Are you keeping an eye on the cards in sight ? Only the players aware of what the others are scheming will score points in this card game!
The more cards of the same color on the table, the more chances you have of scoring points . However , if there are too many of that color, they will be worthless!
Components
- 20 blue cards
- 20 green cards,
- 20 yellow cards
- 20 orange cards
- 20 violet cards
- Instructions
Among these cards, 5 have a Kododo icon worth 1 point each, 6 cards are worth 2 points, 5 cards are worth 3 points, 2 are worth 4 points, 1 is worth 5 points and 1 is worth 6 points.
A Kododo is a beautiful turquoise colored lizard found on the islands of Curacao and Aruba.
Setup
Shuffle the cards and randomly remove a certain number of cards, face down, according to the number of players (see chart).
Discard these cards in the box. They will not be used during the game.
Distribute 5 face-down cards to each player. Make a face-down draw pile with the remaining cards. Place the draw pile in the middle of the table within reach of all players.
Game Play
The game is played over several rounds. On each round, each player will play a total of 4 cards over 3 turns: 2 cards on the first turn, and 1 on the two following turns. After each turn, replenish your hand in order to always have 5 cards.
There is a scoring phase at the end of each round. Is there an exact number of Kododo cards in play? If not, which color is in majority?
The game goes on like this until the draw pile is empty and each player has only one card remaining in hand.
The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
1. Play Cards
First Turn
Each player chooses 2 cards from their hand and places them face down in front of them. When all players have done the same, all cards are revealed at the same time. Each player then draws 2 cards to replenish their hand to 5 cards.
Second And Third Turn
On each turn, each player chooses one card and places it, face down, in front of them. When all players have done the same, all cards are revealed at the same time. At the end of each turn, each player draws 1 card.
At the end of the 3rd turn, each player has 4 face-up cards in front of them and 5 cards in hand.
2. Evaluating and scoring a round
At the end of the round, proceed to the scoring phase. Is there an exact number of Kododo cards in play? If not, which color is in the majority? Either way, you will keep the valuable cards in a face-down score pile. The other played cards are put on the discard pile. The next round begins.
The scoring at the end of a round is performed in this order:
- First, is there an exact number of Kododo cards in play?
- If not, which color is in the majority?
A. Kododo Cards
If an exact number of Kododo cards was played, only the Kododo cards are scored. This number corresponds to the number of players + 2 (see chart).
Each player who played Kododo cards adds them to their face down score pile in front of them. All other played cards are discarded. Then, the next round begins.
Example: In a 4-player game, exactly 6 Kododo cards were played. Consequently, only these cards are scored.
B. Color Majority
If the exact number of Kododo cards was not played, determine the most played color. For each color, count the number of cards played by all players during this round.
Each player takes the cards from the color in majority in front of them and adds them to their face down score pile. The value indicated on each card represents the points gained. The remaining cards in play are put in the discard pile. Then, the next round begins.
Attention!
Two situations may alter the evaluation of the color majority: - the color or colors who are in the majority reach or exceed the limit;
some colors are tied for the majority.
Limit
The limit varies according to the number of players. It corresponds to the number of players + 3 (see chart).
A color for which the total number of cards played by all players is equal or superior to the limit brings no points during this round. All cards from this color must be discarded. Proceed to determine the next color majority on the table.
Example: In a 4-player game, 8 green cards were played. This number exceeds the limit of 7 cards. Consequently, all green cards are discarded. The next majority color is yellow with 4 cards. Only these cards will score points.
In case of a tie
In case of a tie for the majority between more than one color, all cards from these colors are discarded. Determine the next color majority. If you are not able to find such color, no one scores points and all played cards are discarded.
Example 1: Both yellow and green are tied with 5 cards each. The next color majority is orange with 3 cards. Only these 3 orange cards are scored.
Example 2: In this case, yellow and green are tied. The next color majority cannot be determined because blue, orange and violet also are all tied and thus no cards bring points during this round.
End of the Game
As soon as the draw pile is depleted, play a last round with the remaining 5 cards in hand, without, of course, replenishing your hand between each turn. Discard your last card in hand. Each player adds up the value of the cards in their score pile.
The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most cards in their score pile wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.
Variant for a longer game
Each time the draw pile is exhausted, keep the score of each player on a sheet of paper.
At that point, if no player has reached or exceeded 50 points, keep playing.
Shuffle all 100 cards, remove the number of cards according to the number of players, as indicated in the chart on page 2, and start a new round.
From now on, as soon as a player reaches or exceeds a total of 50 points at the end of a round, the game ends.
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