Players 2 to 4 Setup time < 5 minutes Random chance Complete | Age range 3 and up Playing time Skill(s) required Counting | |
Hi Ho! Cherry-O is a children's put and take board game currently published by Hasbro in which two to four players spin a spinner in an attempt to collect cherries. The original edition, designed by Hermann Wernhard and first published in 1960 by Whitman Publishers, had players compete to collect 10 cherries. During an update in 2007, the rules were updated to include a cooperative play variant, where players cooperate to remove all fruit from the board before a bird puzzle is completed.
Contents
In 2015, Winning Moves published a classic edition.
Rules
Each player starts the game with an empty basket and 10 cherries on his/her tree. Players take turns spinning the spinner and performing the indicated action. The spinner is divided into seven sections:
- Take one cherry from tree
- Take two cherries from tree
- Take three cherries from tree
- Take four cherries from tree
- Dog: Replace cherries on tree: two if the player has at least that many in his/her basket, one if he/she has only one (no effect if player's basket is empty)
- Bird: Same as dog
- Spilled basket: Replace all cherries on tree
The first player to collect all the cherries from his/her tree and call "Hi Ho! Cherry-O" wins the game.
Analysis
The game length can be determined using a Markov chain, yielding the following results: