letters of the state and city names's are large, used in games 3 and 5.)
• A silhouette of the state, showing its capital, with abbreviations of neighboring states and water bodies around its perimeter.
• Three numbers in the range 1-50, showing the state's:
  • order in joining the US (blue ink)
  • rank in size, 1 being largest (black ink)
  • rank in population (as of 1975) (red ink)

There are also 6 wild cards, show different American icons (Old Glory, Statue of Liberty, US Capitol, the Constitution, Liberty Bell, and 1st moon landing), each worth 25 points.

There are rules for five games:

1. State Capitals. Match the listed capital city on the top card on the table with its state card in your hand, or vice versa; otherwise play a card onto the top of the table pile. If you make a match you get all the cards on the table and score their blue numbers.

2. Build the Country. Play any cards from your hand next to table cards they are neighbors to, as shown on their maps, or play any card to the table if you cannot. A successful neighboring play earns you the maximum of the 3 numbers on the card.

3. Match-Em. Play a card so one of the first letters or its state or capital name matches one of the first letters of the top table card; or just play a card onto the top of the table pile. If you match you keep all the current table cards, scoring the numbers next to the words whose initials you matched, and the same spot in all cards under the top card.

4. Hi-Number. Play a card whose blue number is higher than the last card played, or pass. If you play the last card in the current trick you keep the played cards and score the blue number of each of them.

5. Americana. Play one or more cards so that one large initial of each of them adds to a growing word on the table, or just play one card to start a new word. If you complete a valid word you keep its cards and score their blue numbers. Valid words are those about anything about America: a state or city name, famous person, work of art, invention, etc.

For each of these games, you refill your hand after play, and the target score for a win is 1776.

—user summary