Luke Pit

The other day Luke decided he wanted to play Pit. I tried to persuade him to something more age appropriate, like Caraboo, Caraboo Island, or 16-card Memory; but no. He was determined. It was Pit or nothing. So we sat down and I let him take the lead. The game he came up with was incredibly entertaining! We now have a new game known as "Luke Pit." The rules of play are as follows:

• You pull a card out of the messy disorganized pile, say what it is, place it face up on the "discard" pile, then ring the bell. Then it is the next person's turn. Repeat, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat....
• If your game box contains the foam pieces that cushion the bell, one of them MUST be used as the discard pile stand.
  
• If you get the Bull or Bear you make the sound it makes and put it in the pile. The Bull card says, "Moooungh!" The Bear card says, "Grrrrrooowl!" Do not get this wrong or you will be corrected. If you get the Bull or Bear after the first one has been drawn, Luke has to search the entire discard pile for the other one that has already been played, make the Bear growl at the Bull really loud and have the Bull card go screaming off to the discard pile with the Bear card giving chase.
  
• If the "Bull/Bear Scare" has occurred, you have to take your next cards from Luke's hand instead of the disorganized pile until all the cards in his hand are gone. Then return to cards from the disorganized pile and proceed with typical play.
  
• The Oat cards will be known as "Shlweem" and the Barley cards will be known as "Beezo." The rest of the cards will be called by their regular names. Although the Bull card will also sometimes be called the "Moose" card.
  
• At his discretion, Luke may choose to find the Bull and Bear cards in the discard pile and cause the "Bull/Bear Scare" again; after that you may proceed with play as above.
  
• You both win when the cards are all in the discard pile. And then you say, "We win!" and then you make a funny face with your tongue sticking out and make the sound "laaaauuuallll."
  

Give it a try! Luke and I played for an hour and fifteen minutes today and only got through the pile three times with all the Bull/Bear Scares going on. It is Luke's new favorite game. I am still partial to Trivial Pursuit, not because Luke Pit wasn't loads of fun, but because Trivial Pursuit does not leave me thinking my ears are hearing a bell ring every 20 seconds for five hours afterward.