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MY SHIP SAILS CARD GAMED FOR YOUNG CHILDREN

Number of Players: 4 to 7. Four or 5 players make the best game.

Cards: 7 to each player, dealt one at a time in the usual way.

Object: To get 7 cards of the same suit.

The Play: Each player looks at his hand and passes one card to the left, receiving at the same time 1 card from the right. The play goes on in the same way as in Fig or Donkey. The only difference is that you are trying to get all of your cards to have the same suit instead of the same picture.

There are many different ways of ending a hand. When you get 7 cards of the same suit, you may put your hand down immediately and sing out, "My ship sails!" Another way is to say nothing but to put your finger to your nose as in Pig.

If it takes too long to finish a hand, try one of the shorter games—My Bee Buzzes or My Star Twinkles.

Skillful Play: Begin by trying to collect the suit that you have most of. For example, if you have 4 or 5 hearts, pass the other cards and try to collect more hearts.

The only time you have trouble is when some other player tries to collect the same suit that you are collecting. To guard against this, try to collect a second suit if you don't have any luck with your first suit. If you can get 3 cards in a second suit, you can then start to pass the cards of your first suit and thus switch your plan.

For example, suppose you start with 3 hearts, 2 spades, 1 club, and 1 diamond. Keep passing the clubs and diamonds until you get another heart or another spade. If you get one more—or a 3rd spade before any heart is passed to you, you should suspect that somebody else is saving the hearts. Your best bet is to break up your hearts and to try to get 7 spades instead.

If you have 4 or more cards in the same suit, it doesn't pay to break. Sit tight and hope that one of the other players will break first and thus pass the cards that you need.

MY BEE BUZZES

This is the same as My Ship Sails except that you need only 6 cards of the same suit to end the hand. Each player gets 7 cards, but needs only 6 cards in the same suit (and 1 odd card) to win the hand. It takes less time to finish a hand in this game than in My Ship Sails.

MY STAR TWINKLES

This is the same as My Ship Sails except that you need only 5 cards of the same suit (and 2 odd cards) to win a hand. In this game it takes only two or three minutes to play a hand.

Related terms include collectable card game and marvel trading card game.