Ligretto 2
Ligretto 2 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Before the game begins, sort the cards so that each player receives 49 cards with the same back design (the side without numbers).
Each player chooses a color and shuffles his own 49 cards. Then each player takes the top 10 cards and places them face down in front of himself. This is the player's Ligretto pile. Turn the top card of the Ligretto pile face up.
Then each player lays out 5 cards face down to the right of his Ligretto pile. These are the row.
The remaining cards are held in the hand as the player's reserve pile.
Set the score marker to "0" and place the score card at the edge of the table.
How to Play
Both players play at the same time. The game is started by one of the players saying: "Start!"
Both players begin laying cards into the center of the table as quickly as possible. Any face-up "1" is placed quickly into the center of the table. If a player has a "2" of the same color, he may place it on the "1", and so on.
During the game several piles are created. Two piles of the same color may be created. Players must observe the following rules:
- Each pile must begin with a "1" card.
- You may place a card on a pile only if its color matches the color of the "1" card of that pile.
- You may only place cards in ascending order (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ...).
- A pile is finished when a "10" card has been placed on it. The finished pile remains in the center of the table.
Players may play cards:
- from the Ligretto pile: the top card;
- from the row: any one of the 5 open cards. A card taken from the row is immediately replaced with a card from the Ligretto pile;
- from the hand: but only every third card! The player counts off 3 cards from the reserve pile and turns them over so that the value of the third (top) card can be seen. If this card fits, it is placed on one of the piles in the center of the table. If the card that is now on top can also be placed on a pile in the center of the table, the player places it too, and so on. But if the top card does not fit any pile, the player continues counting off 3 cards at a time, and so on. When all the cards from his hand have been checked, he turns over the pile and begins counting off 3 cards again.
Each time a player turns up a "1", he starts a new pile.
Both players constantly place cards into the center of the table and try to get rid of the cards in their Ligretto piles by playing cards from their hand, from their row, and from their Ligretto pile, so as not to miss a convenient opportunity.
Jokers: players may use Jokers in place of any numbered card. If a Joker is placed in the center of the table to replace a "1", players may place any "2" cards on top of it (or on another Joker, since you may place a Joker on a Joker).
Editor's note on the source: the setup section says the five row cards are laid face down, while the play section refers to "one of the 5 open cards" in the row. The source does not state when the row cards are turned face up. It is transcribed here as printed.
End of Game
If a player has run out of cards in his Ligretto pile, he shouts "Ligretto" and the game ends.
The players then sort the cards in the center of the table by the color of their backs to determine the winner of the round:
- For each card that a player has played into the center of the table, he receives +1 point.
- For each card still left in a player's Ligretto pile, he receives -2 points.
The player who scores more points wins the round.
Score Card
The real Ligretto match is tracked on the score card. At the start, the score marker is set to "0" on the score card. The player who won the round moves the score marker one space in his own color.
The players continue playing until one of them moves the score marker to "3" in his own color. That player wins the match!