Cucco 21 Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Equipment
• 3. Game Overview
• 4. Setup
• 5. Playing a Round
  • 5.1 Deal Cucco Cards
  • 5.2 Each Player's Choice: Trade or Not?
  • 5.3 Low Player is "Out"
  • 5.4 Next Round
  • 5.5 Advanced Play with Special Card Powers
  • 5.6 Sudden Death Round
  • 5.7 End of Set
• 6. End of Game
• 7. Tips for Experienced Players
• 8. History of the Game
• Appendix. Special Card List

1. Introduction

"Cucco 21" is a game in which you trade cards to earn chips, based on a classic European game called "Cucco" or "Cambio".

Each player is dealt a card numbered 1 to 21. At the end of the round, the player holding the lowest card will be "out" and lose some chips. To try to avoid this, each player in turn decides whether to keep their card or trade it with the player beside them. There are however special cards with powers such as "receiving player is 'out'" or "may refuse to trade", and chain reactions can lead to unexpected drama. Who will end up the winner with the most chips?

2. Equipment

• 56 cards:
  • 42 Cucco cards numbered 1~21 (2 of each, to play with)
  • 2 Round cards (1/2/3/sudden-death, to indicate the round number)
  • 12 Life cards (life/death, to indicate who is alive or dead)
• 60 one-point chips
• 36 five-point chips
• chip bag
• instructions

3. Game Overview

The details will follow, but first let's understand the overall flow of the game.

A round consists of everyone being dealt one Cucco card and deciding whether to keep or trade it. Over the course of several rounds, chips accumulate in the box, while the number of players left alive decreases.

When only one player is left alive, they take all the chips from the box, ending a set. Keep playing sets until one player goes bankrupt. Whoever has the most chips at that point is the winner.

4. Setup

Sit in a circle around a table. Put the box lid in the middle of the table for players to discard chips into. Each player places a Life card in front of them, "Life" side up. Each player starts with 15 points' worth of chips.

Hint: For a longer game, start each player with 20 points' worth of chips.

Shuffle the 42 Cucco cards thoroughly facedown. Place them in the middle of the table as a draw deck. Place the two Round cards beside them, with "Round 1" showing. Set aside the remaining chips and Life cards. Use any appropriate method to decide who is the first dealer.

5. Playing a Round

5.1 Deal Cucco Cards

The dealer moves the draw deck and two Round cards in front of them, and reads aloud the text on the current Round card: everyone must follow those instructions.

Round text translations:

• Round 1: Everyone turns their Life cards faceup and antes one point. If you are "out", pay a point but keep playing in the next round.
• Round 2: If you are "out", pay two points but keep playing in the next round.
• Round 3: If you are "out", pay three points but keep playing in the next round.
• Sudden Death: If you are "out", turn your Life card facedown.

Next, the dealer deals one card facedown to each player, beginning with the player on their right, and continuing back to the dealer. The dealer keeps the deck in front of them.

Everyone peeks at their card and checks its numerical value and special power [if any].

Hint: If there are first-time players in your group, try playing one or two practise rounds without special card powers. This should help them get the hang of this mysterious game.

As things stand, the player with the lowest-valued card will be out. Let's start trading.

Once everyone has peeked at their card, the dealer turns to the player on their right and says "Begin" to initiate the trading phase.

5.2 Each Player's Choice: Trade or Not?

Starting with the player to whom the dealer said "Begin", each player in turn decides whether or not to trade their Cucco card with the player on the right.

• If the player wants to trade, they say "Let's trade." Trading is then compulsory: the player to the right cannot refuse [except by using a special card power]. After the trade, both players check to see what card they now have.
• If the player does not want to trade, they say "No trade."

Each player makes this choice (and any trades) in turn.

When the trading comes round full circle to the dealer, the dealer's trading partner is the top card on the draw deck, not the player on their right. If the dealer decides to trade, they discard their card faceup in a discard pile in the centre of the table. They then draw the top card from the draw deck to keep as their own.

5.3 Low Player is "Out"

Once everyone has had a chance to trade, everyone reveals their cards and sees who is "out".

The player(s) who has/have the lowest-valued card is/are "out". There may be two of them.

The penalty for being "out" depends on the Round: consult the current Round card for the details.

Important: Just because you are "out", it does not necessarily mean that you stop playing. Check to see what the current Round card says. If it indicates a point penalty, you only stop playing if you cannot pay the penalty.

All revealed cards are discarded to the discard pile. If at any point in the game the draw deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile thoroughly and build a new draw deck.

5.4 Next Round

This is the end of one round.

The dealer rearranges the Round cards to show the next round, then passes the deal to the right. The new dealer reads the instructions for this round from the Round card, deals out the Cucco cards, and so on.

5.5 Advanced Play with Special Card Powers

During trading, many things can happen in advanced play according to card text, with cards such as "may refuse to trade". Check the card text when you're asked to trade, when you receive a card, etc. Applicable card text takes immediate effect.

Hint: When playing for the first time with card powers, read the card power text aloud for everyone when encountering a card for the first time.

If as a result of a special card power a player is "out", they discard their card to the discard pile and follow the instructions on the Round card. Play continues with the next player to the right, if any.

5.6 Sudden Death Round

With the fourth round, the game enters sudden-death play. Now, anyone who is "out" is out of the game.

Keep playing rounds until there is only one player left. Leave the Round card showing "Sudden Death" at the end of a sudden-death round.

When a player is out of the game, flip their Life card over to show the Death side as a sign of their status. "Dead" players do not receive any more cards [in this set], and the numbers of "dead" players gradually increases.

5.7 End of Set

At the end of the last sudden-death round, the surviving player takes all of the chips that have been deposited in the box.

This marks the end of one set and the beginning of the next. Flip all reversed Life cards back to showing the "Life" side. Rearrange the Round cards to show Round 1.

The surviving player of the set just concluded is the first dealer in the next set.

6. End of Game

The game ends when one player has to pay a chip that they do not have, not when they pay their last chip.

That player is out of the game, even if it is not a sudden-death round. The remaining players play to the end of the set; the game ends when the set ends.

The player with the highest total value of chips at the end of the game is the winner.

7. Tips for Experienced Players

• When using a special card power, you do not have to reveal the card.
• If you [have] a Cucco card such as the Horse or the Man that has a special card power that takes effect when asked to trade, you do not have to activate the card power. Even if you do activate it, you still take your regular turn and decide whether or not to trade cards.
• The Owl Cucco card's power cannot interrupt a trade or other special card power.
• The player who receives the Ceremony Cucco card in a trade does not benefit from it, unless they manage to trade it again themselves.
• If a sudden-death round ends with two players having the same card, neither is eliminated, and they play another round.
• If a sudden-death round ends with two players having the Clown Cucco card, the set is declared undecided and a new set begins with all the chips remaining in the box.
• If the target of the Cat Cucco card is already "out", the card has no effect.

8. History of the Game

We currently believe that Cucco has its origins five hundred years ago in France. The original meaning of Cucco was not "owl" but "cuckoo": that bird's behaviour of forcing other birds to accept its eggs was used to name a game in which you can force other players to take your cards.

The game is however no longer played in its country of origin, France; and while it eventually spread across Europe under various names and rules, it is seldom played anywhere anymore. It was thanks to the efforts of game researcher Jun Kusaba that the game was adapted and repopularized in the late 20th century in Japan.

This edition, Cucco 21, is a further adaptation of that work, intended to make the game easier to play by incorporating special power text into cards, and adding some new powers, and represents a new 21st-century rebirth of the game of Cucco.

Appendix. Special Card List

Value	Name	Special Power
1	Clown	If you receive this card from another player in a trade, you are immediately "out". If you draw this card from the draw deck in a trade, this card beats any other card.
6	Lovers	When asked to trade this card, you may refuse. If you draw this card in a trade from the draw deck, discard it and keep your original card.
11	House	When asked to trade this card, the asker must ask the next target instead. If you draw this card in a trade from the draw deck, discard it and draw the next card.
12	Ceremony	If you receive a card valued at least 5 in exchange for this card, you may ask all other players (including those who are "out") for one point each.
18	Cat	When asked to trade this card, you may refuse; if you refuse, the player who was originally dealt the card is "out". If you draw this card from the deck in a trade, the card's power activates; the card is then discarded.
19	Horse	When asked to trade this card, the asker must ask the next target instead. If you draw this card in a trade from the draw deck, discard it and draw the next card.