New Rule

Introduction: In this speedy game of furtive point-grabbing, players attempt to rob as many points as they can from their opponents before the round ends and are they are forced to atone for their greed. Sin is a dangerous game when the reckoning could occur at any time!

Players: 2-4

Materials: One deck of standard playing cards.

Setting Up: Shuffle the deck and deal seven cards to each player, placing the remainder in the center of the table as a reserve pile. Designate a first player; play proceeds to the left.

How to Play: Play proceeds in round during which players play their cards and attempt to make sets from the cards already on the table. However, at any point, a player may play the God card and force an end to the round and a reckoning for all the other players’ “sins,” or incomplete set-building attempts.

Beginning with the first player, the active player chooses a card from their hand and lays it on the table in front of them either face-up or face-down. Face-up cards are “innocent” cards and may be used by any player at any time. Face-down cards are “damned” cards and may only be used by the player who played them. A player may have as many innocent cards on the table as they wish, but only three damned cards at a time. Players must play one and only one card into their board per turn.

After they play their card, they may attempt to create a set, defined as one of these specific hands common to Poker: one pair, two pair, three-of-a-kind, four-of-a-kind, or four-card straight flush. Sets can be formed from any combination of cards from any player’s board, as long as the set includes at least one card from the active player’s board and at least one card from another player’s board. In other words, no set can be formed using only the player’s own cards or using only other players’ cards. The active player declares a set and collects the cards from the other players, setting them aside out of play into a private set deck. Sets are scored as soon as they are made (see Winning the Game, below). Players may use their own damned cards to form sets.

Players may form a maximum of one set per turn. Once a player has played their card and formed up to one set, their turn is concluded and the next player may begin. Play continues in this way until someone plays a God card or the round ends in total damnation (see below). If players are able to play six of their seven cards before a God card is played, the game is paused while the reserve pile is dealt out equally to all players (set aside any remainders out of play).

The God Card: The four Kings in the deck are God cards, and playing one face-up immediately stops play and initiates the reckoning (note that God cards played face-down do not initiate a reckoning). In the reckoning, each player’s board of cards is collected and tabulated as follows:

• If the player has formed no sets, each of their cards is worth its value in negative points. All face cards are worth -10. Tabulate the value and deduct it from the player’s score.
• If the player has formed at least one set, reveal all the cards in their set deck. If any of these match any of their board cards in value, the board card is worth twice its value in negative points.
• If the player has any damned cards on their board, these are worth double their value in negative points on their own, and quadruple if they also happen to match a card from the player’s set deck.
• If the player has a God card face-down on their board, they are forgiven and receive no negative points for the round.

Once a reckoning had occurred and penalties assessed, collect all the cards and deal a new round. The player who played the God card will go first in the new round.

Total Damnation: Since God cards can be played face-down, it is possible for a round to end with all players running out of cards before a God card appears face-up. This is called total damnation: if and when it occurs, every card a player holds either in their board or in their set deck is worth its value in negative points. Note that this means that any sets made during the round now count as individual penalty cards, despite whatever positive point value they had when they were formed into sets. Face-down God cards are worth twenty negative points. No double penalties for matching board-to-set cards or for damned cards occurs in total damnation — each card is worth its value only.

Winning the Game: Sets are scored as they are formed, as follows:

• One pair: six points.
• Two pair: fourteen points.
• Three-of-a-kind: twenty-two points.
• Four-of-a-kind: thirty points.
• Four-card straight flush: forty points.

The first player to reach two hundred points is the winner.

Tags: Game Design //