I’ve been working on developing some games to help my students use their flash cards more effectively. But it occurred to me today that some of the oldest games are the most effective ones.  So, in conjunction with my students, I invented this game in class today.

We call it I ad Piscinam! or “Go to the Fishpond!”

It works very much like “Go Fish”. Actually, it pretty much IS “Go Fish”.  In Latin.

1. Deal each player 10 cards (from one person’s Flash Card deck.)
2. The player to the dealer’s left begins by using their cards to make a sentence:
   1. If they make a sentence in Latin:
      1. they get 2 points for each linking verb sentence
      2. 3 points for each intransitive sentence
      3. 4 points for each transitive sentence
      4. 5 points for each transitive + complementary infinitive sentence
      5. and an additional point for each card in the sentence, AND
      6. an additional point for each correct conjugation or declension change they make.
   2. The player records the points, and then puts the flash cards into the discard pile.
   3. The person to the right of the current player counts up the score.
   4. If they can’t make a sentence, they can ask another player for:
      1. a verb, a noun, an adjective, a preposition, or an ‘other word’,
      2. and the player has to deliver it.
      3. If the other player doesn’t have the type of card, they can say “I ad piscinam!” — go to the fish pond.  They draw a card from the deck, and add it to their hand.
         1. If they get the type of card they ask for, they stop.
         2. If they can’t find a card of the right type, they keep drawing cards until they get the card they want, or they reach the end of the draw pile.
         3. If the draw pile is empty,  the discard pile is flipped over and becomes the draw pile.
   5. Once a player has composed a sentence or “gone to the fish pond,” their turn ends and play passes to the left.
   6. The game ends when one player goes “out” by using up their cards.  The player who goes out gets a 5 point bonus, and then the winner of the game is determined by the total number of points.

AdPiscinam — a PDF of the rules to the game.

Liked it? Take a second to support Andrew on Patreon!