Object:
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 chomp 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
Big Fish – Can chomp a Little Fish, Shrimp, or Plankton.
Little Fish – Can chomp Shrimp or Plankton.
Shrimp – Can only chomp Plankton.
Plankton – Can’t chomp anything (sorry, guys).
Set-up
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 (for three or more players)
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.
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 comps 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 comp 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
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.
Ending 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 and continue playing.
2 Player 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.
Chomp Card Game
$11.00
Plunge into a fast-paced undersea world where life is survival of the quickest. Identify the lowest creature in the food chain then slap it before other players scarf it down. Big fish chomp little fish and everyone chomps plankton. Watch out for the ink-squirting octopus and if you spot an electric eel, get ready for an all-out feeding frenzy! Collect all the cards and you’re ruler of the deep blue sea!
Chomp! Is a great tool to help teach children about the food chain. Players learn about the hierarchy of ocean species through employing skills such as visual discrimination and sequencing. It also helps to sharpen reflexes and teaches quick thinking and analysis while playing a fast-moving game.
