Clear 4
Clear 4 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
120 cards (10x each number from 1-10; 7x PUSH, 7x JOKER, 6x CLEAR)
Setup
Shuffle all the cards and deal 20 cards to each player. Put the remaining cards back in the box unseen. You will not need them for this game.
Of your 20 cards (do not look at them yet!), you each put:
- 4 cards face-down (horizontally) in front of you.
- 1 more card face-down on top of each of those cards, this time vertically.
- 1 card face-up (vertically) on top of each of those stacks.
Everyone now has 4 stacks of 3 cards each in front of them.
- If you have done everything correctly, you should each have 8 cards left. Pick these cards up as your starting hand.
- Leave some space in the middle for a discard pile.
Aim of the game
The first player to discard all 20 of their cards wins!
Gameplay
Whoever cleaned up last starts and takes the first turn. On your turn, you have 3 options: A Playing number cards, B Playing a special card or C Passing. After your turn, the person to your left takes their turn.
A Playing number cards
- You may play one of your number cards OR multiple with the same number face-up onto the discard pile.
- Your played cards must individually have the same OR a lower numerical value than the topmost card of the discard pile. If there are currently no cards on the discard pile (like at the start of the game), you may play any value.
- When playing number cards, you may also use the JOKER:
JOKER: When you play the JOKER along with number cards, it assumes the value of the played cards. When you play it on its own, it assumes the value of the topmost card on the discard pile. If the JOKER is the first card played onto the discard pile, any value may be played after.
Your 4 stacks: You may always play face-up cards in front of you as if you had them in your hand. Thus, you may also play cards from your hand along with face-up cards from any of your stacks, given that they have the same value. When playing the face-up card from one of your 4 stacks, you may immediately turn the vertical card lying beneath face-up. If it has the same value as the card (or cards) you just played, you may play this one as well!
Attention: The final, horizontal card in each stack always stays face-down! This final card works differently (see The final card).
Keep cards of the same value fanned out on the discard pile at first, so that you can see when the fourth card of this value has been played.
CLEAR 4! If, after playing cards, there are 4 cards of the same value on the discard pile, you may clear the entire discard pile and take another turn. Put the cleared cards back in the box. There can never be more than 4 cards of the same value on the discard pile. Even if you could play more cards of the same value, you may play no more than the 4th card. It does not matter whether you played all 4 cards yourself or only completed the set of 4.
B Playing a special card
PUSH and CLEAR cards may only be played on their own. You play them instead of playing number cards.
PUSH: This special card may only be played on its own, but regardless of what is currently on the discard pile. Choose a person and push the entire discard pile towards them. They must add it to their hand. The PUSH card itself is out of the game and is put back in the box. This ends your turn.
CLEAR: This special card may only be played on its own, but regardless of what is currently on the discard pile. This special card allows you to immediately clear the entire discard pile. Then, you take another turn!
C Passing
If you cannot or choose not to play any cards (because, for example, you only have higher values in your hand), you must add the entire discard pile to your hand. This ends your turn.
After your turn, the person to your left takes their turn.
The final card
The final card in each stack (which is placed horizontally as a reminder) must always be played as the first card of your turn. You must also play it blindly: You may only reveal it once you decide to play it onto the discard pile. You only learn its value after you play it. Should you have more cards of the same value in your hand after playing it, you may (as always) play these cards along with it.
If the revealed card is a special card, play it according to its usual rules.
If you blindly play a card onto the discard pile that turns out to have a higher value than the topmost card there, you must add the entire discard pile to your hand. This ends your turn.
End of game
If you managed to play all 20 of your cards onto the discard pile, the game ends immediately and you win!
Attention: If you play a horizontal, face-down card as your last card and it "doesn't fit", you must add the entire discard pile to your hand and the game goes on!
You can also play the game across multiple rounds (e.g. equal to the number of players, so that everyone gets to start once). If you do, note down the number of remaining cards per person as negative points for that person at the end of each game. The winner is whoever has the fewest negative points at the end.
Example
Erica just played two 8s onto the discard pile (A). Peter plays the two 5s from his hand (B) along with the 5 from his stack (C).
He immediately turns the card below face-up and, how lucky, it's another 5, which he can play right along with the others (D)! Since there are now 4 cards of the same value in the center of the table, he clears the discard pile.
After Peter cleared the discard pile, it's his turn again. Now would be a good opportunity to play the face-down card (E)! But he chooses to play the two 10s (F) from his two middle stacks instead. After playing them, he once again turns the cards below face-up, revealing a 4 and a 1. He can't play anything else now and his turn is over.