How to Play the Numba Card Game

As you may know, I’m always on the hunt for fun new games to play and review for you. And even though the hunt is fun, it’s even more exciting for me when a fellow game maker approaches me with their new game. And this week I have just such a game for you! The game is called Numba and I was gifted a copy to review.

Numba is a small box game that is for 2 to 5 players ages 4 and up and should take 15 minutes to play.

In this post, we’ll cover how to play, the rules, how to win and if we think you should make room for this up and coming card game on your Family Game Shelf. Let’s get to it.

This post may contain affiliate links. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link.

Setting Up the Numba Card Game

The object of the game is to collect all of the fruit cards.

To start, there are two types of cards (something that I missed when first trying to play). There are the black number cards that have the numbers 1 to 6 on them. Next are the Numba playing cards. These have yellow writing on them on one side and on the other side they feature pictures of fruit.

To start playing, you shuffle the number cards and then randomly pick one to turn over. This is placed in the middle of the playing area.

Next, the fruit cards are shuffled and then dealt one at a time to players in a face down pile. Players are not to look at these cards.

Last, all players choose number card. The player with the highest card gets to start. The cards are then shuffled back together and set aside face down.

Playing the Numba Card Game

On your turn, you will flip over a card from your stack and place it face up to start a pile in front of you. You are looking to see if the fruit matches anyone else’s pile. If it does, then you need to look to add up all of that fruit that is showing on all piles. If all the fruit of that kind adds up to the Numba card in the middle shout Numba! The first player to do so collects all the piles of face up cards and adds them to the bottom of their draw pile. This player now gets to flip over the next card in their draw pile and the game starts again.

Numbas must be the same fruit. And you can add up two or more of the same fruit to make a Numba.

There must not be more than the number of fruit showing. For example, if the number is 5 and Player A has 2 strawberries, Player B flips over 1 strawberry and then Player C flips over 4 strawberries there are too many strawberries showing. However, as soon as Player A flips over her card and it’s not a strawberry, the other players’ cards add up to 5 creating a Numba.

It is important to note that when you are flipping over your card, you need to do it with speed and to flip away from yourself so that you can’t peek at the card and have an unfair advantage.

Penalty

When you say Numba when there is no Numba you must pay one card from your draw pile to each player.

Ties

When two or more players call out Numba at the exact same time, they are in a tie. To break the tie, each player will pick a number card and the player with the highest card wins the Numba. That player will then collect all the face up cards and add them to her draw pile.

Out of Cards

When  your run out of cards in your draw pile, you are out of the game.

Winning the Numba Card Game

To win in a two player game, you will need to collect all of the fruit cards.

When playing with three or more players and play gets down to just two players left there is a special rule. The two remaining players will flip over cards as before. However, the first player to call out a correct Numba instantly wins. On the other hand, in this scenario if you call out an incorrect Numba then you lose all of your cards and lose the game.

What We Like

First, we like the small box. Its high quality, allows room for when the cards “fluff” up dew to use and doesn’t take up unnecessary space on the shelf. We also like the smaller size of the cards that would be great for smaller hands. The artwork is simple in a pleasing way and is perfect for that game.

Next, we really like that there is a way to break a tie. There’s nothing worse than when you’re playing with younger kids and you can’t decide on who called it first. The sudden death rule for three or more players is also nice so that the game wraps up quickly and the non-players don’t get bored.

What We Don’t Like

First, the cards are made of highly durable material (great for young kids) but the squeaky factor was a little off putting and made the cards hard to shuffle. Next, the rules were a little unclear to start. Maybe it was just us but I feel like some more examples would have gone a long way. As I said, maybe we just played on an off day.

Next, the game was a little repetitive when the number was a low one like 1 or 2. This might be okay for younger kids, but with teens and adults it’s a little dull after a while. See what we did to fix that issue later in the review.

Our Added Rules

As I said earlier, the game was a lacking a certain something for older players, especially when playing with two players, and the number card was a low one. What we did to combat this was to change the number card every time or every other time a Numba was called. This added more interest and kept us on our toes more.  We also played a few hands where the number we were looking for was a 7 or an 8. This made the math more challenging and added a fun element.

NOTE: When I gave this feed back to the game maker, he pointed out that they tried this but found that it ended with players running out of cards and no Numbas.

Should You Add the Numba Card Game to you Family Game Shelf?

This game is a fun fresh new take on the classic card game War. The fruit make is more fun and easier for younger kids. The math element makes it more interesting for slightly older kids as well as needing to be the first player to notice the match. So should you add it to your game shelf? We think that if you have young kids then yes you should defiantly add this game. It has lots of playability through the years, especially with our added rules. One last note, we found that it was a lot more fun with more players. When there was four of playing it moved quicker and was more challenging.

Numba hasn’t arrived on Amazon.com yet although you can get it at Amazon.uk Until it arrives here, you can get your copy here from the official Numba web site.

For more fun card games check out Happy Families Exploring Ireland, Ripple, and Crazy Fish. Be sure to visit our Family Game Shelf shop for seasonal and original games for the whole family like our mini golf dice game Whacky Putt.

Rating: