Build and improve groups of sequential cards on a shared play area while claiming ownership of valuable cards. At the end of the game, the player with the highest score wins.
Components
One standard 54-card deck (including two Jokers)
Two players
Setup
Shuffle the deck thoroughly.
Deal half of the deck face down to each player to form their draw deck.
Each player draws five cards.
Players may only have a max of five cards in their hand at any time.
Players take turns performing actions, gaining points.
At the end of the game, the player with the most points wins.
The Play Area
Players place their cards into a shared play area (called the board), one at a time.
Cards can either be placed as a “single” (with no left or right neighbors) or to the left or right of another card, forming (or building upon) a group.
Singles are considered ownerless.
When singles become a part of a group, the current player takes ownership of the single (not the group).
Groups can contain cards owned by multiple players.
Groups
Groups can contain between 2 and 13 cards, and must be built in ascending sequential rank order from left to right.
“Rank” refers to a card’s number or letter, and does not involve suit.
Groups and singles on the board can be moved by either player (to maintain neatness or to merge them into groups).
Groups and singles can only be merged into larger groups if the new group is 13 cards or less, and maintains ascending sequential ranks.
Ace may appear either before a Two or after a King.
Groups cannot be broken up, and once a group reaches 13 cards, no more can be added. However, a group’s cards can be replaced (discussed later).
Groups must be moved as a unit. They cannot be divided up.
Score
Cards in a group have a point value based on the card’s neighbors.
A card next to a card of the same suit gains 5 points.
A card next to a card of the same color (but not suit) gains 2 points.
A card next to a card of a different color gains 1 point.
Example: 5♠ – 6♠ – 7♣ – 8♥
- The 5♠ is worth 5 points.
- The 6♠ is worth 7 points (2+5).
- The 7♣ is worth 3 points (1+2).
- The 8♥ is worth 1 point.
In groups of 13 cards, the edge cards are considered neighbors for scoring (they “Wrap Around”).
Note: a card can be worth a max of 10 points on the board, if both of its neighbors are of the same suit.
Jokers add bonus points (discussed next).
At the end of the game, players lose 5 points for each card they have in their hand or in their deck.
Jokers
Jokers are wild cards, with no suit.
Jokers can represent any rank in a group.
Jokers can also be played as singles with no rank.
Jokers do not give or receive points and are always worth 0 points on the board.
Jokers on the board give 40 bonus points to the owning player’s score.
If a group is made with only 2 jokers, both have no rank.
A Joker in a group with normal cards will assume the correct rank (but no suit) to continue a rank sequence.
Example:
- In J – 5♠ – 6♠ the joker is 4.
- In J – J – 8♠ the jokers are 6 and 7.
Because Jokers do not add any points, they can be replaced by any card with a corresponding rank.
Replacements
Players can replace any card on the board with a card from their hand if:
The card has the same rank.
The card improves the point value of the replaced card.
Example: 5♠ – 6♠ – 7♣ – 8♥ – 9♠
- The 7♣ could be replaced with a 7♠ or 7♥ increasing the point value from 3 to 6.
- The 8♥ could be replaced with an 8♣ or 8♠ increasing the point value from 2 to 7.
- The 9♠ could be replaced with a 9♥ increasing the point value from 1 to 5.
- The 9♠ could be replaced with a 9♦ increasing the point value from 1 to 2.
- 5♠ and 6♠ can not be replaced, because nothing can increase their current value.
Cards that are replaced go to the current player’s hand.
The card that was put in play is owned by the current player.
Ownership
Single cards played to the board outside of a group are unowned.
Whenever an ownerless single becomes part of a group for any reason, the current player becomes its owner.
A card played as a replacement is owned by the current player.
Groups of cards that are moved or merged maintain their current ownership.
Turns
During their turn, players can perform any number of the following actions:
Play a card from their hand to the play area.
Move/merge a single or a group.
Replace cards in a group.
A player may end their turn at any time, after performing any number of actions (or no actions).
At the end of a player’s turn, they draw cards from their deck until they have 5 cards, or the deck is empty.
Final Scoring
The game ends when a player starts a turn with no cards in hand. The final score is then calculated for each player:
Add up the point values of their cards on the board.
Add 40 points for each joker on the board that they own.
Subtract 5 points for every card remaining in their hand or deck.
The player with the highest final score wins.
Playing with Physical Cards
Ownership is tracked by card orientation.
Player One places owned cards in the normal orientation.
Player Two rotates owned cards either 90° or 180° before placing them.
You can try to play with 3 or 4 players, each having a different card orientation.