Welcome to the wonderful world of Otters!
Otters is a 10-minute card game for kids (ages 6 and up) and otter-loving adults. It’s a deck of 53 custom cards, with photos of otters, lakes and an ornery alligator.
The basic Otters game is for 2 players, or for 2 teams of 2 players each. If you have two decks, you can play with 3-4 individual players (two-deck games take about 20 minutes instead of 10).
You can download the rules here, and you can download an early version of all of the cards to print and play yourself to try out here.
The goal of Otters is to win the most valuable collection of lake playgrounds. There are 3 playground cards face-up on the table, each of which has a value between 2 and 10.
On your turn, you will send your otters to play at the lakes. Play 2 cards from your hand, either both to the same playground or to 2 different playgrounds. Check to see if the total number of otters at any of the playgrounds is at least as high as the playground’s value; if so, you win that playground!
When you’re done, draw until you have 4 cards in your hand, and put new playgrounds on the board if needed so that there are always 3 lakes.
Once all the playgrounds have been won, add up the value of your playgrounds, plus 5 bonus points if you collected three of a particular color lake. The player with the most points wins!
Otters is available on a print-on-demand basis from DriveThruCards.com. You can order it right here! The basic version there comes as a deck of cards without a box, but you have the option of adding a clear plastic deck box. The rules come on cards as part of the deck, but I recommend printing a copy of the more-nicely-formatted rule sheet right here.
Michael Iachini – Designer and publisher of Otters
Hi, my name is Traci and I am a third grade teacher in a small district in Fort Lupton, Colorado. Corey from Scribelife Games introduced me to Otters and I absolutely love your game. I think that my students would benefit from playing this game as it would increase their basic math skills. I am interested in several copies of the game and wanted to know the best way to go about gaining access to the game. I noticed that you offer a free sample, but do you by chance have a discount if I order in bulk? Thanks so much, and I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Traci – Absolutely! I’ve followed up with you via email, but I’m always happy to give bulk discounts on Otters, especially for educators. Thank you!
– Michael
Is it possible to get just the bag? I should have gotten one with the Kickstarter.
Many thanks. My twin a Grandchildren are going to love it!
Yes indeed! Email me at claycrucible@gmail.com and I can invoice you for the bag as a standalone item. Thank you!
Michael Iachini, Clay Crucible Games
Michael, I would like to order an otters card game. Please let me know cost and shipping cost. I’m a big otter fan!
Sally – thank you for your interest in Otters! Your question reminded me to update this page with a link to the print-on-demand version of Otters you can now purchase via DriveThruCards.com. I hope you enjoy it!
Michael Iachini, Clay Crucible Games
Looking for games for kids and ended up in this site. The game is interesting and my 2 nephews will like this because they love water animals.