NOW!
NOW! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Get the most Target cards, leaving your opponents with none! The player with the most points wins the game.
NOW! is a real-time competitive card game. Discard your cards as quickly as possible in search of the perfect number! You have a limited number of cards for the whole game, so don't let the frenzy make you lose your cool!
Contents
161 cards:
- 32 Target cards (12 red, 12 blue, 8 both colours), each showing its Target Points.
- 128 Player cards (in 8 coloured decks of 16 cards each).
- 1 Refresh card.
Setup
- Shuffle the deck of Target cards and slide the Refresh card into the approximate middle of the deck.
- Each Player takes any one of the 8 coloured decks of 16 Player cards, shuffles it, and places it face down in front of them.
How to Hold Your Deck
Correctly holding your deck of Player cards is an essential element of NOW!
To do this, pick up your deck and turn it towards yourself so that you can see the bottom card, much like you'd hold a cellphone. This card you see is called your Active Card.
You will hold your deck in your hand like this for the entire game, allowing you to only see the Active Card. You must keep this hidden from the other Players until the Resolution Phase.
Keep your discard pile face-up in front of you.
Gameplay
A game of NOW! is played over 11 Rounds. Each Round is made up of 3 Phases:
- Reveal Target Cards
- Action!
- Resolution
1. Reveal Target Cards
Each Round begins by revealing 3 new Target cards. A chosen Player flips the 3 top cards of the Target deck and lays them out side by side in the middle of the table.
2. Action!
This Phase is the heart of the game! To begin this Phase, everybody says "Go" at the same time.
All Players play simultaneously.
During this Phase, you are going to look at your Active Card.
You can now choose to either keep that card as your Active Card, or discard it to see the next card in your deck.
You may continue discarding cards until you arrive at a card that gives you the best chance to score points (see Scoring).
When you decide to keep your Active Card, say "NOW!" loudly and clearly, and turn your hand face-down toward the table.
Your Active Card must remain hidden until all Players have said NOW!
Last Player: When there is only one Player remaining who has not said "NOW!", they must either keep their current Active Card, or discard it and keep the next card as their Active Card (they cannot continue to discard multiple times).
3. Resolution
Everyone now turns their hand to reveal their Active Card to the other Players.
Players now collect the Target card(s) that their Active Card is closest to, without going over. That is to say, it must be equal or numerically inferior to the Target card.
You cannot refuse to collect a Target card. It is possible to collect more than one Target card during this Phase. You may even have to collect Target cards you don't want!
When you collect Target cards, simply place them face up on the table in front of you. There are both blue and red points on the Target cards; keep them in separate piles.
Example: Player Yellow collects Target cards 84, and Blue Player collects Target card 120. Green and Pink Players get nothing, and Target card 16 stays on the table.
There may be one or more Target cards that nobody collected. Those cards are left on the table, meaning that there will be more than 3 Target cards in the next Round!
Do not discard your Active Card. It will be your starting card for the next Round. This is now the end of the Round.
Round 2 begins by performing Phase 1 again, drawing 3 new Target cards.
Running Out of Cards?
IMPORTANT: You may not pick up and reshuffle discarded cards, unless the Refresh card is drawn. If you have discarded your entire deck and find yourself with only one card left in your hand, this card will be your Active card for all subsequent Rounds!
Refresh Card
When the Refresh card is drawn from the Target deck, the game is immediately paused. All Players now shuffle their discarded Player cards back into their deck. From this point forward, the Refresh card will remain in play with the other Target cards until a Player wins it (see below).
Winning the Refresh Card
A Player can win the Refresh card by playing a Perfect (see 'Did You Know?' above). That Player then collects the Refresh card, along with any Target cards they won, and places them on the table in front of them. This can happen in the same Round as the Refresh card is revealed.
If more than one Player does this in the same Round, nobody gains the Refresh card, and it is discarded.
Did You Know?
Each deck in NOW! is unique and has been carefully balanced to ensure that all Players have an equal chance of success. All decks have 4 cards that correspond exactly to a Target card. This type of card is called a 'Perfect'. Also, they have an equal distribution of numbers from 1 to 128.
End of the Game
The final Round begins when the last 3 Target cards are drawn. At the end of the Round, discard all uncollected Target cards, and score your points.
Scoring
The red or blue lines at the top of the Target cards are points.
Choose one colour, red or blue, to score on the cards with both colours.
Add up your score for red and blue Target cards separately.
Take the higher total of the 2 colours and subtract the total of the other colour from this number to get your final score. The Player with the most points wins the game.
Example: 2 points = 11 - 9
In the event of a tie between two or more Players, the Player with the most points in total (both colours) wins.
2 Players Variant
Take any deck of Player cards, put it next to the deck of Target cards. This is Silvano! He is playing against you.
Play as normal, except that at the 'resolution phase', flip the top card of Silvano's deck. That is his Active card.
Collect Target cards as usual and assign any cards that Silvano won to his side of the table.