Dig is another name for the popular childrens card game Go Boom. For the young children just learning to play cards this is an excellent game to get them started. It is a simple card game that only requires them to know how to match cards. Dig only requires players to be able to match suits to play. Children likely already know how to match numbers so an explanation of suits may be all that's needed.
The dealer shuffles the cards and deals out seven cards, face down to each player. The remaining cards are placed in a face down deck in the center within reach of all players.
Players each arrange their cards in order from highest to lowest regardless of suit. For this game Aces are high.
The object of this game is to be the first player to get rid of all their cards.
The
player to the left of the dealer goes first placing a card from their
hand face up right next to the face down deck in the center. The next
player then lays down a card matching the previous players card in
either suit or rank.
If they are unable to make a match of suit or rank they must draw cards from the face down stack until one is drawn that makes the match. If all the cards from the face down deck are gone the player must pass and it becomes the next players turn.
The round is over once each player has had a turn.
Once the round is over the dealer clears all the face up cards from the center and places them off to the side. The player who played the highest card in the previous round starts the next round by placing a card face up in the center next to the face down deck. In the event of a tie the player who was first to play the highest card starts the next round.
Play continues round after round until one player is out of cards. As that player tosses their last card on the face up pile they announce "Boom!" signaling the end of the game.
Beware, as players get caught up in the excitement of the game and the realization that they have been beat they may have a tendency to toss their cards in an explosive manner upon hearing "Boom!".
Scoring Dig is not necessary, but it does lend a bit more interest to the game.
The game is played the same way except the cards each have a given value and the game does not end when the first player is out of cards. Instead, play stops when the first player has played all their cards. At that point all the other players hand over their cards to the winning player. The value of the cards is tallied up and credited to the winner of that round. Cards from 2 to 10 are valued according to their face value. Aces and face cards are all worth 10 points.
The winner then shuffles the cards and deals them back out.
The game is over when a predetermined number of points has been reached. 200 points is typically a good number to play to.
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