Cypher Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Object of the Game
• Setup
• Gameplay
• End of the Game
• Two-Player Variant
• Game Variants

Components

• 19 cards
• 4 reminder sheets
• rules

Card anatomy: 1 - value, 2 - name, 3 - quantity, 4 - class, 5 - mark of a permanent action, 6 - action text.

Object of the Game

Players try to collect the most valuable characters by the time the "Cypher" program takes over the whole world.

Setup

Each player receives 1 reminder sheet.

Shuffle all 19 cards. Determine the first player. He receives the top 3 cards of the deck. The player sitting to the right of the first player receives 1 card; all other players receive 2 cards each.

Place the deck in the center of the table. Reveal the top card of the deck and place it next to the deck. This is the market.

Gameplay

Players take turns clockwise, starting with the first player. Each turn consists of the following phases:

1. Playing a card - The player chooses one of the 3 cards in hand and places it on the table in front of him, face up. The action described on the card is carried out. If the card has the corresponding mark, its action continues until the end of the game. No more than 3 cards may be on the table in front of a player. If a player places a 4th card, he must immediately discard one of the cards on the table. To discard, the player puts the card at the bottom of the deck, face down.

2. Receiving cards - The player takes one card into his hand: either the top card of the deck or the market card. If the market card is taken, the top card of the deck is immediately placed face up in its place.

3. Passing cards - The player chooses one card from his hand and passes it, face down, to the player on his left. Then the player chooses one card from his hand and passes it, face down, to the player on his right.

4. Discarding cards - If the player has more than one card left in hand, he discards the excess (puts them at the bottom of the deck, face down).

End of the Game

The game ends when one of the following conditions is met:

• at the end of a player's turn there are no cards left in the deck,
• a player has placed the card "Власть "Шифра"" (Power of "Cypher") in front of him.

Each player, including the player who triggered the end of the game, takes one more turn.

Players count the total value of the cards placed on the table in front of them. The player with the highest total value is the winner. If there is more than one such contender, the winner is the one who is closest, clockwise, to the player who triggered the end of the game. (For example, if you triggered the end of the game and the player to your left has as many points as you, he wins, not you.)

Two-Player Variant

At the start of the game the first player receives 3 cards, the other player 2 cards. On his turn the active player takes 2 cards from the deck instead of 1, and at the end of the turn passes 1 card to the other player. If a player has more than 2 cards, he discards the excess cards.

Game Variants

At the start of the game, 1 card can be removed from the game without looking at it.

In a series of games, play continues until: 4 wins for 2 players, 3 wins for 3 players, 2 wins for 4 players.