Game: Old Maid

Thread: Re: Session Report

hillep — 2008-07-15T21:57:42+00:00

Great review. Very good detail... There just isn't anything left to say

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jbsathler — 2008-07-09T05:56:31+00:00

Mico - Resam - Cards. In this one, pairs are formed by some brazilian states instead of animal genders. These cards don't have back art...

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jbsathler — 2008-07-09T05:45:37+00:00

Mico - Algazarra - Cards (3)

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jbsathler — 2008-07-09T05:42:15+00:00

Mico - Algazarra - Cards (2)

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jbsathler — 2008-07-09T05:37:45+00:00

Mico - Algazarra - Cards (1)

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jbsathler — 2008-07-09T05:34:01+00:00

Mico - COPAG - Cards (4)

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jbsathler — 2008-07-09T05:27:42+00:00

Mico - COPAG - Cards (3)

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jbsathler — 2008-07-09T05:24:24+00:00

Mico - COPAG - Cards (2)

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jbsathler — 2008-07-09T05:22:49+00:00

Mico - COPAG - Cards (1)

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jbsathler — 2008-07-08T22:56:54+00:00

Mico (Capuchin Monkey) - Brazilian version of Old Maid. This one from Algazarra. Open box.

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jbsathler — 2008-07-08T22:37:40+00:00

Mico (Capuchin Monkey) - Brazilian version of Old Maid. This one from COPAG. Mico's front card, rules card and back card. COPAG cards have excellent quality.

Thread: Lady X Learns That There Are Good Games... And Bad Games

Wyll — 2008-01-25T01:54:48+00:00

Lady X has come to the point in her board game geekiness where she likes to try out every new games she encounters. For better or worse, Lady X will try anything once.

I almost smiled when she handed me an Old Maid deck she received in a birthday party loot bag.

After a few plays with me, Lady X and Princess S, we decided that it was an okay game, but not something we were going to race to play every chance we got.

Lady X also learned that for every good game in the world, there is probably a game that is proportionally bad. We call it “Game Karma”.

Initial Thoughts

I was never an Old Maid fan, but who is? It’s like admitting you’re a COBOL programmer: Everyone just stares for a moment and then talks alike you’re insane.

The game is a bluffing/matching game played with cards. You can play it with normal playing cards, but there are many themed decks out there available for next to nothing. In our home, we have the Dora version, which is kind of hard because some of the pictures look similar and that makes matching hard.

Object Of The Game

Don’t be the player stuck with the “Old Maid” card.

Components

Much like other children’s card games, you will find there are many different types of theme decks available to play old maid with. I am partial to the Whitman decks made in the early 60s because the art is nice and it is easy to match the pairs up.

Gameplay

The rules can vary, so I will write down the rules as I know them.

To start, the dealer will deal out all the cards to all the players. The players look at their cards and put down all matching pairs. The player to the left of the dealer goes first.

On a player’s turn, they chose a player and pick a card from that player’s hand. If they pick a card that matches one in their hand, they place the pair down and take another turn. If they cannot make a match, play passes to the right.

The game ends when the only card left being held is the Old Maid. Whoever is holding that is the loser and called “Old Maid” until someone else loses another game of Old Maid.

Wyll’s Advice For Faster Play – Young players may get frustrated trying to hold a lot of cards in their hand. Feel free to remove some of the cards before playing a game. With Princess S, I usually come up with 12 cards (6 matching pairs) and the old maid. This will make the game quick and simple.

Strategy v.s. Luck Factor

There is a lot of luck to this game, but you can use some strategies when playing with younger players… depending on how you want to treat them.

Young players tend to put the Old Maid card in the middle of their hand, so picking form that spot will allow you to help them get rid of the Old Maid. Also, little ones tend to pick from the middle, so putting the Old Maid card near the end will decrease their chances of picking the Old Maid.

Closing Thoughts

Old Maid is one of those games most people do not enjoy playing, but wind up being exposed to it at least one time in their life.

My little ones did not really enjoy it and prefer to play Rat-a-Tat Cat or UNO - Disney Princess instead. If I had to say anything positive about this game, it would be that the theme decks are readily available almost anywhere. I could say that it does help with pattern matching, but I prefer Memory or even Go Fish instead.

I would skip it, if given a chance.

Recommendation Summary

Wyll's Recommendation:

Fun Factor (5 Point Scale):

Rule Clarity (5 Point Scale):

Bang For Buck Factor (5 Point Scale):

One Line Summary: A “matching the pairs” card game that can be played by ages 4 and up.

Thread: Re: A crucial moment leads to loss

HuckmanT — 2007-11-21T01:56:06+00:00

What a great story, and a testament to the importance of having a great parent who can have fun.

Also, I particularly liked that this story shows the fun that can be had playing things that aren't the "BGG Favorite Kids Games"(tm).

Thread: A crucial moment leads to loss

wmshub — 2007-03-27T05:22:42+00:00

Today my 4 year old daughter insisted on playing a new game, but I didn't have any, so I taught her a bunch of classical card games for kids: War, Crazy Eights, and Old Maid. This is how the Old Maid game went.

First, I explained that Old Maid is more fun with more people, but she insisted, so we played. We divided all the cards (we played with only the red cards so there were 2 of each, except for the titular queen). Then we each discarded the pairs we started with. I was dealt the old maid. Then I explained how you drew, found the pair you made (with only 2 players, every draw leads to a pair), then discarded it. I explained to her that she did not want to draw the old maid from me!

We took turns drawing and discarding pairs. She never drew my old maid! So I tried a trick: I pushed the old maid way up high in my hand. "Why is that card above the others?" she asked. "Oh...I don't know...I just felt like it. Maybe you should draw it, it'd be really easy to grab, do you think so?"

Well, she didn't fall for it. She thought for a bit, then said, "I bet that's the old maid!" and drew a different card. I congratulated her on her perceptiveness, pushed the old maid down (and shuffled my hand), then drew one of her cards.

Finally we got down to it. She had one card. I had two. It was her turn. I explained: "I have two cards. One is the old maid, the other is a six. If you draw the six...YOU WIN! But if you don't find the six...YOU GET THE OLD MAID!" She had a good laugh, reached for my cards, then drew her hand back. "I don't want to draw! I don't want to get the old maid!" So I anwsered, "But you might get the six and win! Or...you might...GET THE OLD MAID!" This went back and forth, and we both had good laughs about it.

Finally to get things moving I pointed out that even if she got the old maid, she still doesn't lose yet. This was enough to convince her to try. She reached...and grabbed a card...the six!

Lots of cheering and groaning followed. A loss! After she beat me at war and crazy 8's already! Luck was not on my side today.

Who knew that Old Maid could be so fun?

Edited to fix typos.

Thread: Re: Not a good children's game.

baba44713 — 2007-01-04T12:33:42+00:00

I know this game as Schwarz Peter, and I don't think it's too bad for kids.

I think you are taking this loser-thing too seriously. As kids, we always had fun with Schwarz Peter going back and forth, and I don't remember I ever felt bad getting stuck with it - we all had a laugh, and dealt again.

As for that this game doesn't teach you anything, I think it teaches you quite a valuable thing - that you should try to win, but that it's OK to lose. I wish some of my friends played this game more when they were young, they wouldn't be such poor losers nowadays.

Thread: Revamp This Game: "Old Maid" (Can You Do It?)

ShreveportLAGamer — 2006-07-19T05:03:27+00:00

Making, remaking and updating of films made of books in the public domain (which have no royalties to pay) has become such a time-honored practice in Hollywood that I think it's high time that board & card gamers consider adopting the practice themselves for some of Gamedom's oldest standards like the card game, "Old Maid."

Can you update or propose a new variant for "Old Maid" that retains some spirit of the old game while giving the old gal a gameplay facelift that re-invigorates this old chestnut?

How do you think famed game designer Reiner Knizia would approach this task?

Thread: Re: Not a good children's game.

wmshub — 2006-06-11T06:42:58+00:00

I play this with my children (or other children that happen to be around) sometimes. I think it's OK for some age groups.

What is most fun about this game is that there is no winner. Just a big loser. Not many games have that characteristic.

Thread: Not a good children's game.

gilesclone — 2006-02-20T22:08:49+00:00

This is a horrible game even only comparing it with other children's games.

I just hate "stick it to the other guy" or "hot potato" games. This game is all about somebody being the loser. I hated playing this when I was a kid and I won't teach it to my daughter now.

War and Go-Fish are fairly boring but at least they're about trying to win, not trying to make somebody else lose.

The good news is, I haven't seen anybody play this for years (decades even).

Thread: Session Report

WanderingMouse — 2004-09-12T22:49:16+00:00

Three back to back hands of cutthroat old maid between me and my four year old son.

Even with him showing me his hand most of the game I was still only able to lose twice.

He prefers to play go fish cause he doesn't like the maid...