Contrast
Contrast Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 36 cards with symbols
- 74 double-sided cards with pictures
Players: 2-6. Age: 7+. Time: 15 minutes.
Goal: collect more cards with pictures than the majority of players, picking the picture that matches the one in the centre of the table.
Setup
Each player receives 6 cards with CONTRAST symbols: red, blue, heavy, wide, big, round, yellow, green, light, narrow, small, square.
Depending on the number of players, take the corresponding number of picture cards:
| Number of players | Number of picture cards |
|---|---|
| 3 | 48 |
| 4 | 52 |
| 5 | 56 |
| 6 | 60 |
(For a 2-player game see the section "Variant for 2 Players".)
Place the selected cards as a deck in the centre of the table. Put the remaining cards back in the box.
Each player takes 6 symbol cards of one and the same colour, shuffles them face down, draws 2 cards and places them on the table in front of themselves in a row, face up.
Gameplay
Each player chooses which of the 8 symbols on the cards in their hand best fits the picture on the top card of the deck. Then each player places the card with the chosen symbol in front of themselves face down.
Note: Place the card so that the symbol you have chosen is directed towards the centre of the table.
If one of the players can never make a choice, the other players count down to three. If the player still has not laid out a card, they skip the turn.
Then each player turns their card face up.
In the round, the players who chose the symbol chosen by the majority of players win. If there is no such symbol, or all participants chose one and the same symbol, nobody wins the round.
Note: When playing with 3 participants, if one of the players did not manage to lay out a card, the remaining two players win provided that they chose one and the same symbol.
Examples of a round with 5 players
- If 2 players chose the symbol "square", 1 player the symbol "yellow", 1 player the symbol "green" and 1 player the symbol "light", the players who chose the symbol "square" win.
- If 2 players chose the symbol "square", 2 players the symbol "yellow" and 1 player the symbol "green", nobody wins this round.
- If all players chose the symbol "square", nobody wins this round.
End of Round
Players who chose the symbol chosen by the majority of players receive as a reward 1 card from the deck each. If there are no winners in the round, remove the top card of the deck to the box.
Then each player places the symbol card they just played to the left of the two symbol cards lying in front of them. The card lying on the right in front of them, the player takes into their hand.
A new round of Contrast begins.
End of Game
The game ends as soon as no cards are left in the deck. If in this round there are winners who did not get a card from the deck, they take it from the box.
The winner is the player who has the most cards with pictures at the end of the game!
Variant for Experts
The game proceeds by the basic rules with one exception: at the start of the game, participants lay 3 cards with symbols in a row in front of themselves face up. Thus, in each round only 3 cards remain in their hands.
Variant for 2 Players
For a game with 2 participants, take 44 cards with pictures. The game proceeds by the basic rules with some changes.
This variant is cooperative: the participants together play against the game.
- If the players chose one and the same symbol, they receive as a reward the top card of the deck and lay it in the pile to the right of the deck.
- If the players chose different symbols, they lay the top card of the deck in the pile to the left of it.
The game ends as soon as no cards are left in the deck. Players count the number of cards in the piles.
- If there are more cards in the pile to the right: Congratulations! You won!
- If there are more cards in the pile to the left: Alas, you lost. Try to play once more!