Something Wild!: The Little Mermaid Card Game: Rules and Instructions for How to Play

Something Wild!: The Little Mermaid How to Play Quick Links: Objective | Setup | Playing the Game | Power Cards | Winning the Game | Combining Multiple Something Wild! Games | FAQ | Components

Objective of Something Wild!: The Little Mermaid

The objective of Something Wild!: The Little Mermaid is to earn three Power cards. Power cards can be won by putting together a “set” of three cards of the same number (color doesn’t matter). They can also be earned with a “run” of three cards of the same color in numerical order (i.e. a green three, four, and five).

 

Something Wild!: The Little Mermaid Setup

Separate the Power cards from the Character cards and shuffle each deck individually. Then, place the Power cards face down in a pile in the middle of the table or play area. Flip the top Power card face up and put it on top of the rest of the pile. Put the Ariel/Little Mermaid figure by this pile. Next, deal out three cards from the shuffled Character card deck to each player to form their starting hand. Finally, place the rest of the Character card deck face down next to the pile of Power cards (leaving space for a discard pile as well).

 

Playing Something Wild!: The Little Mermaid

The youngest player gets to be the first player, play then proceeds to the left for the rest of the game. Each turn, players get to take the following actions (if applicable) in this order:

1. Draw a Card

Add the top card in the Character deck draw pile to your hand. If the draw deck runs out before someone wins the game, shuffle the discard pile to create a new draw deck.

 

2. Play a Card

Put one of the cards in your hand face up in front of you. You need to play cards to the table in order to score sets or runs. In this version of Something Wild! there is no way of stealing other players’ cards so you are in no danger of losing the most important cards you play. Other versions of Something Wild! are different.

 

3. Take Figure

You only take this action if the card you played is the same color as the Power card in the center of the play area. For example, if there is a red Power card in the middle, you will need to play a red card from your hand during your “play a card” action to take the Ariel figure from the middle (or the player who currently possesses it). Your opponents can do the same to take the Ariel figure away from you as well.

 

4. Use a Power

If you have the Ariel figure in your possession, you can now use one of the Power cards that you have already earned (regardless of their color) or the one in the center of the play area. If you have multiple options, it’s your choice as to which one (and only one) to use. You may not use other players’ Power cards. Do whatever the card says to finish this action. I will get into the various Power cards later in this rules explanation.

 

5. Score a Set or Run

If there is a set of three cards of the same number or a run of three cards of the same color (with sequential numbers like seven, eight, and nine) in front of you, you have scored. If you have the Ariel figure, Power cards can be used to help score sets or runs. Discard the three cards used in the set or run and take the face up Power card in the center. You are now the only player that can use this power for the rest of the game (a new Power card is placed face up in the middle to replace it). You have also scored one of the three Power cards you need to win the game.

 

6. Discard a Card

If you have more than five cards in front of you at the end of your turn, you will need to discard one or more cards. Discard whichever cards you don’t want until you have only five cards in front of you. You can temporarily have more than five cards during your turn but you must end it by discarding down to five. Your turn is now complete and play passes to your left.

 

Ariel Figure and Power Cards

To take the figure from the center or the player who currently owns it, simply play the same color as the Power card in the center of the table. As long as you have the figure, you will be the only one that can use power cards. Other players can take it from you in the same way. When it’s your turn and you have the Ariel figure, you can use one of the Power cards you have acquired (or the face up one in the middle).

You can use a Power card once per turn while you own the figure (you can use different Powers each turn or the same one each turn). If you have the Ariel figure but don’t want to use a Power card, you don’t have to. If you don’t have the figure, you can’t use a Power card this turn.

The ten Power cards included in Something Wild!: The Little Mermaid are:

• Green: “Discard the top card of the deck. If you have any cards in play that match that card’s color, play it.” Flip over the top Character card in the draw deck. If you have any cards in front of you that are that same color, you get to keep the card you flipped over and play it out in front of you.
• Green: “Score with any three even cards (2, 4, 6, 8).” This card gives you an additional way of scoring cards. Just have the Ariel figure and any three even cards (color doesn’t matter at all) and you win a Power card (discard them like normal).
• Yellow: “Treat 7s as any color.” This card makes 7’s wild for color making it easier to score runs.
• Yellow: “If you have any yellow cards in play, draw and play an extra card.” If you have the Ariel figure and a yellow card in play, you get to take two draw and two play actions instead of just one of each.
• Blue: “Score with any three cards that add up to 16.” This card also offers an additional way to earn Power cards. Simply have three cards in front of you that equal 16 (color doesn’t matter) and you can discard them to earn a Power card.
• Blue: “Treat blue cards as any number.” This card makes it easier to score both sets and runs as you can use it as a wild number. For example, if you already have two eight cards and say a blue two card, you can turn that blue two card into a blue eight and finish off a set. You can also change it to the number you need for a run of blue cards as well. Basically, if you have one or more blue cards in front of you, they can be any number you want.
• Red: “Treat red cards as any color.” Red cards can be wild in terms of color, making it easier to score runs.
• Red: “Score with any three purple, blue, and green cards.” You could take this card one of two ways (it isn’t explained in the rules). I believe it means that you need three purple, three blue, or three green cards to score but they don’t need to be in sequential order (you could have a blue three, five, and nine and it would be valid to score). It could also mean that you need one purple, one blue, and one green card to score but I believe the first interpretation makes more sense.
• Purple: “Guess a number and look at the previous player’s hand. For each card that matches, draw and play an extra card.” This card allows you to pick a number and look at the hand of the player to your right. If they have one or more of that number in their hand, you get additional draw and play actions (if they have two or three of that number, you get two or three extra draws and plays this turn).
• Purple: “Treat 4s as any number.” This card makes 4’s wild for number, making it easier to score both sets and runs.

 

Ariel Cards (“Nine” Cards)

If you play a nine card (Ariel) of any color, you get to take an additional action this turn. You get to take one of the top three cards in the discard pile and play it face up in front of you. You also get to keep the Ariel card as well. While the Ariel cards aren’t even mentioned in the rules, presumably you must take the Ariel card action before you can use your Power card (if you have the Ariel figure) as “play a card” is the second action and “use a power” is fourth. Remember, if you have more than five cards in front of you at the end of your turn, you will have to discard.

 

Scoring Cards

If you have three cards of the same number or a run of three cards of the same color in sequential order, you can discard them in order to take the face up Power card in the center of the play area. Flip over the next Power card and place it face up. The Power card you took is now available to you anytime you have the Ariel figure on your turn. Nobody else can use it.

You can also score sets or runs by using Power cards (if you have the Ariel figure in front of you). I have shown a few examples of this below.

 

Winning Something Wild!: The Little Mermaid

When a player scores their third Power card, they have won the game.

 

Combining Multiple Something Wild! Games Together

One unique aspect to the Something Wild! series is that if you have multiple versions of the game, you can actually combine them together. Regardless of whether you have two, five, or fifteen different versions of the game, they can all be combined together if you wish. The more versions of the game you have, the more figures and Powers are available to players. If you elect to combine two or more Something Wild! games together, you will have a Power card pile for each figure you are using. All Character cards are mixed and shuffled together to form one singular draw deck though.

You still get to take a figure if you play a card of the same color but you must take the figure that you matched. If you matched more than one figure, you choose which one to take. You can have multiple figures in your possession at the same time, but you can only get one new figure per turn. You may only use a Power card if you have the correct figure (so you can only use an Ariel Power card if you have the Ariel figure in your possession, etc.).

When you score a set or run, you can choose any Power card in the center of the play area to take, regardless of which cards you used to score the set or run. Flip over the next Power card in the deck to replace it.

Everything else is played the same.

 

Something Wild!: The Little Mermaid FAQ

Can I use more than one Power card in a single turn?

No. As long as you have the Ariel figure you can use one, and only one, Power card per turn you have it. There is no possible way to get to use more than one Power card per turn. The rules say “If you have the figure you may use a Power Card that you have scored, or one in the center.”

 

Note: If you have any questions about how to play Something Wild!: The Little Mermaid, leave a comment below on this post. I will try to answer any questions asked as best and as quickly as possible.

 

Something Wild!: The Little Mermaid Components

• 45 character cards:
  • Each character card comes in green, yellow, blue, red, and purple (one of each color per number)
  • 5 King Triton 1 cards
  • 5 Flotsam & Jetsam 2 cards
  • 5 Chef Louis 3 cards
  • 5 Flounder 4 cards
  • 5 Scuttle 5 cards
  • 5 Sebastian 6 cards
  • 5 Eric 7 cards
  • 5 Ursula 8 cards
  • 5 Ariel 9 cards
• 10 power cards:
  • 2 green
  • 2 yellow
  • 2 blue
  • 2 red
  • 2 purple
• 1 Small Pop! figure (Ariel/The Little Mermaid)
• Instructions

 

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Year: 2020 | Publisher: Funko Games

Genres: Set Collection, Card Game, Rummy

Ages: 6+ | Number of Players: 2-4 | Length of Game: 15 minutes

Difficulty: Light-Moderate | Strategy: Light | Luck: Light-Moderate

Where to Purchase: Amazon, eBay – Any purchases made through these links (including other products) help keep Geeky Hobbies running. Thank you for your support.

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Note: We have also covered the rules for another game in this series, Something Wild!: Disney Villains.

For more board and card game rules explanations, check out our complete alphabetical list of board game posts.