At GenCon in Indianapolis Score Entertainment announced the acquisition of the rights to create a Fruits Basket Card Game.  The Fruits Basket card game will not be a traditional collectible card game rather it will be one-shot 121-card box set retailing for $9.99.  No expansions are planned for the self-contained Fruits Basket card game, which will feature art from the Fruits Basket anime.  Fifty-four of the cards will include traditional playing card markings and can be used to play traditional card games as well as in the Fruits Basket game.  The Fruits Basket Card Game, which was designed in the U.S. by Score, will be available at retail in the first quarter of 2006.

Score's Fruits Basket Card Game includes cards for the Chinese Zodiac (members of the Sohma family featured in the Fruits Basket property are possessed by spirits of the Zodiac and when they are hugged by a member of the opposite sex, they turn into their Zodiac animal) and the game is played with cards for two of the series' main characters, Kyo and Tohru, surrounded by card representing the Chinese Zodiac.  The object of the game is to make the most friends and friends are gained by building memories, which players can create by matching fruit.

Natsuki Takaya's Fruits Basket manga (published in the U.S. by Tokyopop) is the most popular shoujo series in both Japan and the U.S. -- in fact this summer Fruits Basket has been the dominant manga property overall in the American market with various volumes in the series claiming four out of the top five positions in year-to-date manga sales.  Aside from Funimation Productions' Fruits Basket anime series, there is a relative dearth of Fruits Basket merchandise -- especially considering the popularity of the property--a situation that Score hopes to alleviate somewhat with the launch of its Fruits Basket Card Game early next year.