SNARK!
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SNARK!
@snark.games
9 followers 83 following 13 posts
I try to revitalize a legacy card game as a computer game.

※ The Snark's 150th anniversary: @snark150.bsky.social
※ Snark hunting: @snarkhunt.bsky.social
※ Web: https://snrk.de/zzota-snark/
※ Admin: @goetzkluge.bsky.social
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snark.games
SNARK! @snark.games · 1d
#TheHuntingOfTheSnark #games #videogames #computergames #cardgames #game #videogame #computergame #cardgame #gamedesign #underdevelopment

snrk.de/zzota-snark/
=== https://snrk.de/zzota-snark/ === SNARK!, created by ZZOTA in 2006, is a card game based on Lewis Carroll’s “The Hunting of the Snark”. Jeremy Jexon Secker defined the rules in 1985. The beautiful design of the cards is by Xanna Eve Chown. Sadly, ZZOTA vanished away in 2017.
Reposted by SNARK!
snark.games
1/🧵

I'm now digging into the game. As an engineer, I said and heard RTFM often enough, so here we go:

JJ Secker allowed me to put the rules in public domain:
※ snrk.de/wp-content/u... (black&white, 3MB)
※ snrk.de/wp-content/u... (color, 48MB)

Images from the manual (20 pages in 18 PDF pages).
SNARK! A FANTASTICAL GAME FOR 2,3 OR 4 PLAYERS FEATURING CREATURES FROM THE MIND OF LEWIS CARROLL SNARK! IS THE MOST FRABJOUS GAME YOU WILL EVER PLAY! IS THE MOST FRABJOUS GAME YOU WILL EVER PLAY! IS THE MOST FRABJOUS GAME YOU WILL EVER PLAY! What I tell you three times is true. ZZOTA LIMITED LIMITED EDITION EDITION NO. 42 https://snrk.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ZZOTA-SNARK_color.pdf On July 18th 1874 as [Lewis Carroll] was out walking, at the surprised age of 42, a thought came into the mind of Lewis Carroll. "The Snark was a Boojum you see. From this final line he created the epic poem 'The Hunting of the Snark. If you have not read this Agony in Eight Fits you will not understand the game of Snark! and you should also be having difficulty with Life itself round about now. On October 6th 1985, 111 years + 111 days later, a thought came into the mind of JJ Secker. "Your Snark's still a Boojum, LC." € He spent a happy hour devising Snark! which you are now clutching and wondering "Why?" A decade or so later an artist drew a Snark. On being informed, somewhat pompously, that the Snark resembled a Boojum and a Boojum was an Allegory a thought came into the mind of Xanna Eve. "The Snark will be a Boojum, you'll see." On February 11th of the bicentennial year 2006 following a torrent of laughter and cheers Zzota Limited WWW.ZZOTA.CO.UK ominously published the game of Snark! === CONTENTS === ※ CREW DECK (10 cards) Depicting accredited Snark Hunters. ※ ANIMAL PACK (8 cards) Detailing fauna they will meet. ※ STOCK PILE (38 cards) Containing Kit and Marks they will need. ※ GENUINE SNARK WARRANTS (40 cards) Which must be amassed. The backs contain Stirring Verses to stiffen the sinews at moments of high peril or low despair. BEWARE! ※ BOGUS SNARK WARRANTS have been spotted in circulation. They are of no use to the Game whatsoever and should be destroyed on sight. https://snrk.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ZZOTA-SNARK_color.pdf Fit the Third: The Preparation The game comprises a number of Rounds from 1 to infinity. Before each, the following occurs: The leader builds the 'Ark' by placing the relevant cards from the Crew Deck faces up as shewn. The leader shuffles the Animal Pack and places it face down. Animals Bellman Banker Broker Boots Billiard-marker Bonnet-maker Beaver Baker Barrister Butcher Stock Then, he shuffles the Stock Pile and places it face down beneath the Ark. Each player pays one Warrant into the Warrant Pool. 3 -------- Fit the Fourth: The Play The leader of the Round commences by taking the top card from the Stock Pile into his hand (without revealing it to the other players) thus completing his turn. Every player's turn will be completed by taking the top card from the Stock Pile. At no time may a player have more than five Stock cards in his hand. NOTE: If a player has less than five Stock cards when it is his turn then he may take NO other action than to pick up a card from the Stock Pile. Play passes clockwise round the table. If a player has five cards he may perform ONE of the following FIVE actions: 1) Stock Exchange 2) Hire a Hunter 3) Become the Bellman 4) Bewilder the Crew 5) Go Hunting 4 https://snrk.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ZZOTA-SNARK_color.pdf Last page of https://snrk.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ZZOTA-SNARK_color.pdf PRIMARY APPENDIX: Animal Pack Drill ... SECONDARY APPENDIX: Chances of Success ...
February 10, 2026 at 9:28 AM
snark.games
AFAIK, the possibility that "Boots" might be a portmanteau made up from "maker of Bonnets and Hoods" first was mentioned in 2007 (snrk.de/page_boots-b...) in a Wikipedia comment.

bsky.app/profile/snar...
snarkhunt.bsky.social The Hunting of the Snark @snarkhunt.bsky.social · Nov 21
If Lewis Carroll chose "Boots" as a portmanteau for "Bonnets" and "Hoods" (zirk.us/@snarkology/...), then there might be only 9 Snark hunters in "The Hunting of the Snark", not 10 (snrk.de/page_boots-b...).

#portmanteau #TheHuntingOfTheSnark #LewisCarroll
see https://snrk.de/page_boots-bonnetmaker/
February 10, 2026 at 4:25 PM
snark.games
Post in reddit: www.reddit.com/r/cardgames/...
From the cardgames community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the cardgames community
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February 10, 2026 at 1:49 PM
snark.games
I hope that I can get this revival of SNARK! done before the 151st anniversary of the Snark in 2027.
snark150.bsky.social 150 Years of Snark @snark150.bsky.social · Oct 27
There are three important 150th anniversaries of “The Hunting of the Snark”. @panmacmillan.bsky.social already missed two of them.

snrk.de/150th-snark-...
https://snrk.de/150th-snark-anniversaries/ There are three important 150th anniversaries related to “The Hunting of the Snark”. Pan Macmillan already missed two of them. (1) === 18 July 2024: Conception === On 18 July 1874, the very last line of Carroll’s Snark tragicomedy came into his head while out on a walk at Guildford: “For the Snark was a Boojum, you see” . The first stanza was composed on 22 July 1874. “In the midst of the word…” which stands as the last verse of the poem. (2) === 25 October 2025: Naming === On 25 October 1875, Carroll decided to use “The Hunting of the Snark” as the title of his Snark tragicomedy (which in Henry Holiday’s view started out as a tragedy). (3) === 1 April 2026: Birth === On 29 March 1876 at Macmillan, Carroll prepared 80 presentation copies for family and friends. (As far as I understand, these copies contained an additional poem: the Easter Greeting.) On 1 April 1876, Macmillan officially published the poem with Henry Holiday’s illustrations.
February 9, 2026 at 9:12 PM
snark.games
#TheHuntingOfTheSnark #games #videogames #computergames #cardgames #game #videogame #computergame #cardgame #gamedesign #underdevelopment

snrk.de/zzota-snark/
=== https://snrk.de/zzota-snark/ === SNARK!, created by ZZOTA in 2006, is a card game based on Lewis Carroll’s “The Hunting of the Snark”. Jeremy Jexon Secker defined the rules in 1985. The beautiful design of the cards is by Xanna Eve Chown. Sadly, ZZOTA vanished away in 2017.
February 9, 2026 at 2:12 PM