djeco card game spooky boo

In the Spooky Boo card game from the French brand Djeco, the cards hold special powers. What is the goal of the game? Be the first to bring the total value of your cards down to 5 points or less. It is a strategy game where a good memory really comes in handy.

Game setup:
A game consists of 5 rounds. Before the start of each round, shuffle the cards and deal 4 cards to each player. Players may not look at their cards yet. The remaining cards form the draw pile and go face down in the center of the table. Players place their 4 cards face down in front of them in a 2x2 square. Then they secretly peek at their front 2 cards without showing their opponents, memorize what they are, and place them face down again.

How to play:
The youngest player goes first, and play continues clockwise. The first player draws a card from the pile and looks at it without letting the other players see. They then choose one of the following 2 actions:

1. Discard the card face up onto the discard pile. If the card has a special power, the player may choose to use it.

2. Keep the card and use it to replace one of their own cards (face down). The replaced card then goes face up onto the discard pile.

The turn then passes to the next player, who has the following choices:

1. Take the card that the previous player placed on the discard pile and use it to replace one of their own cards. The replaced card then goes face up onto the discard pile.

2. Draw a new card from the draw pile and perform one of the 2 actions mentioned above. As they play, players try to get the total value of their cards as low as possible: 5 points or less. They do this by replacing their cards with cards from the draw pile and/or by swapping with other players.

Card values:
The value of each card is shown on the card.

End of the game:
A player who thinks they have 5 points or less calls out: “Spooky Boo!” and the round ends immediately. All players turn their cards face up and add up their total value.
- If the player who called “Spooky Boo!” indeed has 5 points or less, they score zero points and the other players receive the points they counted.
- If the player who called “Spooky Boo!” made a mistake and has more than 5 points, they receive 10 penalty points and the other players score zero points.

All cards are shuffled and a new round begins. The player with the fewest points at the end of the 5 rounds wins the game.

Number of players: 2 - 4
Age: 8 - 99.

The game includes 54 cards for clever rounds of memory and strategy.