U.F.O.s
U.F.O.s Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
UFOs is a simple card game for 3-6 players.
Components
-
A Special Deck of 60 Cards. There are four suits of 13 cards in Red, Yellow, Green, and Tan, each with cards numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15. In additon, there are four Blue 10s and four Blue 12s.
-
42 Bid Cards (6 Sets of 7). Each set contains 5 Suit Cards and 2 Game Cards. The 5 Suit Cards are Red, Yellow, Green, Tan, and X (No Trump). The 2 Game Cards are Positive (High) and Negative (Low).
-
Scoring Counters
-
Rules
Prepare for Play
Each player should take 20 points in Scoring Counters to start the game. The rest of the points form the bank.
Each player should take one set of Bid Cards.
Decide how many hands will make up the game. Two per player is recommended. Decide who will deal the first hand. After each hand, the deal passes to the left around the table.
Deal & Bid
The dealer shuffles the cards and deals them all out to the players.
Each player should look at his hand and decide how to bid. Each player must select two Bid Cards to play: one Suit Card and one Game Card. Players play these cards face down in front of them. When every player has played his cards, each player turns over his Game Card. Suit Cards remain face down.
Beginning with the dealer, each player takes one turn at a time, and must do one of three things:
-
Pass. Do nothing. You must then Pass each turn.
-
Bid. The first player may bid any number of points. Each successive bid must be at least one point higher than the last. A player may not bid more points than he has. A player with 0 points may not bid.
-
Spy. A player may pay 1 point to look at any one opponent's Suit Card. The player actually gives the opponent 1 point and then secretly looks at the opponent's Suit Card. A player may Spy any number of times per hand.
Players continue to take turns until all players Pass consecutively. When all players have passed, the player who made the highest bid wins the Bid. The player pays this number of points to the bank. Players who bid but did not win do not lose any points. If no player bids, the dealer wins the Bid for 0 points.
The player who won the Bid now reveals his Suit Card which becomes the Trump Suit. The Game, either Positive (High) or Negative (Low), is established by the player's Game Card.
If a player Bids and all his opponents either Pass or Spy, the player does not have to bid again since he would be raising his own bid. He can "wait", which is not the same as a Pass, and decide whether to bid again after an opponent raises the bid.
Play
The player who won the Bid leads the first trick.
A player must play a card each time it is his turn to play. Each player must play a card of the same suit as the card that was led. If a player does not have a card of the same suit, he may play any card.
After each player has played one card, the player who played the highest card in the suit that was led takes the trick. If there is a trump suit, however, and one or more players play a trump card, the player who played the highest trump card takes the trick, regardless of the suit led.
If a player leads a Blue 10 or 12, he must immediately declare what suit the card is; he may choose any suit. If a player plays a Blue 10 or 12 during a trick, it automatically becomes a card of the same suit that was led. If more than one Blue 10 or more than one Blue 12 is played during the same trick, the first one played is high.
The player who wins a trick leads the next trick. Play continues in this manner until all the cards have been played.
When a player takes a trick, he places the cards face down in a pile on the table in front of him. Each trick should be kept separately, so at the end of the hand it will be easy to tell how many tricks each player has taken.
Scoring
If the Game was Positive (High), the player who won the Bid scores a number of points equal to twice the number of tricks he took. Each other player scores a number of points equal to the number of tricks he took. Points are taken from the bank.
Example: The Game is High. Bill, who won the Bid, takes 4 tricks. Tom takes 3 tricks. Pete takes 8 tricks. Bob takes 0 tricks. Bill scores 8 points, Tom 3 points, Peter 8 points, and Bob 0 points.
If the Game was Negative (Low), only the player who took the least tricks scores points. He scores a number of points equal to the number of tricks taken by the player who takes the most tricks. If more than one player ties for least tricks, each scores the points. In addition, the player who took the most tricks loses a number of points equal to the number of tricks he took. If more than one player ties for most tricks, each loses the points. If the player who won the Bid takes the least or the most tricks, he doubles the normal score (either positive or negative).
Example: The Game is Low. Bill takes 7 tricks. Tom takes 6 tricks. Pete takes 1 trick. Bob, who won the Bid, takes 1 trick. Bob scores 14 points (two times 7, which is the number of tricks Bill took, since Bill took the most tricks). Pete scores 7 points (because he tied for least tricks but doesn't double his points since he was not the player who won the Bid). Bill loses 7 points.
A player may not have less than 0 points.
Winning
At the end of last hand, the player with the most points is the winner.