Guest Author - Lynn Little

Ages 6 and up

Players 2 to 4

Playing Time 20 minutes or less

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are joining forces to bring down their greatest enemies in the card game named for the lovable icons. In the game, all four ninja turtles, Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Raphael, and Donatello, must join forces to bring down Max Winters and his army of aliens.

In the TMNT card game, set up the playing area by first separating the turtle cards from the villain cards. Place the villain cards and the Splinter card in a circle, face up in the middle of the table. Each player begins with four turtle cards, so the dealer will deal each player four cards after shuffling. The remaining turtle cards are placed in the center of the villain/splinter circle.

On each player's turn, she draws a TMNT card. Then she plays one of her turtle cards onto the villains. Turtle cards are are transparent except for one corner the has the ninja turtle. The goal is to cover up each villain card with four ninja turtle cards. The player to place the fourth and final ninja turtle on an enemy collects the villain.

When all villains have been captured, it's time to score points. You get one point for each villain and an extra point if you capture a black border card, Splinter or Max Winters. The player with the most points wins the game.

The TMNT card game is a simple card game, so it makes a great choice for a family game night card game. It also features television's most famous turtles battling an alien army. The see-through cards are interesting. Each ninja turtle has his own corner, so when placing cards you don't have to worry about duplicating one of the turtles. If a corner has yet to be covered by a turtle and you have a match, then your card can be placed.

The TMNT card game offers a fun and easy way to enjoy the ninja turtles. Since the turtles can only capture an alien by joining forces, it can help reinforce the importance of teamwork.