A simple card game for 2 to 5 players about building staircases.
A game typically lasts for about 10 minutes (5 minutes if you are experienced players).
What you need in order to play
- Common playing cards (52).
- 2 to 5 players.
- A table or similarly flat surface to place cards on.
Setup
- The oldest player is the dealer. If you play multiple matches, the winner of the previous round starts, and the loser becomes the dealer.
- The dealer shuffles all of the cards.
- The dealer deals cards in clockwise direction until all players have 5 cards, dealing to the starting player first.
- The dealer places the remaining cards in a pile facing down in the middle of the table. This is the depot pile.
- The dealer takes the top card off of the depot pile and places it facing up next to it. This is the scrap pile.
- Players may now view their cards.
- The first player takes their turn – The youngest player starts.
- Turns are taken in clockwise direction.
Turn
- The player with the turn must perform one of the following actions:
> BUILD <
- Pick a card on your hand and add it to your staircase by placing it face up in front of you. If you already have one or more cards in your staircase, simply add the card to the staircase on its right side. The cards in your staircase must be visible to all players.
> SCRAP <
- Pick a card on your hand to scrap and place it facing up on top of the scrap pile.
- Pick a card on your hand and add it to your staircase.
- Draw the top card from the depot pile to your hand.
> RECYCLE <
- Pick a card on your hand and place it on top of the depot pile facing down (without revealing the card to other players).
- Add the top card of the scrap pile to your staircase (there must be at least one card in the scrap pile in order to perform this action).
> INTERFERE < (optional extra action most suitable for a player count of 3 and above).
- Pick two cards on your hand and reveal them to everyone. Pick a player who must choose one of the two cards to add to their staircase.
- The card that was not chosen must then be placed face up on top of the scrap pile.
Important rules
- The game is over once no players have any cards left on their hands. At this moment points should be counted and compared to determine a winner.
- A player must pass their turn if they have no cards left.
- All cards added to staircases must be kept visible to all players.
- The winner is the player with the staircase that has the highest value of points.
Points
Once the game is over and no players have cards left on their hand. The winner is the player with the staircase that has the highest value of points.
Counting the base value of your staircase
- Cards from 2 up to and including 10 are worth 10 points.
- Jack, Queen, and King are worth 20 points.
- Ace is worth 30 points.
Counting the bonus value of your staircase
A sequence is a range of cards that have 3 or more cards that are in order. For example 3, 4 and 5.
- A sequence of 3 cards = +30 points.
- A sequence of 4 cards = +40 points.
- A sequence of 5 cards = +50 points.
The total score of your staircase is the base value plus the bonus value.
Example
The following is an example of a game over scenario between two players. The top player has a base score of 180, and a bonus score of 40 due to the sequence of 4 cards, resulting in a total score of 220 points.
The bottom player has a base score of 80 and a bonus score of 30 due to the sequence of 3 cards.
The top player wins in this example.
