Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 2 Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde cards
(Illustration: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde card A and card B.)
The words "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" are written on the back sides of the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde cards.
- 28 playing cards
14 Dr. Jekyll cards that can be recognized by the flask symbol; (Illustration: flask.)
14 Mr. Hyde cards that can be recognized by the top hat symbol. (Illustration: top hat.)
- these rules
- an illustrated booklet
About the Game
The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, well known worldwide and screened multiple times, is the struggle between the good and evil selves of one person. Played in teams of two, the goal is to take Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde to victory over the other self. But control over one's own cards is limited. The Dr. Jekyll players will also have to play Mr. Hyde cards and vice versa. In the card game, just as in the novel, the transformation occurs at the most inopportune moment. Subtle communication with one's partner and sensitive tactics are needed here.
Note: The four-player rules are described first. Special rules for three players can be found at the end of these rules.
Preparation for play
Two players each form a team. It is decided by lot who plays with whom. The Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde A card is placed on the table so that the two Dr. Jekyll sides face the Dr. Jekyll players and the two Mr. Hyde sides face the Mr. Hyde players. Accordingly the players of each team sit opposite one another.
The Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde B card is put aside; it is only needed for the variant.
All 28 playing cards are shuffled and distributed one at a time. Each player can be dealt Dr. Jekyll cards as well as Mr. Hyde cards. These cards can be distinguished by their symbols shown on both the front and back sides of the cards.
Course of the game
The player sitting left of the dealer begins. He has to play a card of his own team himself or ask someone else to play a card of his team. That is, as a Dr. Jekyll player he has the option to choose a Dr. Jekyll card from his own hand or request any other player (partner or opponent) to play a Dr. Jekyll card for him.
Of course only players who have at least one card of the requested team may be chosen.
If the chosen player has more than one card of the team in question in hand, he may choose himself, which one he wants to play.
In any case, the played card counts as if played by the player who chose the player of the card. After a card is played the next player (after the one who chose the player) plays the next card or chooses a player to play the next card.
In any case on their own turn Mr. Hyde players play one of their own Mr. Hyde cards or ask another to play a Mr. Hyde card; Dr. Jekyll players play one of their own Dr. Jekyll cards or ask another to play a Dr. Jekyll card.
It is possible that a player is requested several times in a turn to play a card. Therefore it's quite common during the course of the game that the players have different numbers of cards in their hands.
The Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde card
All played cards are placed around the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde card, adjacent to the side where the player whose turn it is sits.
After the fourth card has been played, the player with the highest card in front of him wins the trick. If several cards on the table are equally high, the first one played counts as higher.
The player who won the trick is the one whose turn it is next.
(Illustration: scheme of the play area.)
Example above: Adam starts the trick. He requests his partner Christian to play a Mr. Hyde card. Christian chooses one of his own cards and places it at Adam's side of the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde card (1). Then it's Betty's turn. She demands a Dr. Jekyll card from Adam (2). After that Christian asks Doris to play a Mr. Hyde card for him (3). Finally Doris plays a Dr. Jekyll card for herself (4).
Doris has played two cards, Betty none. Even so, everybody has taken one turn and has thus one card lying in front of him or her.
By examining the cards already played, it is clear whose turn it is at any point during the game.
Overview of the Cards
There is one set of 14 Mr. Hyde cards and one set of 14 Dr. Jekyll cards. Each set consists of: 1 transformation, 5 characters, 5 scenes and 3 deeds (or sentiments).
Transformation
(Illustration: transformation cards.)
The Transformation is the highest card. Even so, one cannot win a trick with it. If the Transformation is played, all four cards of this trick simply remain on the table. The player for whom the Transformation was played, begins the following trick. Whoever wins this following trick also gets all cards from the transformation trick that remained on the table. If this following trick includes the second transformation all eight cards of both tricks remain on the table and a third trick decides, started by the player for whom the second Transformation was played.
If both Transformations were played in the same trick, the player whose Transformation was played first begins the following trick.
If there is a Transformation played in the last trick of the hand, it remains neutral and doesn't count for any team, because after the last trick no player has any cards left in hand.
Characters
(Illustration: character cards.)
After the Transformation the characters are the highest cards (trumps). Their ranking is determined by the letters from A to E, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (A) being the highest characters. Other characters, each for both teams, are Mr. Utterson (B), Dr. Lanyon (C), Mr. Enfield (D) and Poole (E).
Scenes
(Illustration: scene cards.)
All scene cards rank below the characters, but are equal among each other (F). Thus, if there are several scene cards and no higher card in a trick, the player whose scene card was played first wins the trick.
The different numbers on the cards are only important for scoring.
Deeds (or sentiments)
(Illustration: deed cards.)
The deed cards are the lowest cards and beaten by every other card. Among each other they are equal. So with four deed cards in a trick the player whose deed card was played first wins the trick. But in scoring the deed cards play an important role.
These are Fury, Recklessness and Murder for Mr. Hyde; for Dr. Jekyll Charity, Mercy and Remorse.
Scoring
When all seven tricks have been played the points for each team are recorded:
The points correspond to the numbers on the cards. Scene cards count between 3 and 7 points; character cards always count 1 point each. The type of these cards (Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde) doesn't matter for scoring.
Transformations and deed cards count 0 points. But the deed cards play another very important role for scoring. All deed cards taken by their own team at the end of the game multiply the points gathered by this team according to the given factor. With Fury or Charity the points count single, with Recklessness or Mercy the points count double and with Murder or Remorse, triple.
If a team has taken several of its own deed cards, these factors are added together. For example, Fury and Murder count four times for the Mr. Hyde team, Mercy and Remorse five times for the Dr. Jekyll team. If all three of the team's own deed cards are taken, this counts a maximum six times. Deed cards in possession of the opponent team don't count for either team.
A team that could not win any of its own deed cards receives 0 points (factor 0).
An example:
The Dr. Jekyll team has won two tricks with the following cards: Mr. Hyde's rooms (6 points), Dr. Lanyon (1 point), Mr. Hyde (1 point), Transformation (-), Mr. Utterson (1 point), Charity (factor 1), Remorse (factor 3) and Fury (factor 1).
They get (6+1+1+1) x (1+3) = 9 x 4 = 36 points. Fury doesn't count for the Dr. Jekyll team, but they avoided infuriating Mr. Hyde (and having the card count for the Mr. Hyde team).
The cards are shuffled again and a new round begins.
Game end
The game ends when one team scores 1000 points or more. The team with the higher score wins.
Important: It is understood that any arrangements with the partner, such as discussing what to play or which player to ask, are strictly forbidden during the course of game.
Rules for three players
When playing with three players, the Mr. Hyde player fights with an open and a closed card hand against the Dr. Jekyll team.
The game is a bit more tactical. Therefore getting into the game is easier when you have already played Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde with four players. This isn't absolutely necessary though.
There are no fixed teams. Each player takes turns playing singly. The place opposite the single player remains empty and is called the ghost of Mr. Hyde or just the ghost in the following. The cards are dealt as in the four-player game. The cards of Mr. Hyde's ghost lie open for everybody to see on the empty side of the table.
The single player starts the game. As in the four-player game he can play a Mr. Hyde card from his hand or request any other player to play a Mr. Hyde card for him. Also he is allowed to request the ghost to play a Mr. Hyde card. As a Mr. Hyde player he may as well choose one himself. On the other hand, when it's the ghost's turn, he may request himself to play a Mr. Hyde card. That is, if it is the ghost's or the single player's turn the single player always has a free choice from the Mr. Hyde cards of his own hand and of the ghost's hand.
If the single player is requested to play a Dr. Jekyll card, he has to take it from his own hand. If the ghost of Mr. Hyde is requested to play a Dr. Jekyll card, the single player chooses one of the ghost's Dr. Jekyll cards.
After each hand the player sitting left of the single player moves to the ghost's seat. He deals the cards for the next round. The player to the right of the previous single player becomes the new single player and plays the Mr. Hyde cards.
The common points of a team are recorded for each player separately. The game ends also when one player reaches 1000 points.
Tips and Variant
Tip 1: One should keep clearly in mind which cards have already been played and which are still in the game.
Tip 2: Based on the way they play, try to determine which cards are likely to be held by the other players.
Tip 3: If possible, try to reduce the cards your opponents can choose from and to keep yours.
Tip 4: It's recommended to request an opponent to play a card for you when your partner is the last one to play a card in the trick. It's dangerous to request an opponent to play a card for you when he is the last one to play a card in the trick.
Variant: Use the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde B card instead of the Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde A card. Now the partners are sitting next to each other.