Igloo Pop

Igloo Pop is a game with one of the craziest themes – the players are giants, picking up igloos and shaking them to give the hedonistic eskimos within a rocking good time.

But the theme is irrelevant. This is a game of listening and judging how many eskimos (or beads) are in each igloo.

The game begins with each player taking a set of talers (markers, essentially) and the igloos themselves set up as a ‘village’ in the centre of the table. Each igloo has a sticker underneath showing how many beads are inside. Nine cards are laid around the village that will have between one and three numbers on them: the cards are what you are after. Somebody shouts GO! and everyone grabs an igloo and shakes it. They estimate how many eskimos are inside, and, if there is a matching number on one of the cards, place it on that card with one of their talers in it to mark it as their own. Play continues until either all the igloos have been placed on a card or all players have passed.

Then the igloos are turned over to reveal how many beads they actually contain. If players have guessed right, they get to keep the card and they get their taler back. If they’ve guessed wrong, they get nothing and lose the taler they used to mark their guess. (If more than one player is right on a card with 2 or 3 numbers. the player with the highest correct guess keeps the card).

Then the igloos are shuffled back into the village, the score cards are replenished up to nine, and a new round starts. The game ends either when the cards cannot be replenished up to nine, or a player runs out of talers. The game is scored by adding up the eskimos on your cards plus a point for any talers you still have in your hand. Despite it’s silly premise and appearance, Igloo Pop contains a genuine and unusual challenge. Fun for families with young children, but also for adults.