Ouch! allows us to lose ourselves in a simple lie and be silly for a few moments. The simple genius of Ouch! is that it helps us create fun we can recognize and surrender to in the blink of an eye… or the turn of a card.

Most of the time, fun is hard to describe or know. The game invites us to make believe, and the more you buy into that small illusion, the more fun we make the game.Ī game can invite its audience to stop the “real” world. We invest the cards in Ouch! with a power beyond mere cardboard.

But when it becomes an object of play, it becomes something more – an invitation to a world of imagination. And yet, you will find yourself smiling, and cringing, and shouting “OUCH!” as you play! After all, those aren’t real thorns on the cactus plants. You see this fun in the look of real apprehension as someone fearfully flips their card. It’s in hearing a loud “Ouch!” from a smug opponent. The fun is in the look of relief on someone’s face when they pick a card and don’t get pricked. This is fun we know deep in our bones – fun we can see and hear and touch. Ouch! delivers fun at its most basic level. Whatever the game, fun should be the ultimate prize. Surviving or solving as a team is the reward. Others love the challenge of playing cooperatively to solve a mystery, or beat back a pandemic. We revel in creating a beautiful, efficient, or productive machine. Or maybe it’s the challenge of building up a tabletop empire – a kingdom, or business, or farm. We get a charge out of besting our fellow players. Some of us enjoy the thrill of competition. The player with the most points is the winner!

The player with the most red flowers gets 5 points.

You get 4 additional points for each bouquet of four different colored flowers you can make.

You get one point for each flower on your cards.

The game ends once someone has collected eight cards, or when there are no more cards in the draw pile. Whether you picked flowers, or got stuck by thorns, after your turn, draw another cactus card so that there are always six cards for the next player to choose from. But be very careful! If you’re stuck by this card, you lose it, and the card with the fennec. If a card you collect shows a fennec fox, you may choose to take another turn picking flowers. If they are pricked by the card they choose, you get to add that card to your collection. If you collect a card with a snake, watch the next player’s turn. You may also encounter some helpful animals in the desert. The reward is, at the end of the game, the player with the most red flowers will score five extra points If you pick a red cactus and it stings you, you must discard a card from your collection. Red cactus cards carry extra risk and extra reward. If you picked up the card by an edge showing the cactus, then shout “Ouch!” and drop it quickly. Put the card in front of you in your collection. If the side you chose shows no cactus spines, congratulations! You have picked flowers successfully. Now turn it over quickly and see what you got. Then pick it up by one side of the card: top, bottom, left, or right. On your turn, you will choose one of the six cards on the table. Remember, cactus plants have sharp thorns! What you are trying to NOT do is to get pricked. Extra points will be added for having sets of flowers of the four different colors as well as having the most red flowers. The goal in Ouch! is to pick the most flowers. Players will now take turns going clockwise, starting with the youngest player. To set up a game of Ouch!, simply shuffle the cards and deal out six of them to the table, back side facing up. The back of each cactus card has thorns covering one to three sides. But be careful! The more flowers a card has, the more dangerous it is. The back of each card will show the whole cactus plant, as well as a number of flowers, ranging from one to three. Eight cards also feature an animal: either a helpful snake or a cute fennec fox. 36 of these cards have only cactus flowers. Ouch! is played with a deck of 44 cactus cards. You shouldn’t touch… but they have so many pretty flowers! Risking a little prick, you can’t help but pick a few. You and your friends are out in the desert and everything is blooming, especially the cactus. Designers: Romain Caterdjian and Théo Rivière

Chipmunk with full cheeks