Play Ball Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object
• Setup
• Game Play
• Wild Cards
• Playing Action Cards
  • Pinch Hitter
  • Yer Out!
  • Time Out
• End of Game
• Hard Ball Nine
  • Object
  • Setup
  • Game Play
  • Bottom of the Ninth Rule
  • End of Game
• Nine on the Field
  • Object
  • Setup
  • Game Play
  • End of Game

Object

To be the first player to field (place on the table) a team of nine in all four colors.

Setup

1. Shuffle the deck and deal five cards, face-down to each player.
2. Place the remaining cards face-down in the center of the playing area to create a draw pile. Turn the top card face-up next to the draw pile to form a discard pile. (When the draw pile runs out of cards, reshuffle the discard pile to create a new one.)
3. The player to the dealer's left goes first. Game play passes to the left.

Game Play

Team cards show the team color and the number of players in the upper left and lower right corners of the cards. Only a team of nine (all of the same color) can be placed on the table.

Example: Yellow team: 4 + 2 + 3 = 9

Wild cards and Action cards are explained later.

Start your turn by either:

• drawing a card from the top of the draw pile; or
• drawing a card from the top of the discard pile (except Action cards).

Now, see if you can create a team. If you cannot, you must discard any one card from your hand, face-up, to the discard pile and end your turn.

If you can create a team, place your team cards face-up in front of you. Then draw as many cards as you need from the draw pile to bring your hand back up to five cards. This ends your turn.

Wild Cards

Wild cards can be used to represent any color team. There are seven Wild cards numbered 1 - 7. For example:

Wild card: 3 + Green team: 6 = 9

Here the Wild card represents the number 3 player of the Green team: 3 + 6 = 9.

Playing Action Cards

Here's what Action cards do:

Pinch Hitter

Playing this card allows you to look through the discard pile and take any one card you want, except for other Action cards. Or you can draw a card from any player's hand (without looking at it first) and give him one of your cards, other than the Pinch Hitter card.

After playing the Pinch Hitter, place it in the discard pile.

Yer Out!

Play this card on any player and he loses one team of your choice. The player, whose team is out, must place all of the team cards along with the Yer Out! card in the discard pile.

Time Out

Play this card on any player and he loses his next turn. Place the Time Out card in front of the player until his turn passes, then place it in the discard pile.

Note: Action cards cannot be drawn from the discard pile and played again; only when they're reshuffled as part of a new draw pile.

End of Game

The game ends when the first player has assembled all four teams of nine players each. Play on and see who comes in second, and so on.

Note: In all our rules, we use either "he" or "she" to include everyone!

Hard Ball Nine

An adding and matching game.

Object

The object of this game is to collect the most cards by matching the number value of one card in your hand to one or more cards from the center. Team colors do not matter.

Setup

1. Remove Pinch Hitter, Yer Out!, and Time Out cards from the deck; they are not used in this game play.
2. Place nine cards, face-up, in the center of the playing area, like so:
3. Deal, face-down, three cards to each player and place the remaining cards, face-down, off to the side to create a draw pile.
4. The player to the dealer's left goes first. Game play passes to the left.

Game Play

Try to match one number card from your hand to either the same number card on the table or combine two or more cards on the table to equal the number you have in your hand. Let's say you have a 6 in your hand and you see a 4 and a 2 in the center. Make your match by saying 6 = 2 + 4. Or by saying 6 = 6.

Example: card in hand: 6 = cards in center: 2 & 4

Pick up the matching cards from the playing area and place them in front of you along with the card from your hand. Now, take a card from the draw pile to bring your hand back up to three cards. If there are fewer than nine cards in the center, take a card(s) from the draw pile to fill the space(s).

If you cannot make a match, place one card, face-up, into the playing area and take a card from the draw pile to bring your hand back to three. Now, your turn is over.

Bottom of the Ninth Rule

When the draw pile is exhausted, the Bottom of the Ninth Rule comes into play. It allows you to add cards together in your hand to equal a card in the center.

For example: You have two 2 cards in your hand and there's a 4 card in the center. You can add your 2 cards together and take the 4 card as a match (see above).

Example: cards in hand: 2 & 2 = card in center: 4

End of Game

The game ends when all cards that can be matched have been matched. The player with the most cards wins.

Nine on the Field

A matching game for younger players.

Object

The object of this game is to collect the most pairs of cards by matching a number card from your hand to one of the nine cards in the center. Team colors do not matter.

Setup

Follow the setup for Hard Ball Nine.

Game Play

Try to match one number card from your hand to one of the nine cards that are face-up. If you cannot make a match, place one card, face-up, into the playing area and take a card from the draw pile to bring your hand back to three cards.

However, if you can make a match, pick up the matching card and place it along with the card in your hand in front of you. Now, take a card from the draw pile to bring your hand back to three. If there are fewer than nine cards in the playing area, draw a card(s) to fill the space(s). Now, your turn is over.

End of Game

The game ends when all cards that can be matched have been matched. The player with the most matches wins.