Look out! Piggy, Horse, Chicken, Mouse, and Cow are on a mission!
In this memory game meets board game from Peaceable Kingdom, a group of farm friends is headed into town, and they mean business — literally. Horse, Chicken, Mouse, and Cow all have errands or special things to do in town, and their friend Piggy helps them out with a ride in his big, blue truck, racing to beat the gas tank and get everyone home before it’s empty!
As kids help Piggy drive each farm friend around town, they use their imaginations while also building fine motor skills and improving language and memory skills. The cooperative nature of Pick Me Up, Piggy! means players work against the game — not against each other — to achieve a common goal and win. It can help build confidence, increase self-esteem, and encourage inclusion.
So, how do you play?!
Setup is quick and easy enough for kids to help out. Once the game board, Piggy’s truck, driving cards, and gas gauge are set up, kids ages 3 and up can play. The game starts when the youngest player drives the truck to any location to drop off a farm friend by putting them through the slot found on top of the town building. The farm friend drops out of sight as the player tells a fun story about why the animal needed to go to that location. For example, “Mouse needs to go to the Pizza Parlor because he is throwing a party for all of his farm friends, and pizza is the best party food!” The more creative the story is, the easier it will be for players to remember which character is at which location. It seems like a piece of cake since there are only four characters and four locations, but, whew, don’t be fooled. It can be challenging!
Each player takes a turn until all of the farm friends are dropped off, and then it’s time to draw Driving Cards and pick the farm friends up again. There are three types of cards: Farm Friend cards feature the farm friends with a thought bubble that reads, “Pick Me Up, Piggy!” signaling to the players that it’s time to remember where the friend is and go get him; Location cards show a location around the town square that players must drive to, along with how much gas they’ll lose by going there; and Gas Station cards mean players can drive to the gas station and fill up the tank!
Pro tip: Make sure the 13 cards are shuffled thoroughly!
The game ends when all of the farm friends have been picked up. If you run out of gas first, the game starts over. Made for two to four players, the game takes about 15 minutes to play.
