Components
- 4 Shark cards
- 5 Seal cards
- 10 Big Fish cards
- 11 Little Fish cards
- 8 Shrimp cards
- 5 Plankton cards
- 3 Electric Eel cards
- 2 Chomp sequence cards
- 4 Octopus cards
- Instructions
Object of the Game
Chomp your way to the top of the food chain by collecting all of the cards. The first player to collect all of the cards wins the game.
Before you Dive In..
Each player will want to familiarize themselves with the game's sea creatures and know who chomps what. Take the time to look over the cards and learn each critter's place in the food chain.
Chomp! Food Chain Explained
The higher a creature is on the food chain, the more it can chomp. Creatures cannot chomp their own kind (this is a civilized game, after all) or anything higher up the food chain. Nobody can chomp an Octopus or an Electric Eel, which are special cards explained below.
This is Chomp's Food Chain chomping order:
Shark is at the top of the food chain. Nothing can chomp a Shark, and a Shark can chomp anything except another Shark, an Octopus or Electric Eel.
Seal can chomp a Big Fish, Little Fish, Shrimp, or Plankton.
Bigfish can chomp a Little Fish, Shrimp, or Plankton.
Little fish can chomp Shrimp or Plankton.
Shrimp can only chomp Plankton.
Punkton can't chomp anything (sorry, guys).
Setup
Once you are familiar with the chomping order, remove the two Chomp! sequence cards, then shuffle and deal the remaining cards face down, equally to each player.
Place any extra cards back in the box, out of play. Stack your cards face down in a pile in front of you. Don't look!
Game Play
In unison, all players turn over the top card of their pile into the center of the playing area. The first player to slap the card with the lowest creature on the food chain and shout "Chomp!" wins the round.
He collects all the cards his card can chomp and places them face down in a separate discard pile. If your card couldn't be chomped, place it in your discard pile.
Important Note: If the lowest card is yours, you are not allowed to chomp.
Example: Four players turn over a Seal card, a Shark card, a Big Fish card, and another Big Fish card.
Since the Big Fish is the lowest creature on this particular food chain, only the players who turned over the Seal and Shark cards can chomp this round.
The player that slaps either of the Big Fish cards and shouts "Chomp!" first, wins the round.
Possible Outcomes
If the player with the Shark card chomps first, he would take all the cards because the Shark is at the top of the food chain.
If the Seal card player chomps first, she would take both Big Fish cards and her own card. She can't chomp the Shark card because it's higher than the Seal on the food chain, so the Shark card player puts his card in his discard pile.
Play continues with all players turning over their top card at the same time.
When your pile runs out, shuffle your discard pile, place it face down in front of you and continue playing.
Beware the Bad Chomp
Be quick - but not so quick that you chomp when you shouldn't.
You've made a Bad Chomp if you:
slap another player's card that's higher on the food chain than yours, or
slap another player's card that's the same as yours, or
slap your own card, or
slap a card in an Octopus Ink Out (see below).
If you make a Bad Chomp, put the top card of your pile face down in the playing area.
The winner of the round takes both of your cards along with the other cards she can chomp. If there is no winner that round, your cards stay in the center. The winner of the next round then takes your cards.
Action Cards
Electric Eel: Feeding Frenzy!
If an Electric Eel card is turned over, a feeding frenzy occurs. Any player can chomp any card, except her own.
The first to slap another player's card and shout "Feeding Frenzy!" takes all the cards, even those that are higher on the food chain.
Octopus: Ink Out!
When an octopus senses danger, it will squirt ink to darken the water surrounding it. Since no one can see, no one can chomp and all cards played are set aside.
Each player plays another card. The first to slap the lowest card and shout "Chomp!" gets any cards from the current round she is allowed to chomp as well as all the cards from the Octopus Ink Out round.
Any cards from the current round she can't chomp, are reclaimed by the players who turned them over.
If you chomp when an Octopus card is turned over, you've made a Bad Chomp.
Octopus vs. Electric Eel
If an Octopus and an Electric Eel turn up at the same time, the Eel prevails and starts a Feeding Frenzy!
Breaking a Tie
If two or more players chomp at the same time, set aside the cards just played.
Each player plays another card. The first to slap the lowest card and shout "Chomp!" wins all the cards from the tie round.
She also gets any cards from the previous round that she is allowed to chomp. Any cards she can't chomp are reclaimed by the players who turned them over.
End of the Game
If all your cards get chomped up by other players, you're washed up and out of the game. Keep playing until there are only 2 players who have cards.
The last 2 players can either count their cards and declare the one with the most cards the winner, OR they can switch to one of the 2-player games below and continue playing.
Two-player Games
The object of these three games is to collect all of the cards. The rules are slightly different from regular gameplay, but Bad Chomps are still Bad Chomps.
Underwater War
Each player turns over the top card in his pile at the same time. The card higher on the food chain wins, and that player takes the cards. In a tie, each player places 2 cards face down and 1 card face up in the center.
The face-up card that's higher on the food chain takes all of the cards. If an Electric Eel is turned up, the first player to slap the Eel card and shout "Feeding Frenzy!" takes the cards.
If an Octopus card is turned up, each player turns over the next card in her school; the player with card that's higher on the food chain takes all the cards.
Quick Chomp!
Each player turns over the top card in his pile at the same time. Both players race to slap the card lower on the food chain regardless of who turned it over.
Winner takes both cards. Tie-breakers, Electric Eel cards, and Octopus cards are the same as in "Underwater War".
Double Chomp!
Each player divides their pile in two and turns over the two top cards at the same time. The first player to slap the card lowest on the food chain and shout "Chomp!" takes all 4 cards.
Tie-breakers, Electric Eel cards, and Octopus cards are the same as in regular game play.
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