Stone Soup (1996) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Object
• Set Up
• Game Play
• Bluffing
• Calling a Bluff
• Penalties
• Adding a Dash of Salt
• Ending the Game

Contents

Stone Soup contains 54 cards:

• 6 stone cards
• 8 dash-of-salt cards
• 2 sequence-of-ingredient cards
• 38 food cards:
  • 4 potato cards
  • 4 tomato cards
  • 4 sausage cards
  • 5 onion cards
  • 6 carrot cards
  • 7 cabbage cards
  • 8 pea cards

The sequence-of-ingredients cards show the order in which the food cards must be played. On each food card is a number indicating its order in the sequence.

Object

The first player to get rid of all of his cards wins. Follow the sequence and take turns adding food cards face down to the "pot" in the center of the table. The first player […] following the sequence in the sequence-of-ingredients card. If you are out of the right food cards, you may pass your turn with a dash-of-salt card or dare to bluff by adding other cards. You'll have to bluff to get rid of your stone cards, but you double your risk when you slip one into the pot.

Set Up

Players select a dealer. The dealer places the two sequence-of-ingredients cards face up on the table so everyone can read them, then deals the rest of the cards to the players. (Some players may end up with more cards than others--it doesn't matter.) Players look at the cards in their hand.

If there are three players in the game, deal an extra hand. If two are playing, deal two extra hands. The extra hands are set […] cards are in play at a time.

Game Play

Play begins with the player to the left of the dealer and continues in a clockwise direction. On your turn, add food cards face down to the center of the table - the "pot" - declaring the number and type of cards added.

For example, you might say, "Two Potatoes."

The food cards must be added in the order on the sequence-of-ingredients card. The first player adds potatoes, the second player adds tomatoes, and so on until the sequence of ingredients is completed. When all the food cards in the sequence have been added, begin the sequence again with potatoes.

Just because potatoes are the first in the sequence, doesn't mean you can only play one card. On each turn, you may add as many or as few cards as you like, or you may choose to bluff by adding a stone card or combining different food cards.

Bluffing

There are three reasons to bluff:

1. You need to get rid of your stone cards.
2. You don't have the right food card to throw into the pot.
3. You have a lot of cards in your hand and you need to get rid of them.

There are three ways to bluff:

1. Play stone cards. Sneak them into the pot when you are supposed to add another ingredient.

   For example, add one potato card and one stone card but say, "Two potatoes."

2. Play the wrong food card. Sneak a different food card (or a stone card) into the pot, but call it the right one.

   For example, add one sausage card but say, "One cabbage."

3. Play more cards than you declare. Sneak extra cards into the pot by declaring fewer than you actually add.

   For example, add three sausage cards and one tomato card but say, "Three sausages."

Calling a Bluff

If you think someone is bluffing, you may challenge him. Call his bluff by saying "stone soup" after he has added his cards to the pot. Challenge him before the next player starts or you're out of luck.

The player who is challenged turns over the cards he just added and shows them to the other players. If he played the correct cards, the challenger takes a penalty. If he was bluffing, then he takes a penalty. If a player is caught bluffing, the next player adds the next food card, following the sequence of ingredients.

For example, if you got caught bluffing on your turn to add tomatoes, the next player must add sausages to the pot.

Penalties

1. If you get caught trying to sneak a stone into the pot, you must pick up all the cards in the pot.
2. If you played the correct cards in the sequence, the player who challenged you must pick up all the cards in the pot.
3. If you played more cards than you declared, or threw an ingredient out of sequence, you must take back twice the number of cards you added.

For example, if you claimed to add three tomatoes, but actually added two tomatoes and one sausage, you must take back the cards you just discarded, plus the next three cards in the pot. If there are fewer than six cards in the pot, take back your three cards, plus the rest of the cards in the pot.

Adding a Dash of Salt

To skip your turn, play a dash-of-salt card. Say, "I think this soup needs a dash of salt." Show your dash-of-salt card to your opponents, slide it under the bottom of the soup pot, and pass your turn to the next player.

The next player must add the food cards you would have played. You always follow the sequence-of-ingredients.

For example, if you were supposed to add tomatoes, but used a dash-of-salt card instead, the next player must add tomatoes to the pot.

Ending the Game

As soon as one player has played all his cards, the game is over.

The first to get rid of all his cards is the winner.