Components

  • 50 Victory Cards
  • 20 Border Cards (Silver/Grey Backs)
  • 48 Hand Cards
  • 5 Kicker Cards-


Setup

(see the following illustration)



Shuffle the full deck of Victory Cards, and deal out 16 of them face-up in a 4x4 grid.

Place the 20 Border Cards around the grid (as shown in the illustration below). The Border Cards divide the grid into rows (marked by the letters A-D), columns (marked by the numbers 1-4), and corner regions (marked by Spades, Clubs, Diamonds, and Hearts).

Each row, column, and region contains four Victory Cards at the beginning of the game.

Shuffle and give each player a Kicker Card face down and at random. Players may look at these, but keep them secret. Give each player one set of 12 Hand Cards (same colored back).

Each player should shuffle their own deck of 12 cards and draw an initial hand of four cards.


Cards


Victory Cards


Border Cards


Hand Cards


Kicker Cards



Game Play

Randomly choose a starting player. Play moves clockwise around the table.

On your turn, play a Hand Card face-up on the table in front of you, and then take a Victory Card from the corresponding row, column, or region. Place the Victory Card you take on top of a single stack (which will grow as the game progresses) in front of you.

Every card you take must match either the color or the shape (or both) displayed on top of your stack (see illustration below).

On your first turn of the game, you may begin your stack with whatever card you wish to take.

Leave the Hand Card that you played face-up on the table in front of you in a stack (see below). After you take your turn, draw a new card from your deck of Hand Cards. When you draw your last card, shuffle all of your played Hand Cards into a new deck.




If you are unable to take any Victory Card that matches either the color or the shape on top of your stack, you may either pass your turn without playing or drawing any new Hand Card, or you may play your Kicker Card (see Kicker Card rules below).


Kicker Card

Instead of playing a Hand Card, you may play your Kicker Card on top of your stack of Victory Cards, regardless if it matches the top card or not.

On your next turn you must match the color or the symbol on your Kicker Card in order to pick up a Victory Card (just like before). If played on your stack of Victory Cards, the Kicker Card does not count towards your final score.

If you did not use your Kicker Card, you add one point to your final score.


End of the Game

When all players have passed, the round is over. Replenish the board to 16 Victory Cards.

Leave all the remaining Victory Cards where they are, and fill in all the empty spaces on the board with new Victory Cards from the deck. Play begins with the player to the left of whoever passed last.

When there are not enough Victory Cards left in the deck to completely replenish the board, the game ends.

The player with the most cards in his or her stack of Victory Cards wins. (Remember that your Kicker Card does not count if played on your Victory Card stack, but it adds one point if you never played it).

Play as many rounds as there are players, so that each player gets a chance to take the first turn of the round.

Record how many Victory Cards you have in your stack at the end of each round, take into account the Kicker Card. The player with the highest total score for all rounds is the winner.

In the event of a tie, the tied players share in the victory


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