Clumsy Room Maids

Clumsy Room Maids Rulebook

Table of Contents

Overview

"Clumsy Room Maids" is a trick-taking game for 2-4 players. You play as slightly clumsy hotel room maids. Your main tasks include "Bed-Making", "Room Service", and "Laundry Service."

In an effort to earn praise from your manager, you take on as many tasks as possible. However, your manager is a bit of a handful — he gives out vague instructions, yet he's strangely picky about the details. You'll only earn high praise when you complete exactly the amount of work he expects — no more, no less!

In this game, the number of tricks you win represents the amount of work you've accepted. (not completed) At the start of each round, you'll place three cards from your hand in front of you — these cards indicate your work quota (number of tasks you aim to complete) for the round. Sometimes, though, you might not complete all the work you agreed to... and sneakily slack off instead.

You can choose which three cards to place in front of you, but you must make your decision while your hand is still being dealt. Embrace the unpredictability and enjoy the challenge of making your best guess on the fly!

This game is played individually in 2- or 3-player games, and in teams when played with 4 players. We'll start by explaining the rules for a 3-player game, then go over the differences for 2- and 4-player variants.

1. Components

Cards:

1 Leader Card
9 Task Cards (double-sided)
4 Memo Cards
30 Playing Cards (hereafter referred to as "Cards")

There is one card each of numbers 0 through 9 in three colors: blue, orange, and purple. (The colors are referred to as "Suits", and the numbers as "Ranks.") The rank 6 card in each suit is called a "Slacker Card".

Each card features an icon on both sides — either "◇", "I", or "II" — depending on its suit. When used as bidding cards, these icons represent how many tricks you predict to win in that round: "◇" for "0 wins", "I" for "1 win", and "II" for "2 wins". The icons assigned to each suit are as follows:

Purple (Bed-Making): II (2 wins)
Orange (Room Service): I (1 win)
Blue (Laundry Service): ◇ (0 wins)

Additionally, have a method ready to keep track of each player's score. (e.g., pen and paper or game tokens)

Glossary of Terms

Trick: A "Trick" refers to the sequence where, starting with the lead player, each player takes turns playing one card face-up. Once all players have played a card, the winner of the trick is determined.
Trump Suit: A "Trump Suit" is a suit that takes priority when determining the winner of a trick. In this game, one suit is designated as the trump for each round. (though some rounds may have no trump at all)
Round: A "Round" consists of playing tricks until all players have used up their hands. In this game, each round consists of 6 tricks, and the game is played over 3 rounds total.
Bid: Before each round, players must predict "how many tasks (i.e., tricks) they will complete" — this prediction is called a "Bid." In this game, players make their bid by selecting three cards from their hand to represent the number of tricks they predict to win.

2. Setup

2.1. Game Setup

Before starting the first round, complete the following steps:

Adjust the number of cards used according to the number of players:
- 4 Players: all 3 suits, ranks 0-9 (30 cards total)
- 2, 3 Players: all 3 suits, ranks 0, 2-9 (27 cards total)
For 2 or 3 players, the rank 1 cards from each suit are not used — return them to the box.
Each player receives three task cards and one memo card. Return any extras to the box. Place the three task cards in a horizontal row in front of you with the white-bordered side facing up. Place your memo card next to them.
Choose the start player by any suitable method. The start player takes the leader card and places it in front of them.

2.2. Round Setup

At the beginning of each round, follow these steps:

Shuffle all cards face-down thoroughly to form a draw pile. Do not deal the cards yet — place the pile in the center of the table.
Each player takes their memo card and holds it as part of their hand.
Check the trump suit for the round:
- Round 1: purple (II)
- Round 2: orange (I)
- Round 3: no trump suit

3. Round Flow

Each round begins with the "Distribution Phase", during which you must prepare your hand and place your bid at the same time. Next comes the "Trick-Taking Phase". Once all players have played all the cards in their hands, proceed to scoring at the end of the round.

3.1. Distribution Phase

During the distribution phase, players take turns in clockwise order starting with the player holding the leader card.

On your turn, draw one card from the draw pile and look at its front side privately.

Then, you must choose one of the following three actions (a-c) to perform with the drawn card. Each player will take 9 turns in this phase, and must perform each of the actions (a, b, and c) a specified number of times — this is mandatory.

Once all players have taken their 9 turns and the draw pile is empty, proceed to "3.2. Trick-Taking Phase." At this point, each player should have six cards in their hand and three bid cards placed in front of them.

a. Add it to your hand (5 times) Declare "I'll keep this card," and add the card directly to your hand. If you already have six cards in your hand (including your memo card), you cannot choose this action.

b. Add it to the left player's hand (1 time) Declare "I'll give this card to the left player." Then, place the drawn card face down, along with the memo card in your hand, in front of the player to your left. You cannot choose this action if your memo card is not in your hand. The left player adds only the drawn card to their hand. The memo card remains in front of them.

c. Use it as one of your bid cards (3 times) Declare "I'll use this for my bid," and place the drawn card on top of one of your task cards. From this point on, any card placed on a task card is referred to as a "Bid Card." If you already have three bid cards placed, you cannot choose this action.

Important: The first player to place their first bid card takes the leader card. Take it from the current holder. (or keep it if you already have it) This player will be the lead player for the first trick in the upcoming "Trick-Taking Phase".

How to Place a Bid

The total number of tasks you are aiming to complete this round is determined by adding up the icons shown on your three bid cards. Ignore the rank of the cards — you only count the icons.

For example, if you place one purple (II), one orange (I), and one blue (◇), your predicted number of wins is 2 + 1 + 0 = 3. If you aim to win all tricks, place three purple (II) cards. If you plan to win 0 tricks, place three blue (◇) cards.

When placing a bid card, you have two options: you can place it face-up or face-down.

You do not need to place all three bid cards the same way — you may decide whether to place each one face-up or face-down individually as you go. Also, whether a card is face-up or face-down does not affect your bidding number. (number of tasks you aim to complete)

c-1. Standard Bid (Placed Face-Down) Place the bid card face-down, overlapping the lower half of the corresponding Task Card. (the manager's side) At any time during the game, you may check the front of your own face-down bid cards.

c-2. Appeal Bid (Placed Face-Up) Place the bid card face-up, overlapping the upper half of the corresponding Task Card. (the maid's side) Making an appeal bid increases the number of points you earn if your bid is successful. However, if you fail, all other players will gain points. (See "3.3. End of Round & Scoring" for details.)

3.2. Trick-Taking Phase

After the distribution phase ends, begin the trick-taking phase. Each round consists of 6 tricks. After the 6th trick is completed, proceed to "3.3. End of Round & Scoring."

Each trick is played by following the steps outlined in 3.2.1-3.2.3, in order. The player who currently holds the leader card is the first lead player of the round.

3.2.1. Playing Cards

The lead player plays one card from their hand face-up. The suit of this card is called the "Lead suit."

Then, in clockwise order, the other players each play one card, following suit. ("Must-Follow" rule)

Must-Follow If you have one or more cards in your hand that match the lead suit, you must play one of them. Only if you have no cards of the lead suit may you play a card of any other suit. (including the trump suit)

3.2.2. Determining the Winner

Once all players have played one card, determine the winner of the trick.

The player who played the highest-ranked card in the lead suit wins the trick.

However, if one or more players played a trump suit card, the winner is the player who played the highest-ranked card in the trump suit.

The winner of the trick becomes the lead player for the next trick.

Special Winning Condition (Rank 0): If both the rank 9 and the rank 0 card of the lead suit are played in the same trick, the player who played the rank 0 card wins the trick. (However, if any trump suit cards are played, the winner is still determined by the highest-ranked trump as usual.) If both the rank 9 and the rank 0 card of the trump suit are played in the same trick, the player who played the rank 0 trump card wins.

3.2.3. Collecting Tricks

The winner of the trick takes all the played cards, turns them face-down, and stacks them in a single pile placed vertically in front of them. This vertical stack represents the tasks you "accepted and successfully completed."

If you have already won previous tricks, place the new stack next to the others so it's easy to see how many tasks you've completed this round. Note: You may not look at the faces of the cards you have collected afterward.

Slacker Card (Rank 6): If the player who wins the trick used a rank 6 slacker card, they must collect all the played cards, turn them face-down, and place them in a horizontal stack in front of them. Horizontal stacks represent tasks that were "accepted but not completed." The winner still becomes the lead player for the next trick.

Note: If only the non-winning players played rank 6 cards, the winner stacks the collected cards vertically, as usual.

Example of Play

We are currently in round 1, and the trump suit is purple. In the first trick, players A, B, and C played cards as shown in example (a): A played orange 3, B played orange 8, C played orange 9 (Break Time card). Since orange 8 is the highest-ranked card in the lead suit, player B wins the trick.

Player B becomes the lead player for the next trick. In the second trick, players played as shown in example (b): B played orange 7, C played purple 6, A played orange 4. This time, since a trump suit card was played, the trick is won by the highest trump: purple 6, played by player C. Because player C won using a rank 6 card, they place the collected cards horizontally to show that they accepted the task but slacked off.

In the third trick, led by player C, players played as shown in example (c): C played purple 2, A played purple 9, B played purple 0. Since both rank 0 and rank 9 of the lead suit (purple) were played, player B, who played purple 0, wins the trick.

3.3. End of Round & Scoring

After 6 tricks have been played and all players have no cards left in hand, the round ends.

Each player earns points based on the following criteria. Be sure to keep track of each player's score for the round using your preferred method.

3.3.1. Number of Accepted Tasks

You earn 1 point for each task you accept. (each trick you won during this round)

Note: You also earn 1 point for any trick won with a rank 6 slacker card, even though it counts as a slacked-off task.

3.3.2. Bid Points

At this point, each player reveals all of their standard bid cards. Be careful not to mix them with any appeal bid cards, which should already be face-up. Then, check whether the player's bid was successful.

Note: Unlike earlier scoring (3.3.1), tricks won with rank 6 slacker cards do not count toward fulfilling your bid.

Successful Bid If the total value of your three bid cards matches exactly the number of completed tasks (i.e., the number of vertically stacked piles in front of you), your bid is considered successful.

The number of points awarded for a successful bid depends on how many players succeed in their bids:

All 3 Players: 10 points each
2 Players: 20 points each
Only 1 Player: 30 points

If you made an appeal bid and succeeded, you gain an additional 10 points for each appeal bid card you used.

Failed Bid If the total value of your three bid cards does not exactly match the number of tasks you completed — even by just one — your bid is considered failed.

You receive 0 points for a failed bid.

In addition, if you made any appeal bids, then for each appeal bid card you used, all other players receive 5 bonus points. These 5 points are awarded regardless of whether the other players succeeded in their own bids or not.

Scoring Example

The bids, accepted tasks, and points earned by players A, B, and C during this round are shown in the table below.

	A	B	C
Bid	4 tasks	3 tasks	0 tasks
Accepted Tasks	3 tasks -> 3 pts	2 tasks -> 2 pts	1 task -> 1 pt
Bid Points	0 pts	0 pts	30 pts (solo)
Appeal Bid Bonus (Successful Bid)			10 pts (1 card)
Failed Bid	0 pts (0 cards)	10 pts (2 cards)	10 pts (2 cards)
Round Total	3 pts	12 pts	51 pts

3.4. Preparing the Next Round & Game End

After all players have received their points, proceed to the next round. The leader card remains with its current holder.

If this was the third round, the game ends. The player with the highest total score after three rounds is the winner. If two or more players are tied for the highest score, the player holding the leader card is the winner. (If no one is holding the leader card, the player to the left of the last holder wins.)

2-Player Rules (Differences from 3-Player Game)

When playing with 2 players, add a virtual player named Clara to the game. The following are the differences from the 3-player rules.

Game Setup

Clara uses only task cards and does not use a memo card. Place Clara's task cards within reach of both players.

Round Setup

After shuffling the deck, first deal three cards face-down next to Clara's task cards — these are considered standard bid cards. Then, deal six more cards face-down as Clara's hand. The remaining (18) cards form the draw pile.

Distribution Phase

The two players take turns alternating. For the purpose of using "Action b. Add it to the left player's hand", treat each other as sitting to the left.
After the distribution phase ends, reveal all of Clara's hand cards. Her bid cards remain face-down.

Trick-Taking Phase

Either player or Clara can win a trick and become the lead player for the next one. Whenever a player (not Clara) wins a trick, they should take the leader card from its current holder. Clara never holds the leader card.
The order in which cards are played depends on whether the lead player is a player or Clara.
If a player leads the trick, Clara always plays last. In this case, Clara's card is chosen by the lead player, following the must-follow rule.
If Clara won the previous trick, she becomes the lead player for the next one. However, the leader card remains with the current player.

When Clara leads a trick, the player holding the leader card selects the card Clara will play first. Then, the other player plays next, followed by the player with the leader card.

End of Round, Scoring, and Game End

Clara scores points just like the other players. However, since Clara never makes appeal bids, players do not gain points from Clara failing her bid.
After 3 rounds, the player with the highest total score is the winner. Clara can also win. If Clara is tied for the highest score with one or more players, Clara is declared the winner.

4-Player Rules (Differences from 3-Player Game)

In a 4-player game, players form teams of two, sitting across from each other. Points are tracked per team, and your goal is to outscore the opposing team. No communication is allowed between teammates — this includes discussing strategy or sharing information about your hand.

The following are the differences from the 3-player rules.

Game Setup

In a 4-player game only, the rank 1 cards of each suit are included.
Each team uses three task cards. One team uses the white-bordered side, and the other team uses the brown-bordered side.

Each player receives one memo card.

Round Setup

No changes from the standard rules.

Distribution Phase

Starting with the start player, players take turns clockwise. As in other player counts, continue the distribution phase until the draw pile is empty. In a 4-player game, the number of turns each player takes is not equal.
At the end of the distribution phase, each player must have six cards in hand, and each team must have placed three bid cards total.
In a 4-player game, your bid represents "how many tasks your team will complete." When performing "Action c. Use it as one of your bid cards", you place a card on one of your team's task cards.

Important: Even when making a standard bid, you must place the card face-up. This means that both teams' bid number is always fully visible to each other. Use appeal bids when you're confident in your team's performance or want to aim for a higher score.

Important: Once a team has placed three bid cards total, that team cannot place any more bid cards. There is no requirement for both teammates to contribute bid cards — one player may place all three if desired.

For "Action b. Add it to the left player's hand", the recipient is changed to your teammate, not the player to your left.
If either member of a team reaches six cards in hand (excluding the memo card), both players on that team must immediately place their memo cards (if still in hand) in front of them. From that point on, they can no longer pass drawn cards to their teammate. (Due to this rule, there may be situations where a player needs to perform "Action a. Add it to your hand" more than five times.)
If your hand already contains six cards, and your team has already placed three bid cards, you will no longer take turns during the distribution phase. This can happen if your teammate has placed more bid cards than you.

Trick-Taking Phase

The number of tricks won is tracked per team, not individually.

End of Round, Scoring, and Game End

The team earns 1 point for each trick won by either teammate.
Points awarded for a successful bid are adjusted as follows:
- Both Teams Succeed: 15 points each
- Only Your Team Succeeds: 30 points
The bonuses for appeal bids remain unchanged: +10 points per successful appeal bid card and +5 points to the opposing team per failed appeal bid card.
After 3 rounds, the team with the higher total score wins. If both teams are tied, the team holding the leader card is the winner.

Variant Rule: End Condition

Regardless of player count, you may choose to replace the standard 3-round limit with the following condition: "The game ends as soon as any player reaches 100 or more points, and the player with the highest total score at that moment is the winner." Decide whether to use this alternate end condition during game setup, with agreement from all players.

If the game does not end after three rounds, the trump suits for subsequent rounds are as follows:

Round 4: purple (II)
Round 5: orange (I)
Round 6: no trump suit

This pattern continues in the same 3-round cycle: purple -> orange -> no trump suit -> ...

In a 3-player game, the game also ends if Clara reaches 100 points or more.
In a 4-player game, the game ends when either team reaches 100 points or more.
If there is a tie for the highest score (player or team), play one additional round until a clear winner is determined. Players who were not part of the tie before the extra round can still win by catching up and surpassing the others during the tiebreak round.