A Frontier Hunting Card Game
Five trophies. One wilderness. Only the savviest hunter prevails.
Race to bag Grouse, Rabbit, Deer, Elk, and Bear while Trouble cards, Safe cards, and the Wild Mountain Lion keep every hunt unpredictable.
Draw a card. Play a trophy, fortune, safe, or trouble card. Block rivals, shout “Giddyup!”, and race from Grouse to Bear.
Draw a card from the pile
Play Daylight, License, and Bullets to prepare your hunt
Lay down animal cards to fill each trophy’s bag limit
Throw Trouble at rivals to halt their progress
Play Safe cards and shout “Giddyup!” to bounce attacks back
First hunter to bag Grouse, Rabbit, Deer, Elk, and Bear wins
Fast turns. Frontier strategy. Trouble cards. Comebacks. Rival hunters. One perfectly timed “Giddyup!” can change the whole hunt.
Games take 20–40 minutes. Every turn matters. Draw, play, and watch your rivals squirm.
Deal six cards and start hunting. Kids pick it up in one round; adults get hooked by the second.
Play Trouble cards to halt a rival’s hunt, steal trophies with the Mountain Lion, and shout “Giddyup!” to bounce attacks right back.
One compact deck. No board, no batteries, no WiFi. Built for kitchen tables, campfires, cabins, and hunting camp.
Race through all five trophies, from the humble Grouse to the mighty Bear, while dodging Trouble, blocking attacks, and shouting “Giddyup!” at just the right moment.
Every card drawn from the Colorado high country, rendered in the tradition of frontier engravings.
Hunt all five species in order, from the humble Grouse to the mighty Bear. Each must reach its bag limit before you advance.
Grouse • Rabbit • Deer • Elk • Bear
The wilderness fights back. These red-bordered hazards halt a rival’s hunt until overcome.
Nightfall • Bad Weather • I’m Lost • Out of Bullets • Lose License
Green-bordered cards of providence. Overcome Trouble, load your rifle, and keep the hunt alive.
Daylight • Good Weather • Compass • Small Bullets • Big Bullets • License
Blue-bordered wards of protection. Play them to block Trouble, or shout “Giddyup!” to turn a rival’s Trouble right back on them.
Shelter • Ammo Pack • Guide
The Mountain Lion changes everything. Play the Wild card to steal an animal from a rival and swing the hunt in your favor.
Mountain Lion
The Hunt Awaits. Learn the ways of the frontier.
Be the first hunter to collect all five animal trophies in order, from Grouse to Bear. Each species has a bag limit that must be filled before you advance to the next. The hunt unfolds season by season; every time the draw pile runs out and is reshuffled, a new season begins. Play continues until a hunter completes all five trophies or the table agrees on a stalemate.
2 – 4 Players • Ages 8+
Five species, hunted in order from lowest to highest. Small Game requires Small Bullets; Big Game requires Big Bullets (or Ammo Pack for either).
| # | Species | Category | Bag Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grouse | Small Game | 4 |
| 2 | Rabbit | Small Game | 3 |
| 3 | Deer | Big Game | 2 |
| 4 | Elk | Big Game | 1 |
| 5 | Bear | Big Game | 1 |
Play these against another hunter to halt their progress. Only one Trouble card may affect a hunt at a time. The targeted hunter must overcome the Trouble with the matching Good Fortune or Safe card before continuing.
| Trouble | Effect | Good Fortune Remedy | Safe Card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nightfall | No hunting until daybreak | Daylight | None |
| Bad Weather | Storm shuts down the hunt | Good Weather | Shelter |
| I’m Lost | Off the trail | Compass | Guide |
| Out of Bullets | Reload before hunting | Matching Bullets* | Ammo Pack |
| Lose License | Game warden trouble | License | Guide |
These cards overcome Trouble and provide the essentials for the hunt. Daylight, License, and the correct Bullets must all be face-up in your hunt area before you can take any animal card.
Safe cards protect against specific Trouble. They may be played proactively (before Trouble arrives) or reactively. If a Safe card is already face-up and the matching Trouble is played against you, the Trouble has no effect. If the matching Safe card is still in your hand when Trouble is played, you may immediately call “Giddyup!” and play the Safe card. The Trouble card is then turned back on the player who played it. If that player already has an unresolved Trouble card, the reflected Trouble card is placed on the discard pile instead.
The Mountain Lion. Play this card to steal any single animal card from another hunter’s trophy collection, or take the top card from the discard pile if it is an animal. After use, the Wild card is returned to the discard pile. The Wild card may never be drawn from the face-up discard pile, but it is reshuffled into the draw pile at the start of each new season like any other card.
The Help cards are not used during play. Remove them from the deck before dealing. Players may keep a Help card nearby for quick reference.
For fewer than 4 players, remove the following cards before dealing:
| Card | 3 Players Remove | 2 Players Remove |
|---|---|---|
| Grouse | 5 | 10 |
| Rabbit | 4 | 8 |
| Deer | 3 | 6 |
| Elk | 2 | 4 |
| Bear | 2 | 4 |
| Daylight | 2 | 4 |
| License | 2 | 4 |
| Small Bullets | 2 | 4 |
| Big Bullets | 2 | 4 |
| Compass | 1 | 2 |
| Good Weather | 1 | 2 |
| Total removed | 26 | 52 |
| Deck size | 88 | 62 |
Tip: The 2-player removal is exactly double the 3-player removal for every card type.
When the draw pile is exhausted, shuffle the entire discard pile (including the Wild card) and place it face-down to form a new draw pile. A new hunting season has begun. The game continues across as many seasons as needed.
The first hunter to complete the bag limit for all five species, Grouse through Bear, wins the game! If play becomes hopelessly locked, the table may agree to call a stalemate.
Play the full game free in your browser. Take on AI hunters, learn the rules fast, and see if you can bag all five trophies first.
Play Free OnlineThe perfect gift for Father’s Day, birthdays, or a stocking stuffer for the hunter who has everything.
One complete deck
Limited edition collector's set
Two complete decks
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Free shipping within the United States. All orders ship from Colorado. One compact deck. Perfect for hunting camp, the cabin, camping trips, or screen-free family game night.
A family tradition, nearly two decades in the making.
The Cards Wild™ was born around a kitchen table in the mountains of Colorado, where the Wolcott family spent years refining a simple idea: a card game that captures the spirit of the American frontier hunt.
Inspired by the strategy of classic card games and the rugged beauty of the Rocky Mountain wilderness, each card is an original engraving in the tradition of 1900s frontier art. From the patience of tracking Grouse through the aspens to the thrill of encountering a Bear in the high country.
What started as a family pastime in 2007 has grown into a labor of love spanning nearly twenty years of play-testing, refining, and perfecting. Every rule has been shaped by countless rounds at kitchen tables, around campfires, and in mountain cabins across the Colorado high country.
This is a proudly American made product. Designed, developed, and shipped from the heart of the Rocky Mountains. No corporate middlemen, no overseas manufacturing. Just a real family, a real mountain town, and a game built the old-fashioned way.
A family-built card game from the Colorado high country. Frontier art, fast strategy, and just enough mischief to ruin your rival’s hunt. Learn more about our American heritage →
Jasper, Colorado - est. population: a few good souls and plenty of grouse, rabbits, deer, elk and bears.
2–4 players, ages 8 and up. The deck scales automatically. For 2 or 3 players, you remove a set number of cards before dealing. A typical game takes 20–40 minutes.
It’s the perfect gift for anyone who loves to hunt. Great for Father’s Day, birthdays, stocking stuffers, or hunting camp send-offs. Every card features original frontier engraving artwork. It’s the kind of gift that gets pulled out at every gathering, not something that sits on a shelf.
The Cards Wild uses a race-and-hazard mechanic inspired by the classic French card game. Instead of racing to drive 1,000 miles, players race to collect five hunting trophies. Trouble cards function like hazards, Good Fortune and Safe cards serve as remedies and immunities, and the Safe cards have a “Giddyup!” mechanic similar to the coup-fourré.
We’re planning the next print run now. Join the Hunt List to be first in line when new decks are ready to ship.
Yes! You can play the full game free in your browser against AI opponents. No download, no signup required.
The Cards Wild is proudly made in the USA. It was born in Jasper, Colorado, a small mountain community in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. A Wolcott family tradition since 2007.
Hunt List members get first access before the next public release.
No spam, ever. Just hunt updates and early access.
You’re on the Hunt List!
Tried, Tested & Loved
Play-tested by Colorado families since 2007
Sold through our first print run
Great for family game night, cabins, hunters, campers, and card-game fans