Game: Gary Gouda
Manufacturer: HABA
Number of Players: 2 to 6
Playing Time: 10 to 15 minutes
Suggested Age: 4 and up
Learning Aspect: Memory
Game Description:
Shoo, get away! Was that really Gary Gouda, the mouse, cheese-hunting again? The greedy mouse just can’t stop! Not one piece of cheese is safe, and he risks becoming stuck in the mouse holes with his big belly. He really should have memorized by now which holes he can pass through after eating one, two, or more pieces of cheese! He also has to avoid the quick pet cat, Kiki, who always seems to be ready to pounce on the next mouse hole. Who can help Gary memorize the best way to the target mouse hole and collect the most pieces of cheese?
Game Play:
The bottom of the game is the board which looks like an apartment with 16 rooms. Before each game, players slide archway tiles into the walls to adjust the heights of the archway. The cat is put in front of any mouse hole.
To begin your turn, you draw three cheese slices and place them in the rooms designated on the slice. Then roll your color die to show where Gary will start the game.On your turn, you move Gary from a corner and pick up at least one piece of cheese. You need to make it through without catching Kiki’s attention. As Gary picks up the cheese it is added to him to change this height which will change which archways he can successfully pass through. (This is supposed to represent Gary getting fatter from eating the cheese as he goes.) If he gets stuck your turn is over and you lose all the cheese pieces. If you make it to the corner you keep the cheese pieces. The player with the most pieces of cheese wins.
Game Level of Fun:
My girls really enjoyed the game. It was the source of many giggles as Gary would get “fatter” and get stuck in the archways. The memory element gave the game a sense of strategy. It certainly is a game we added to our afternoon board game days.
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