I don't know of too many fun games that are skewed in such a way that kids naturally possess a skill that makes them better than adults at that particular game. But Gulo Gulo is precisely that kind of game. Having little, nimble fingers goes a long way toward winning this one, and as for the adults -- well, despite the fact that we tend to have bigger, clumsier fingers, this game is way more fun and playable than Candyland. (Of course, it's not hard to beat Candyland, I know.)
The mere title of this game, Gulo Gulo, begs the question: what in the world is a Gulo? Okay, I'll tell you. <PERSON> is another name for the wolverine. In this game, the players represent a family of wolverines, looking for one particular family member that has been caught by the local swamp vulture. Why? Because the wolverines' favorite pastime is stealing (and eating) swamp vulture eggs, and Mama Swamp Vulture has had just about enough, so she took Gulo Junior into custody.
In their search for <PERSON>, however, the <PERSON> family continues to swipe eggs. So there you have the idea behind the game. Gulo Gulo is recommended for ages 5 and up, and can accommodate 2-6 players.
When you open the box for Gulo Gulo, you'll find some very high quality components ("bits"). First, you'll have a wooden bowl, which serves as the swamp vulture's nest, and 22 wooden eggs (in 5 colors) that just barely fit in the nest. You'll also find a wooden stick that serves as Mama Swamp Vulture's "alarm pole." To set up the nest, pour all the eggs into it, and insert the stick into them so that it is standing (relatively) straight up.
You'll also find 23 "yard tiles" and a "Gulo Junior" tile. Each yard tile has a dirt path design on one side, and a gulo with an egg on the other side. 118
To set up, mix Gulo Junior in with 4 randomly chosen yard tiles and stack them (face-down) near the nest. Then randomly arrange the rest of the tiles -- with the dirt path side facing up -- in a path leading away from that stack. The path can meander around your table however you'd like it to, and I've found that kids enjoy the fact that they can set up the game to look however they want it to.
Finally, each player gets a little wolverine playing piece that they place at the beginning of the path.
The hungriest player goes first (although, while I find this to be a clever an humorous way to pick the first player, you may want to simply appoint a starting player if you fear a long argument between your kids about who's hungriest!).
A player's turn basically has three parts:
1. Turn over a path tile (this step may be optional, as you'll see later).
2. Attempt to sneak an egg out of the nest.
3. Move your gulo appropriately.
You must turn over a path tile if there are no face-up path tiles in front of your gulo. Therefore, the first person must turn over the first path tile (since they all start out face-down). Then, he or she must try to steal an egg out of the nest that matches the color of the egg on the tile (it will be red, blue, green, or yellow), without setting off the "alarm" -- aka, without making the alarm pole fall out of the nest and hit the table.
If there are already face-up tiles in front of your gulo, you have a choice. You can turn over the first face-down tile in the path and attempt to swipe a matching egg, or you can try to swipe an egg that matches an already-face-up tile that's ahead of your gulo on the path. For example, if the first player turned over a red-egg tile, the second player can either turn over the next face-down tile or simply attempt to grab a red egg (since that tile is already face-up).
The way you move your gulo depends on how successful your egg-swiping has been. If you manage to nab an egg without setting off the alarm, move your gulo forward to the next tile of that color. If you set off the alarm, you must move your gulo backward to the next tile of that color (or to the beginning of the path, if there are no tiles of that color behind you).
Once the alarm has been tripped, all previously-removed eggs are mixed back in with the others, the nest is re-filled, and the alarm is re-set. 349