| Designed by | P.D. Magnus |
| Players | 2-5 |
| Length | 20 minutes |
| Extra Material | a scorepad |
a fast paced game of careful timing
Summary of the game: Every turn, you add one card to the grid. You score a point each time your card makes three in a row. Threesomes must be in rank order, all be of the same rank, or share a suit symbol.
Setup
Deal three cards to each player.
With 2 or 4 players, deal four cards face up to form a 2x2 grid. With 3 or 5 players, deal six cards face up to form a 2x3 grid.
Game play
At the beginning of each turn, every player selects one card from their hand and places it face down in front of them. Once everyone has made a selection, cards a revealed.
Provided all the cards are of different ranks, players may place their cards in increasing order of rank. A player with an Ace would go first, then a player with a two, and so on; a player with a Crown places last.
If two or more players play cards of the same rank, their cards are deferred. Leave deferred cards are left face up on the table; they may be played in a later turn. Any players whose cards are not deferred play normally, lowest rank first.
When you play a card, you may place it adjacent to any card in the grid (orthogonally or diagonally). You may not play a card on top of another card.
Scoring: If you play a card that makes three in a row (either orthogonally or diagonally) then you score points. The three cards may be a flush (three cards that share a suit symbol), a set (three cards of the same rank), or a straight (three cards in rank order). You may score for multiple times if your card makes threesomes in different directions or of different kinds.
Each threesome is worth the rank of the lowest number card in of the three. Aces and Crowns are not number cards, so a threesome is worth as few as 2 or as many as 9 points. Since three Crowns or three Aces have no number card, these sets are worth no points.
The edges of the grid: If the grid of cards is already six cards wide, then cards may not be played to make it any wider. Similarly, if the grid is six cards tall, then cards may not be played to make it taller. Until the grid reaches six cards in a direction, cards me be played to extend it on either side. As a result, the starting cards may ultimately be anywhere in the grid: in the center, on a side, or in a corner.
Deferred cards: If you have deferred cards on the table when you are able to play, play them along with your new card. You may play the new card and any deferred cards in any order you please.
Drawing cards: After everyone has played their card (or set it aside because it was deferred) each player draws a card if there are any left in the deck. If there are not enough cards left for everyone to get one, then nobody draws.
Game end: Ordinarily, the game continues until the are cards fill a 6x6 grid and ends immediately when the 36th card is played. If players have deferred cards in the final turns or if the card do not deal out evenly, then the game ends after the turn in which players play the last cards from their hands.
Example
Example: You play
, with the 8
and 9 already in place. It is worth 8 for the flush plus 8 for the 8-9- straight; a total of 16 points.
) with the other cards as shown below. You score 4 for the flush, 4 for the flush, and 5 for the set of fives; a total of 13 points. Note that both flushes use the same cards (the 4-5-8) but they make a flush in both suits.
Credits
Design: P.D. Magnus
Playtesting: Cristyn Magnus, Joe Levy, Jason Mutford, Karen Traite, Gil Hova, Maya Kiehl, Josh DeBonis, Joe Fritz, Dan Purdy, Doug Hoover, Dean Howard
Links
Files
- Rules on a single page, included with decks from The Game Crafter as of July 2012