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Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 30-40 minutes
Over the last few years, Dutch Blitz has become a regular part of Christmas with my husband’s family. Perhaps the fascination began because of the name of the game and the family’s Dutch descent, but the fast-paced action has made it a family favorite.
The game’s set-up is somewhat complex, but once you pick it up, it’s easy to remember. Each player gets his or her own deck of 40 cards (with either a pump, a plow, a pail, or a carriage on the back). The cards are divided into four colors (red, blue, yellow, and green) and numbered 1 though 10. To set up, each player shuffles the deck and sets the first three cards face up on the table. These are called the Post Piles. The next ten cards in the player’s deck are placed on a pile, face-up, next to the Post Piles. This is called the Blitz Pile.
Game play is similar to Spit (though it goes by several other names as well), a card game that I often played in college. Once play begins, players race to build on piles of cards in the center of the table—using the cards from their Post and Blitz Piles, as well as the cards from the rest of their deck. One player begins with a 1 in green, for instance. After the 1 has been placed on the table, any player can build on the pile, playing a green 2, followed by a green 3 and so on. Several piles build up at once, and there’s no taking turns here—just a frantic free-for-all. And once one player has used up all of the cards in his or her Blitz Pile, the round is over. Players keep score by adding up one point for each of the cards they played and subtracting two points for each card left in their Blitz Pile. The first player to 75 points wins.
Dutch Blitz is a high-energy game that’s simple enough for the whole family to play. It’s lively and noisy—and the longer you play, the more competitive it gets. In fact, you can fully expect to get slapped a few times during game play.
If your family tends to love fast-and-furious, highly competitive games, you won’t be disappointed by Dutch Blitz. It’s sure to become a favorite in your family as quickly as it did in mine.
It isn’t likely that you’ll be able to find Dutch Blitz at your local toy store—but fortunately it’s now available online at Amazon.com. For more information, as well as a few tips for playing the game with more than four players, check out DutchBlitz.com.
