Carousel - The Card Game

In this game based on the history of the Merry-Go-Round (a.k.a. Carousel), players compete to collect all of the cards of the deck by slapping in on a central pile as cards are played. Keep a sharp eye out, as Golden Rings will bring you glory, but Red Flags and innocent bystanders could ruin you.

This is a fast-paced game with cards quickly changing hands. The effects of the different cards can change gameplay in a split second. If you're short on time, you can set a timer and the player with the most cards in that time wins. Carousel is a great way to start off a game night, engage the whole family, and even exercise your brain.

Enjoy the ride!

Brief History:

Carousels evolved from an Arabian sport in which horsemen ride in a circle and throw a perfume-filled clay ball to each other. The rules, as I understand them from my research, included that if you fail to catch it or it breaks on you, you're out. Play continues until one remains. Sometimes the perfume was foul-smelling, so if you lost the game, everyone knew about it for a week! Crusaders saw this game and took it back to Europe with them and it turned into a game involving rings and lances, which became a method of jousting practice. Then someone developed a device with pulleys and a wooden horse to allow young nobles and knights-in-training to practice jousting. This contraption would take you in a circle on a horse so you could attempt to spear through the ring. This device became more of an amusement, and so someone developed the Merry-Go-Round. On most Merry-Go-Rounds, if you look at the middle column that drives the device, you'll still find golden circles as a nod to its history.

This game was inspired by this history, and the art depicts the jousting-practice device with backgrounds of grass and wheat fields.