Allegra
Allegra Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
Collect cards, swap them, then get rid of some of them by combining them. But do not forget to tap at the right moment to recover the cards that interest you! Your goal? Obtain the lowest score possible with your 15 cards over three rounds.
Components
- 120 cards ranging from -1 to 11:
- 8 of each of -1, 0, 1, 2, 3
- 11 of each of 4, 5, 6, 7
- 9 of each of 8, 9, 10, 11
- 6 wooden discs
- 1 rulebook
Remember to prepare a sheet of paper and a pen to note your points (not included in the box).
Setup
The player whose birthday was most recent shuffles all the cards and deals 12 to each player, face down. One disc is also given to each player.
Attention! Do not look at your cards yet!
Each player places their 12 cards face down in front of them, forming a grid of 3 rows by 4 columns.
The remaining cards form a draw pile in the middle of the table.
Reveal the top card of the draw pile and place it next to the pile, face up: this is the first card of the discard pile.
Each player then reveals 2 cards of their choice from their 15 cards (12 + 3).
Where are these 15 cards?
Each player therefore has the 12 cards forming the grid in front of them, but also 3 cards from the column to the right of their left neighbor. Keep in mind that your 15 cards count: do not look only at the 12 cards in front of you.
Example:
- Player A also plays with the right-hand column of their left neighbor (Player B).
- The right-hand player (Player D) also plays with the right-hand column of Player A.
- Each player places a red disc above the column shared with their neighbor.
- The other 3x3 cards in front of each player belong only to them.
Course of the Game
Play proceeds clockwise.
The neighbor to the left of the player who dealt the cards begins. That player will deal the cards in the next round.
The active player performs their actions in the following order:
1. Draw a card
The active player chooses to draw the first card of the draw pile (face down) or the discard pile (face up). This card must be shown to all the other players.
2. Swap or discard the card
The active player then decides either to keep or to discard the card they have just drawn.
- If they discard it, they must reveal 1 card that is face down among their 15 cards.
- If they decide to keep it, they swap it with one of their 15 cards (which is face up or face down) for the card they have just drawn. The swapped card is placed on the discard pile face up.
How does the "tap" action work?
If the active player decides to draw a card from the draw pile, the other players may tap the table once this card has been revealed.
Any player can tap the table to indicate to the active player that this card interests them and that they would like it. Attention: do not use the "tap" action in a 2-player game!
- If the active player agrees, they give this card to the tapper (the player who tapped).
- The tapper then swaps one of their 15 cards (of their choice) for the card drawn by the player. They temporarily keep in hand the card they take from the active player (which they will place back later).
- If this action allows the tapper to get rid of 3 identical and adjacent cards, they may immediately discard them (see 3. Get rid of cards).
- The active player then takes 1 card of their choice from the tapper's cards (face up or face down). They swap this card with one of their own cards. The card they swapped is thus discarded (goes on the discard pile).
- The tapper places the card they hold in their hands face up in the place where the card the active player took from them was.
If several players tap at the same time, the active player may choose to whom they wish to give their card.
- If the active player does not wish to give their card, they continue their turn as indicated in point 2.
Otherwise, their turn ends after having possibly gotten rid of their identical and adjacent cards (see 3. Get rid of cards).
- Important! You may only tap when the card comes from the draw pile. You may not tap for a card coming from the discard pile!
- A player may not tap if they have only 3 cards left (among their 15 cards) or if they have already played their last turn of the game.
3. Get rid of cards
Row of 3 identical cards: As soon as the active player has 3 identical and adjacent cards revealed in one of their rows, they may immediately get rid of them (the discards).
Column of 3 identical cards: As soon as the active player has 3 identical and adjacent cards revealed in one of their columns, they may immediately get rid of them (the discards).
If a new card completes both a row and a column, the active player must decide whether to get rid of the row or the column.
Attention! Empty spaces appear when you get rid of cards. Ignore them!
For example, after having gotten rid of a column of identical and adjacent cards (1), a new group of identical and adjacent cards may appear on a row (2). Get rid of it as well.
Do not forget to take into account the cards adjacent to your 5th column. The right-hand column of your left neighbor is in fact adjacent to your left-hand column, since these cards are part of your 15 cards.
If the active player decides to keep the card they have drawn, and therefore to swap it with one of their 15 cards, it is only after having gotten rid of their identical and adjacent cards that they may discard the swapped card.
On the other hand, if the active player decides to discard the card they have drawn and then reveals by chance a row or a column of 3 identical and adjacent cards, they get rid of them by placing them on top of the previously discarded card, on the discard pile.
End of the Round and Scoring
A round ends as soon as a player has revealed or gotten rid of all 15 of their cards.
The other players still play one last turn.
It is possible that a player reveals the last face-down card of another player during this last turn, but this does not change the rule: only one last turn is played before the round ends. The player whose cards have all been revealed then plays their last turn.
After this last turn, reveal all your cards that would still be face down. Even if new rows or columns of 3 identical cards appear, you can no longer get rid of them!
Add up the values of your 15 cards. Write down the sum on a sheet. The player who obtains the lowest result wins the round.
The game is played in three rounds. Then add up the points of each round: the player with the lowest total score wins the game.
What happens when a player has no more face-down cards among their 15 cards?
- They can no longer perform actions.
- The first player to have revealed all their cards triggers the last turn of the round. They must be the player who finishes with the lowest score (without a tie with another player), otherwise all their positive points are doubled!
On the other hand, if their score is negative, it is divided by 2, which means there can be scores with half-points.
Specifics
- It is possible to negotiate between players and to give each other advice.
- The cards of the "common" column (indicated by the red disc) obviously count in the score of the 2 players concerned.
- If a player manages to get rid of all their 15 cards, they get a bonus of -10 points!
- Do not use the "tap" action if you play with only 2 players.
- When playing with 2 or 3 players, remove 2 cards of each value to play with only 94 cards.
Variants
- You can choose the total number of rounds, provided you agree with the other players before the start of the game.
- It is also possible to set a point limit, for example 66 or 77. As soon as a player reaches this number or exceeds it, the game stops and the player with the lowest score wins.
- It is also possible to play ALLEGRA without the "tap" action when you play with young children.