Game of 99

Someone mentioned the Game of 99 to play on 9-9-99. It's a wonderful game--I try to teach it to my students every year and run off a sheet of what the cards mean so they can easily play at home. The adding game of "99" is played with a deck of cards for a group of 3 to 5 children. Each child is dealt four cards and the remaining cards are left in the center. After a card is played the child needs to pick up a replacement card from the deck--or just plays short.

The object is not to go over 99. As a card is placed in the center , the child states the value of that card after it is added to the ones already played. So, if the first player plays a 7 he says, "Seven." If the next player plays an 8, he says, "Fifteen, " which is the total of 7 + 8. Should the next player put down a 5, the statement would be "Twenty." this may sound boring, but there are so many wild cards that the students really love it. The first player to go over 99 is out of the game and the play continues until there is only one player left.