Number Chain Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • 1. Play
    • Wild Card
    • Pivot
    • Relay
  • 2. Chain
  • 3. Take
  • 4. Reset
• Hand Limitation
• Round End
  • Penalty Points
• Game End

Components

• Game Board × 1 (in 5 parts)
• Condition Tile × 1
• Number Cards × 49
• Wild Cards × 14
• Rulebook

Setup

Number of cards dealt, by number of players:

• 2-3 players: 10 cards each
• 4 players: 8 cards each

1. Place the Game Board in the middle of the table, and select a starting player randomly, or alternatively, the first player is the last person who used a calculator.
2. The starting player shuffles all cards and deals cards to each player according to the table in the Setup above. Each player takes their cards into their hand. Keep your cards secret from other players.
3. Place the remaining cards in a face down pile in the Supply area. This pile is the Supply.
4. Take three cards from the top of the Supply and place one face up on each of the three Pools. Then take another card and place it on the Floor. Cards on Pools are Pool Cards and the card on the Floor is the starting Floor Card.
5. Place the Condition Tile next to the Game Board with the Pivot side facing up (see pages 3 and 4). This step is also performed when reseting between rounds.

You are now ready to start the game.

Gameplay

The game consists of a number of turns over three rounds. Turns proceed in clockwise order from the starting player. On your turn, you must perform one of the following actions (Play, Chain, Take, or Reset) then end your turn. Rules for each of these actions are explained on the following pages.

1. Play

The active player chooses a card from their hand to play face up on the current Floor Card. Players must follow two requirements to place a card:

1. The last digit of the Floor Card and the first digit of the card being played must be the same number.
2. Players must follow the Condition. There are two possible Conditions: Pivot or Relay (explained below and on the next page). The Condition is determined by the side of the Condition Tile that is currently active (face up): the Pivot side or the Relay side.

Players can play multiple cards during a turn, but they must be played one-by-one according to the rules of the Condition.

Under either Condition, the last card played becomes the Floor Card for the next player.

Wild Card

Wild Cards have a question mark on the first or last digit. When playing a Wild Card, choose a number between and including 1-7 and apply that number to the question mark. The player who played the Wild Card must announce that number to all players. The declared number applies to the next card played by the active or next player.

Pivot

During a turn, a player can only play cards in accordance with the initial Floor Card of their turn. For example, if the Floor Card is 43 at the start of your turn, you can only play cards with first digit 3 on this turn because it matches the last digit of 43.

Relay

The last card played becomes the new Floor Card. For example, the Floor Card is 23 at the start of your turn. You can play card 36 because its first digit matches the last digit of the previous Floor Card. Once you make this play, card 36 immediately becomes the new Floor Card. To keep playing, the first digit of the next card must be 6. If you play card 64, the card after that must begin with 4 (such as 47).

2. Chain

A Chain consists of exactly 3 consecutive numbers.

The active player can place a Chain on the Floor Card in ascending or descending order. A Chain ignores the current Condition and the Floor Card. A Wild Card can be included in a Chain. Once a Chain is played on the Floor, the last card of the Chain becomes the new Floor Card. The active player may then take an extra turn.

Example: The Floor Card is 11 and the Condition is Relay. You disregard the Condition and Floor Card, and instead place a Chain with cards 32, 33, 34 in ascending order. The last card 34 becomes the new Floor Card. With your extra turn you play card 41, then card 15 (following the active Relay Condition), and then end your turn.

3. Take

The active player chooses one of the Pool Cards or the top card from the Supply and adds it to their hand, then ends their turn. If one of the Pool Cards is taken, the player must refill the empty Pool from the top of the Supply before ending their turn.

4. Reset

1. The active player adds all 3 Pool Cards into their hand, then they flip the Condition Tile.
2. Refill the empty Pools from the top of the Supply. Then the active player ends their turn. All players must now follow the new Condition (see Pivot or Relay for an explanation).

If the Supply is exhausted, leave only the top Floor Card and shuffle all the Floor Cards below it to create a new Supply.

Your hand limit is 10 cards at the end of your turn (see Hand Limitation rules below).

Hand Limitation

If you have more than 10 cards in your hand during a Take or Reset action, you must discard all excess cards to the Floor while disregarding the current Floor Card and Condition. You can choose which cards to discard and the order in which you discard them. The last discarded card becomes the new Floor Card for the next player. Once you reduce your hand to 10 cards, refill any empty Pools before ending your turn.

Round End

If a player ends their turn with an empty hand, that player is out of the round. The remaining players can now only perform Play and Chain actions on their turn. If a player is unable to perform either action on their turn, they are out of the round. In this case, each card that remains in a player's hand gives them Penalty Points (explained below). Once a player is out of the round, they cannot take more turns in the current round. The last remaining player continues their turn as long as they are able to play a card. The round ends when all players are out of the round.

Penalty Points

• 1 Penalty Point for each Number Card
• 3 Penalty Points for each Wild Card

Record the Penalty Points for each player. The first player that emptied their hand this round becomes the starting player of the next round. If this is not the end of the third round, reset the game following the setup on page two and begin the next round with the new starting player.

Game End

The game ends after the third round. The player with the lowest Penalty Points across all rounds wins. If there is a tie, the player with the fewest Wild Cards in their hand at the end of round three wins. If a tie persists, the players share the victory.