Lowdown
Lowdown Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object
Have the lowest number of combined points by the time one player reaches 50 points.
Setup
- Shuffle the deck.
- Deal 9 cards face down to each player.
- Each player arranges their cards in a 3x3 grid as shown.
- Each player chooses 2 random cards from their grid and turns them face up.
- Put the remaining cards in the center of the playing area to form a draw pile.
- Remove the top card from the draw pile and place it next to the draw pile to form a discard pile.
Let's Play!
Remember, you want to have the lowest overall score. You do this by:
- Replacing high cards with low cards.
- Clearing rows based on matching color (more on that later).
The youngest player goes first, and then play continues clockwise.
On your turn you may either take the top card from the discard pile or draw a card from the deck.
Drawing
Drawing a card from the draw pile
- You may use this card to replace one of the cards in your grid. It can replace either a face up card or a face down card.
- If you choose to use this card to replace one of the cards in your grid:
- Put the old card from your grid into the discard pile face up.
- Put the new card from the draw pile into your grid face up or face down.
- Hint: place the card face down if you want to hide the card's value or color.
- If you choose not to use this card to replace one of the cards in your grid:
- Put the card into the discard pile face up.
- Since you're not going to use the card (effectively ending your turn) you get a little break. You may peek at one face down card in your grid. You may then choose to flip that card face up or leave it face down.
- If you draw an action card, you may either perform the action or use it to replace a card in your grid:
- If you choose to use the action card to perform an action, perform the action indicated on the card (see Action Cards below) and then put the card on the bottom of the discard pile.
- If you choose to use it to replace a card in your grid, continue as indicated above.
Drawing a card from the discard pile
- You must use this card to replace one of the cards in your grid. It can replace either a face up card or a face down card.
- Remove a card from your grid and place it in the discard pile face up.
- Put the new card from the discard pile into the space on your grid face up.
Hint: You will want to replace a face up card in your grid if the new card is (A) of lower value or (B) a color you like. However, if you like the face up cards in your grid but still think the new card can help you, you may choose to replace a face down card until you won't know the value or color of the card you replaced. It's riskier because you won't know the face down card until you replace it. If it's higher-value or a color that you didn't need, oops! If it's lower value or a color you needed, success!
Action Cards
Action cards can either be placed into your grid, where they count as a normal card worth the value shown, or they can be used to perform an action. Note: you may only use an action card to perform an action if you drew it from the draw pile. Action cards in your grid, whether face up or face down, as well as action cards taken from the discard pile, can never be used to perform an action.
Peek
Look at any face down card on the table. Do not reveal the card to the other players. After peeking, draw a card from the draw pile or discard pile and play it as normal.
Swap
Switch the locations of any two cards in your own grid. You may swap face up and/or face down cards. You cannot look at face down cards in your grid to help you decide which ones to swap. Swapping cards does not cause them to flip face up and vice versa.
Steal
Take a card from another player and exchange it with one from your own grid. You may exchange either face up or face down cards, but all exchanged cards flip face up.
Three-in-a-Row
At any point in the game, including at the end of the hand, if you have three face up cards of the same color in a row either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, you may immediately clear the row from your grid. Put the cleared cards at the bottom of the discard pile. Clearing rows is to your advantage because it makes the total number in your grid lower at the end of the hand.
Note: Clearing a row may make it impossible to clear additional rows. For instance, clearing the center column makes it impossible to clear any horizontal or diagonal row because the center cards are now missing. Keep this in mind while trying to form rows of the same color.
Ending the Hand
The hand ends in one of two ways:
- All of the cards in a player's grid are face up.
- The draw pile is empty.
When this happens, all players flip their remaining face down cards in their grids face up. If you create any three-in-a-rows, you may clear them now.
Find the total score of your grid by adding the points shown on each card. The player with the fewest points wins the hand. Record each player's score on a piece of paper, adding it to the previous round's score when appropriate.
Shuffle all of the cards together and deal out a new set of 9 cards to each player. The winner of the previous hand plays first in the following round.
Winning
The game ends as soon as a player's score reaches or exceeds 50 points. When that happens, the player with the lowest score wins the game!
Negative Five (-5) Wild Card
The -5 wild card has a value of -5 points. Additionally, it's a wild card so it may count as any color for the purpose of creating three-in-a-row. Note: You will have to decide if it's more valuable to clear a row with a -5 card in it (in which case you will lose the benefit of the card's -5 points) or to leave it in your grid without clearing the row.