Perhaps She'll Die

There was an old Lady who swallowed a fly... This trick-taking game is themed on the popular children’s song. The object is to take tricks by playing the highest-ranked animal card. Problem is, when an animal card is played, its rank changes and usually for the worse.

Before each round, ranking cards are placed on the table in a row in order of rank: fly, spider, bird, cat, dog, goat, cow, horse. The fly is the lowest ranked at the start, and the horse is the highest. The animal cards are shuffled and dealt. The start player plays a card, and the corresponding card in the rank row is shifted down one space. If an animal is already the lowest ranked animal, it is moved to the furthest space on the right and becomes the highest ranked animal.

Play proceeds clockwise. In turn, each player plays a card. A player must follow suit if possible, otherwise he may play any card. Each played card causes the corresponding card in the rank row to shift down as described above.

After everyone has played, the player whose card matches the currently highest ranked animal wins the trick (regardless of suit). If two or more players have played the same ‘winning’ card, the player who played first wins the trick.

This is a 3-4 player game. Partnership rules are included as well.