Wench
Wench Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
How to Play
- Choose a dealer by any method (for example, each player flips a card and the player with the highest card deals). The dealer shuffles the cards and deals 5 cards to each player. The remaining cards are placed face down as the draw pile.
- Play begins with the player to the left of the dealer and proceeds to the left continuously.
- On each turn, a player does one of two things: play 1 card with a gold border, or draw 1 card from the draw pile. The player must choose one of these.
- Play continues until there is a winner, the first player to run out of cards in hand.
Card Types
There are two main types of cards: gold-bordered cards and blue cards.
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Gold cards are played normally. They are divided into 2 subtypes:
1.1 Table Card (gold border): has a Table Icon on the right side of the card. When a player plays this gold-bordered card, place it in front of themselves and read the card's details aloud for the others to hear. If that player already has a Table Card in front of them, take that existing card back into hand. Each player may have only 1 Table Card in front of them. Cards in front of a player are not counted as cards in hand, so a player wins by emptying their hand, regardless of whether they still have a Table Card in front of them.
1.2 Turn Action Card (gold border): has a Gear Icon on the right side of the card. When a player plays this type of card, read the card aloud for the others to hear, then follow the text on the card.
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Blue cards, also called Fast Action Cards, have a Wing Icon on the right side of the card. A Fast Action Card may be used at any time, depending on whether the conditions on the card are met. For example, if the card says "If a player places their arm, elbow or wrist on the table, then ...", then when any player does what the card specifies, the owner of the card says the card's name aloud, reads the condition, and may immediately follow the text on the card.
Once players have been playing for a while and know the cards, it is enough to say just the name.
Round
A round is the period from the start of a player's turn until the start of their next turn.
Normally, the rules or conditions of each card allow a player to give a card to another player or discard a card only 1 time per round, even if they have more than one opportunity to do so. This is called the Primary Penalty.
When a player's turn begins again, those rules and conditions are reset, and the player again has the right to give cards to others or discard cards as normal. The rules and conditions apply to all players (whether from Table Cards in front of each player, or Fast Action Cards in each player's hand), without exception, even for the owner of that card.
Secondary Penalty
The Secondary Penalty is used to deter players from breaking the rules. If a Secondary Penalty is used, the penalty must be agreed among the players beforehand, for example: if someone breaks the rules, they must have the others drink their own beer, and so on.
The Secondary Penalty is determined by first checking the Primary Penalty: has the player been punished by receiving a card from another player? If the player has not received a card from anyone, the player receives the Secondary Penalty instead.
Game End
The game ends when a player is the first to run out of cards in hand and has completed all the various conditions of the cards. That player is the winner.
The remaining players add up the points of all the cards still in their hands. J, Q, K, and A count as 10 points each. The player with the most points is the loser.
The winner and the other players together decide a punishment for the loser, for example: having them take out the trash, collect bottles and cans, or similar tasks.
Variant Rules
If you want the game to go faster or slower, you may create your own rules to apply. You can find unusual rules or FAQs on the publisher's website, http://www.playwench.com.
Below are examples of Variant Rules for those who want to try them. (The source suggests many variants; only 2 are included here, as the rest were confusing to read and the translator did not want players to play them incorrectly.)
Spider: When we play a Table Card and there is already a Table Card in front of us, we may choose to take that old Table Card back into hand and play the new card in its place.
Cobra: The player is not affected by the rules of their own cards.
These variants can be combined, for example: "Today let's play Spider-Cobra style!"