Crescendo
Crescendo Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- This Rulebook
- 100 cards numbered from 1 to 100
- 4 Joker cards
Each numbered card shows its number on the front. The back of a numbered card is one of 3 types; the numbers printed on the back indicate the range of values within which the card's front-side number falls. But be careful: it could also be a Joker card.
- 6 Player Aids (front and back)
Objective
Get ready for launch: put the cards in order from lowest to highest to activate the engines.
A complete game of Crescendo is made up of 3 rounds. In each round, players take a series of turns (alternating clockwise) until someone triggers the end of the round.
Setup
- Randomly determine a dealer.
- Give a Player Aid to each player. Put any extra Player Aids back in the box.
- Shuffle all the cards and deal them, face down, one at a time in turn order. Each player receives 8 cards (7 cards in games with 5 or 6 players). Form a face-down deck with the remaining cards in the center of the table. This is called the Reserve. Reveal the top card of the Reserve, turning it face up next to the deck. This card starts the common discard pile.
- Each player keeps their own cards face down in a row in front of them, in the exact order in which they received them: the first card received goes on the left, and so on. You may not look at your cards. Reserve a space next to you for your own discard pile.
- Before the game begins, each player may choose to:
- look at 1 of their own cards (without showing it to the other players, then put it back face down in the same position), OR
- swap the position of 2 of their own cards without looking at them (see the strategy tips below).
The player to the dealer's left starts the first turn.
Player's Turn
On your turn you must perform ONE of the following actions:
- A. Draw ONE card, OR
- B. Perform ONE Special Action, OR
- C. Call "CRESCENDO" (triggering the end of a round)
Between one turn and the next, a player may also call "NUMBER" (see below).
A. Draw ONE card
On your turn, either draw a card from the Reserve and look at it (without showing it to the other players) or draw the top card of the common discard pile.
You may then swap the drawn card with one of your own: place the drawn card face down in the spot of the card it replaces.
Replaced cards are placed, face up, on the common discard pile.
Otherwise, if you don't want to keep the drawn card, you may place it, face up, on the common discard pile.
Your turn ends here. Play passes to the player on your left.
B. Perform ONE Special Action
The top card of the Reserve indicates which Special Action is available to the player whose turn it is.
Peek — Lets you secretly look at one face-down card, yours or another player's. The card is then put back in its place, still face down.
Swap — Lets you swap one of your own face-down cards with a face-down card of another player (not one of your own!) without looking at any card. Place the card taken from the other player in the same spot where the card given to them was. The other player may immediately look at the new card they received.
Lock — Lets you reveal 1 of your own cards. From then on that card stays face up and is protected from any attempt by other players to swap it, without however restricting your own actions.
After performing the Special Action, move the top card of the Reserve to the discard pile (face up).
Your turn ends here. Play passes to the player on your left.
C. Call "CRESCENDO" (triggering the end of the round)
You may perform this action starting from the first player's fourth turn (not before!). If you believe that all the numbers in your row of cards are in ascending order (each number to the right is, in order, greater than the ones to its left), call "CRESCENDO". This action counts as a turn, so you cannot do anything else (and there are no more "NUMBER" turns after it).
All other players get one final turn. However, they may only perform a draw action and call "NUMBER" if possible. They are not allowed to perform Special Actions or call "CRESCENDO". However, passing — i.e. doing nothing — is allowed (earning an extra point, see Scoring). At this point the round ends and scoring is calculated.
Calling "NUMBER" (only between one turn and another)
As soon as a player places a face-up card on the discard pile (thus ending their turn), any player (even the one who just ended their turn) may call "NUMBER".
If you think (or know) that you have a card that differs by no more than 2 from the card just placed on the common discard pile, call "NUMBER" and immediately put your hand on the common discard pile. Then take the corresponding card from your row and reveal it (if it wasn't already revealed). Compare it to the number on top of the pile: if the difference is 2 or less, you were right, so you now have one fewer card to worry about. Put that card in your discard pile (face down).
If instead you were wrong (i.e. the difference between the two numbers is greater than 2), take back the card you intended to discard and also draw the top card of the Reserve, as a penalty, without looking at it. Place both cards, face down, in your row of cards: the one you wanted to discard in its original spot, and the one drawn as a penalty to its right.
You may not call "NUMBER" if the card on top of the common discard pile is a Joker, nor may you use a Joker from your row. If you do (even by mistake), you receive the penalty described above.
Only 1 player may perform this action between one turn and the next. If more than one player attempts it, only the player who puts their hand on the common discard pile first gets access to it. All other players withdraw their hand and do not reveal any card.*
Regardless of whether the player was right or wrong, play continues with the player to the left of the one who just finished their turn. In other words, there is only one opportunity between one turn and the next. As soon as the next player starts their turn (by drawing a card or announcing a Special Action), it is no longer possible to call "NUMBER" until the end of the next turn.
*If it isn't possible for all players to easily reach the common discard pile, allow players to slap their hand on the table instead. In case of a tie (2 players slap their hand at the same time), priority goes to the active player or, in turn order, the first player encountered to their left.
Scoring
At the end of each round, all players reveal their cards (starting with whoever triggered the end of the round, one card at a time from left to right to build suspense): if you reveal a Joker, discard it to the common discard pile, with no other effect except that you will have one fewer card to consider.
Important: compare each number ONLY with the one that follows it, NOT with the card to its left!
If the number of a following card is lower than the one you are considering, move that card (the following one) down, to mark that it is wrong. Then start a new comparison between the card you moved down and the next one (see the example below).
If the player who called "CRESCENDO" has all their cards in the correct order, they receive 6 points. If the player who called "CRESCENDO" made a mistake, they get -3 points and -1 point for each incorrect card in their row.
Players who did not call "CRESCENDO" and have all their cards in the correct order receive 3 points. A player receives 1 extra point if they passed during their final turn. Anyone who did not call "CRESCENDO" and made mistakes gets -1 for each incorrect card in their row.
All players receive 1 point for each card in their own discard pile.
Record all points earned. To begin the next round, reshuffle all 104 cards, and the dealer becomes the player to the left of the previous dealer.
End of a Game of Crescendo
The game ends after 3 rounds. The player with the most points wins.
In case of a tie, tied players break the tie as follows: the player who scored the most points by calling "CRESCENDO" wins. If the tie persists, the player who scored the most points in the last round wins. If the tie still persists, the tied players share the victory.
Example of End-of-Round Scoring
The player in question did NOT call "CRESCENDO" and ends the round with the cards 5, 27, Joker, 15, 91, 68 and 14, with card 54 in their discard pile. The Joker is discarded to the common discard pile.
The first card is always CORRECT. Now compare 5 with 27. The value increases. Correct!
Then compare 27 with 15: the value decreases. Therefore, 15 is not correct and must be moved down.
Now compare 15 with 91. The value increases. Correct!
Then compare 91 with 68: the value decreases again, so card 68 is not correct and must be moved down.
Finally, compare 68 with 14: the value decreases again, so 14 is also not correct and must be moved down.
This player has 3 incorrect cards, so they get -3 points. They have 1 card in their discard pile, so they receive 1 point. In total, they scored -2 points.
Strategy Tips
During setup, you should try to improve the position of one of your cards (see the Card Distribution table below). This is the only time you're allowed to swap two of your cards without looking at them. If you feel the order is already correct (lucky you!), then look at 1 card instead.
Don't try to memorize all the information — focus on a few key elements (for example, the Jokers).
You also shouldn't fixate on sorting all of your cards from left to right — it would take too long. Instead, try to sort numbers that are close to each other.
It's also easier to remember which cards are already correct relative to their neighbors by defining your own personal system to help you (which we won't suggest, since you should come up with it yourself).
If you're missing information about only one card and the odds that the card is out of order are low, you can take a chance and call "CRESCENDO" before the others.
Peeking is generally a fairly weak action, but it can come in handy if, for example, you want to be sure about one card.
Swapping often lets you put another player at a disadvantage. Keep the current score in mind.
Locking reveals one of your cards to the other players. Locking a central card is useful if the cards adjacent to it are already in the correct order. And it's certainly reassuring to lock a Joker before someone else can take it from you.
Card Distribution Table
Number distribution by card back (the card-back colors group each numbered card into a range; as printed in the official rulebook):
| Range | Numbers |
|---|---|
| 1-10 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 |
| 11-20 | 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 |
| 21-30 | 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 37, 28, 29, 30 |
| 31-40 | 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 |
| 41-50 | 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 |
| 51-60 | 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 |
| 61-70 | 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70 |
| 71-80 | 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80 |
| 81-90 | 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90 |
| 91-100 | 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 |
The 21-30 row prints "37" in place of "27" in the official rulebook; transcribed here exactly as published.