Cap Zap:  2 To 6 Players

What You Should Know Before You Play

The object of the game is to be the first player or team to use what you learn about U.S. state capitals to get 50 points.  Throughout the game, you try to “Zap” cards that your opponents play and they’ll try to Zap your cards.  You Zap another player’s card when you play a card that either

o       Has a state capital that has the same first letter as the state capital of the card you are trying to Zap, OR

o       Has a state capital that’s first letter is immediately next to (in the alphabet) the first letter of the state capital of the card you are trying to Zap.

Therefore, for example, if the first letter of the state capital of the card that you are trying to Zap is a “C”, you can Zap that card by playing a card whose state capital begins with either “B”, “C” or “D”.

You can play individually or with teams.  Play one round at a time until someone gets 50 points.  Use only the GeoPlunge cards, and shuffle the deck after each round. 

How to Play

¨         To start each round, deal each player 8 cards, even if you’re playing with teams.

¨         Play 8 “tricks” during a round, one at a time.  On each trick, every player plays 1 of his or her cards.  

¨         To begin a trick, one player plays a card face-up first (this is called “leading” on the trick). From there, play proceeds in clockwise order around the table until each player has played one card face-up. At that point, the trick is over.  You’re now ready to begin the next trick.  This continues until all the tricks are played.

¨         The dealer leads on the first trick played during a round.  For the rest of the round, the player who wins a trick leads a card to start the next trick.  (Whenever you win a trick, put the cards played during that trick face-down in a separate pile next to you.)

Determining Who Wins Each Trick

¨      A person who leads on a trick wins it only if no other player plays a card on the trick that “Zaps” the card led.

¨      If you Zap the card led on a trick before anyone else does, you win the trick, unless a later player on the trick Zaps your card (if that happens, that player wins the trick unless someone playing after that player Zaps his or her card).

Keeping Score 

The player (or team) that wins the most tricks in a round receives 10 points.  If there is a tie, they each get 5 points.  The winning player or team in a round also gets 10 bonus points if they win at least 6 tricks, and 20 bonus points for winning all 8 tricks. 

With teams, add up the tricks won by each teammate to determine how many tricks the team won during that round.