Walking through a book store chain, I happened to notice the card games in the middle of the games display. Glancing over the offerings, I decided to pick up the card game based on Yahtzee. The game is indeed based on Yahtzee, but it has some interesting twists.

This card game is obvioulsy less noisy than rolling actual dice, so you can play it easier in the middle of the night when other people in the house may be sleeping.

In the card game, there are dice in the form of cards. 84 cards show different dice combinations. They are used to make combinations. Each player starts out with five cards.

The 12 Combo cards come into play as you try to make the combinations of dice shown on the card. The good news is there are wild cards that can help.

There are 12 Chance cards that have different point values on them. They range from 1 point to 7 points.

Tips for playing a better game are also listed on the rule page. They do suggest aiming for lower point cards and combos. But, beware, if you come up against another player in a challenge, the higher cards win.

You do get to "throw the dice" in the form of being able to discard cards and pick new ones, just like in the dice game. You must always have 5 cards in your hand. When you are done, you can even challenge someone's hand to see if you got a bigger combo than they did.

Rules seem to be long and drawn out, but it doesn't take much to actually learn the game and get the ball rolling. Don't let the wordiness scare you away from this fun game.

The ages suggested on the card box are 8+; but I believe with a few tweaks, even those younger can play some form of this game. It can help children learn numbers and colors.

You can also play this game as regular Yahtzee just by making a pile of cards in the middle of the table. Players take turns drawing and discarding the dice cards as you would in a regular game. Each player gets 3 chances and they have to make their goal, or take a zero; just like in the regular game. Players can use the extra Yahtzee scorecards offered in stores, or make their own with paper and pen.