Chipleader
Chipleader Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
DESCRIPTION OF THE GAME
In Chipleader players try to collect as many points as they can by making casino chips. They have to protect their casino chips against their opponents' attacks in an effort to become Chipleader.
Casino chips are made with chip-piece cards of different colors and values. Every chip-piece card has a quarter of a chip depicted on it.
Four chip-piece cards can form a casino chip. Only when a player has four chip-piece cards in her hand, that fit together to make one casino chip, can she place them on the table. However, she can only place the whole chip on the table, if she also has a casino card that indicates in which casino she obtained the chip. The value of a casino chip is equal to the sum of the four values on each of the chip-piece cards.
The value of a complete casino chip placed on the table can increase or decrease with the use of face cards. By playing these cards, a players' opponents can even entirely eliminate the value of one of her chips.
There are five different types of face cards: aces, kings, queens, jacks and jokers. These cards can be used to attack the face cards or the complete casino chips on the table from other players, and they also each have a special function (see "Playing Face Cards").
There are ten casino cards with five different famous gambling cities which you can visit. Five cities are placed in the draw pile of the chip-piece cards and five in the draw pile of the face cards.
To obtain chip-piece and face cards (and, thus, also casino cards) in a turn, a player first has to try to make sets with so-called suit cards. There are five types of such cards: spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs, and crowns.
Five suit cards are randomly placed face upwards alongside each other on the table. This row of cards is called the "gambling row". Each player also receives three suit cards at the beginning of the game. A player's suit cards are placed openly on the table.
A set is created whenever three, four or five suit cards of the same type are aligned in the gambling row.
Players form sets by placing suit cards on top of one or more of the five piles of cards in the gambling row. Dependent on the type and size of the set, a player is allowed to draw one or more chip-piece cards and/or face cards (see "The Values of the Suit Card Sets").
If a player cannot make a set with her own suit cards or does not want to do so, she can choose to have one or more suit cards in the gambling row 'replaced' by new ones from the draw pile. If she chooses this option, she first has to sacrifice one her own suit cards and place it on the discard pile. She can then choose one or more suit cards in the gambling row that she wants 'replaced'. The selected suit cards are not really replaced, but a new suit card from the draw pile is simply placed on top of them.
As long as a player has suit cards, she can try to make sets. She can do this either by placing one or more of her own cards in the gambling row, or by sacrificing one of her suit cards and then selecting one or more cards in the gambling row to be 'replaced' with cards from the draw pile. If a player has managed to make a set on her turn (whether of three, four or five cards), she is allowed to take one suit card from the draw pile which is then placed openly in front of her. If a player tries to make a set in the gambling row but is unsuccessful, her turn ends and she does not receive a new suit card. A player can also skip a turn. That is, she can choose not to gamble with her suit cards, so that she will not earn any new chip-piece, face or casino cards that turn. A player that skips her turn is allowed to take one suit card from the draw pile.
Unlike suit cards which are displayed openly on the table, a player holds chip-piece, face and casino cards in her hands. The maximum number of cards a player can hold is five. That maximum, however, is only relevant at the end of her turn. During her turn, a player might earn new cards so that the maximum is exceeded. This is not a problem as long as sufficiently many cards are played to bring the total to five or less at the end of her turn. If a player has too many cards at the end of her turn, she must place as many as needed on the discard piles to bring the total to five. She is free to choose whichever cards she prefers to discard in that case. A player can also only have a maximum of five suit cards. If a player has five suit cards on the table, she will need to gamble on her next turn and try to make sets.
The game ends when four of the five different casinos have been visited. In other words, as soon as four different casino cards are on the table, the game is over. The winner is the player who at that moment has the most points from her completed chips, and she is proclaimed as the Chipleader.
BEGINNING THE GAME
There are three decks of cards: a deck of chip-piece cards, a deck of face cards and deck of suit cards. Five different casino cards are placed in both the draw pile of chip-piece cards and the draw pile of face cards. Shuffle the three decks well. Next, take five cards from the suit card draw pile, and place them in a row on the table. This is the gambling row. The player whose birthday is nearest begins.
GAMEPLAY
On her turn, a player can try to form sets of three, four or five cards in the gambling row. She can do this by placing her own cards in the gambling row, or by sacrificing one of her suit cards and having one or more cards in the gambling row 'replaced' by suit cards from the draw pile. If a player chooses to sacrifice one of her own suit cards, she has to indicate beforehand which suit cards in the gambling row are to be 'replaced'. The new suit cards from the draw pile are placed on top of those selected in the gambling row.
[Diagram on manual page 7: a gambling row of five piles with arrows marking which piles are "replaced" by a new card placed on top; and a row of cards in which a set of three matching cards is outlined in red.]
Once a player has managed to make a set, she may, dependent on the size and type of the set, draw one or more cards from the chip-piece and face card draw piles. A player can also try to expand the set even further, so that she is allowed to draw an even higher number of cards. Chip-piece, face and casino cards that are acquired by making sets of cards may be played immediately. Once a player has made a set of suit cards in the gambling row, the order in which she continues to play is irrelevant. She can, if desired, first try to make another set. But she can also place chip-piece, face and casino cards first, and then try to make another set of suit cards afterwards.
There is no maximum to the number of sets of suit cards a player is allowed to make during a turn.
If a player has successfully made a first set on her turn, she may try to make another one. The suit cards in the gambling row that formed the set of three, four or five cards are then 'replaced' by new suit cards from the draw pile. When placing the new suit cards, one should always move from left to right along the gambling row.
[Diagram on manual page 8: a gambling row with a large arrow pointing left to right, showing the new suit cards being placed from left to right.]
With the newly placed suit cards, the player can then try to make another set. If, after replacing the cards, a new set happens to be in the gambling row, a player can either try to expand on it or immediately collect the cards for it. Once she has collected her cards, the three, four or five suit cards in the set are again 'replaced' with new cards from the draw pile. A player is only allowed to play chip-piece, face and casino cards if she has been able to make at least one set of suit cards in the gambling row. If she tried unsuccessfully to make a set, she does not receive any new suit cards at the end of her turn. A player can also skip her turn. She then receives one suit card from the draw pile, but is not allowed to place any chip-piece, face or casino cards. A player can only place a completed casino chip on the table if she also has a casino card.
NOTE: If the draw pile of suit cards runs out, all the suit cards of the gambling row, except for those on top of the five piles, are shuffled to form a new draw pile.
THE VALUES OF SUIT CARD SETS
There are five types of suit cards: spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds, and crowns. Dependant on the type and size of the set, the player can draw one or more cards from the chip-piece and/or face card draw piles.
The manual's reference card lists the following (x3, x4 and x5 are the sizes of the set):
- Spades: 3x spades = 1 card; 4x spades = 3 cards; 5x spades = 5 cards
- Hearts: 3x hearts = 1 card; 4x hearts = 3 cards; 5x hearts = 5 cards
- Clubs: 3x clubs = 1 card; 4x clubs = 3 cards; 5x clubs = 5 cards
- Diamonds: 3x diamonds = 3 cards; 4x diamonds = 5 cards; 5x diamonds = 7 cards
- Crowns: 3x crowns = 5 cards; 4x crowns = 10 cards; 5x crowns = 15 cards
PLAYING FACE CARDS
There are five types of face cards: aces, kings, queens, jacks and jokers. There are a number of strategic possibilities with face cards.
Face cards can be placed above a completed chip if there is not another face card already there. They can also attack face cards already in place above any completed chip. All the face cards have special functions. For kings, queens, and jacks these kick in if they are placed above completed chips. Aces and Jokers have to be sacrificed for the special function to kick in.
A first use of face cards is to attack face cards that have been placed either above your completed chips or those of an opponent. (Note that there can only ever be a maximum of one face card in place above a completed chip.)
The rank order with attacks is as follows: an ace beats a joker, a king [beats] a queen and a jack; a king beats a queen and a jack; a queen beats a jack; a jack beats no one; a joker can only beat an ace; a face card can never beat another face card of the same ranking.
Note: the printed line reads "a king" followed by "a queen and a jack"; the verb "beats" is missing from the printed text and is supplied in brackets above.
If you defeat a face card on the table with one of your own face cards, both face cards are placed on the discard pile. Even if you are victorious in battle, that is, your face card does not remain on the table, but is placed on the discard pile.
The face cards are also used defensively. You can place a face card above a completed chip if there are no other face cards. This prevents opponents from placing face cards with an identical or lower rank above that chip. In practice, only ace, king and queen face cards have any real defensive use.
In addition to their attacking and defensive uses, face cards also each have a special function:
[Diagram on manual page 11: the five face cards fanned out, with the ace's special-function bar circled.]
Instead of attacking a face card on the table or defending a completed chip, an Ace can also be used by a player to look into the cards an opponent is holding in her hands, and to take one for herself. Once used in this manner, the ace goes on the discard pile.
If a King is placed above a completed chip on the table, it not only defends that chip against face cards of equal or lower rankings. The person who played the king may on that turn, if she chooses to, take the lowest valued cards in each of the four chip-piece piles and place them on top.
Placing a Queen above a casino chip allows players to place chip-piece cards from their hands on top of one or more of the existing ones. In this way, players can increase or decrease the value of the completed chip. As long as the queen is there, players can add chip-piece cards when it's their turn. The queen, of course, also defends the chip against face cards of identical and lower ranking.
If a Jack is placed above a completed casino chip, the chip has no value. Only if the Jack is defeated by a higher ranking card does the chip regain its value.
The Joker can be used to remove one chip-piece card from an opponent's chip that is on the table. The joker is then placed in the discard pile. The player who used the joker keeps the chip-piece card he removed. The player who had a chip-piece card taken from her can keep her chip on the table if she has another chip-piece card in her hand that can be placed there. Otherwise she has to take the three remaining chip-piece cards in her hand. If she now has more than five cards, she has to place some on the discard pile until she has only five left. The casino card stays on the table. The next player who has four chip-piece cards can use it to place a chip on the table. If there was an old chip-piece card under the chip-piece card that was removed by the player who used the joker, then the chip remains intact on the table. Of course a joker can also be used to beat an ace.
GAME TACTICS
Look to the suit cards of the player immediately after you before finishing your turn. It could be that the next player can create a set in the gambling row without needing to take a gamble. (i.e., without needing to sacrifice one of her suit cards to 'replace' any on the gambling row).
Whenever you have a completed chip on the table for which you have not yet placed higher valued chip-piece cards on top, it could be worthwhile to defend it with a king. After all, only an ace can defeat a king.
Whenever a queen is placed above one of your completed casino chip, not only you but also your opponents can place their chip-piece cards on top of the existing ones. Ensure, therefore, that, when you play a queen on your own chip piece, you defeat it with a higher ranking card as soon as possible.
Be frugal with your joker. Only the joker can defeat an ace.
An ace is the best way to protect your casino chip because only the joker can defeat it. But remember that you can also use your ace to look into the cards of an opponent and take one for yourself. Your opponent might just have a casino card in his hands that would allow you to end the game quickly if it allows you to place a complete chip on the table.
If you use all your suit cards in a turn, you will have to skip the next turn simply because you do not have suit cards to make sets in the gambling row. Ensure, therefore, that you gamble wisely!