Absolutely Aces
Absolutely Aces Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Absolutely Aces is a WWI dogfighting game for two, played with twelve cards. Each card has a number in the upper-left corner and the name of the card on top. Each card can block certain cards and can be blocked by certain cards, as indicated in the "Play to Block" and "Blocked By" sections of the card. Each player has a Hand and a Reserve.
The game is played over several Rounds until one player scores 15 or more points.
Flow of Play (1)
START OF ROUND: Shuffle the deck and deal each player five cards. Each player secretly chooses and reveals one card, simultaneously. The player who chose the higher-numbered card discards it and will go first. The other player's card is placed in the first's Reserve. Both players reveal their cards (Hands are open).
A. Clear space for two opposing open Hands of five cards each and space for a discard pile and two opposing Reserves of a single card each. Only the first player begins with a card in Reserve.
ON YOUR GO: Play an eligible card from your Hand to your opponent's Reserve. Then, take the card from your Reserve (if any) into your Hand. On the first player's first go, any card is eligible; after that, each player MUST play a card that BLOCKS the card just played, or must play a PAIR.
B. First Go, first player: Play any card in your Hand to your opponent's empty Reserve. If your play is successful, take the card in your Reserve into your Hand. Your Reserve is now empty.
C. First Go, second player and so on: Play any card in your Hand that blocks the card in your Reserve to your opponent's empty Reserve. If your play is successful, take the card in your Reserve into your Hand.
Flow of Play (2)
PAIRS: If your Hand has two cards of the same type (e.g., both ROLL cards), you may play BOTH at once to block ANY card. Instead of placing the Pair in your opponent's Reserve, remove the two cards from the game. Only two Pairs total can be played in a Round; you cannot play a Pair if it would be the third played that Round.
D. Play the Pair to your opponent's Reserve until your opponent plays a card to block the pair's card type. Then remove the pair to the discard pile rather than allowing your opponent to take it.
SCORING: When a player is unable to Block, they lose the Round. The other player scores points equal to the value of the last card they played, plus one extra point if the card was a Heart instead of a Spade. If a player wins the Round by playing a Pair, they score 2 points only.