Rules for 7deck games

Players: 3, 4, or 6 (best with 3 or 4)

Goal: To take as many tricks as possible.

Deal out all the cards but one, face down. The final card is turned face up and set aside. This card determines the trump suit and number.

Before each trick, the person who will play second to the trick chooses whether the trick will be played by following suit (as in most other trick-taking games) or by following number. That player announces their choice.

Then the person leading to the trick plays a card, and reinforces what kind of trick it is by saying specifically what is being followed on this trick. For example, "Following yellow" or "Following three". Each player, going around the table to the left, must follow if possible. If the player is void in the trick's suit or number, the player may play any card in their hand.

When following a suit, the highest-numbered card in the suit led takes the trick; if any cards from the trump suit were played, the highest-numbered card in the trump suit takes the trick.

When following a number, the highest-suited card with the number led takes the trick; if any cards from the trump number were played, the highest-suited card with the trump number takes the trick.

The suits are ranked in terms of color and the number of angles in their symbol; red balls are the lowest and violet violets are the highest.

The player with the red 1 leads to the first trick. (Alternatively, the player to dealer's left goes first.)

Scoring: At the end of the hand, each player scores 1 point for the first trick they took, 2 points for the second, 3 for the third, and so on. (In other words, the score for taking N tricks is the Nth triangle number.) Play continues until one or more players exceed 49 points total; the player(s) with the highest score at that point is/are the winners.

Alternate scoring: After the cards are dealt, each player bids the number of tricks they think they can take. The total number of all bids need not equal the number of tricks to be played. For each trick that you take you earn 1 point regardless of your bid; if you score at least the number of tricks that you bid then you also score a bonus of twice your bid. (For example, if you bid 3 tricks and take 5, you get 5+6=11 points; if you bid 5 tricks and take 3, you get 3+0=3 points.) The winner is the player with the most points after everyone has dealt once.

Players: 2 to 4. Great for kids!

Goal: To collect seven cards that form two sets of four cards

Each player is dealt seven cards face down. They may look at their hands once the deal is completed. The remaining cards are placed in a face-down draw pile in the middle of the table. Each player will have a personal discard pile in front of him or her.

The player to dealer's left begins. On each turn, a player may take the top card from the draw pile (without looking at it first) or the top card from any discard pile (including his or her own). The player then chooses one of the eight cards in their hand to discard face-up atop their discard pile.

Play continues until one player has seven cards, four of which have the same number as one another and four of which have the same suit as one another. Neither set is required to be consecutive. Obviously, one card (the "pivot") must be a member of both sets.

If the draw pile is exhausted, shuffle all the discard piles together (excepting the top card from each pile) and replenish the draw pile from that.

Players: 3 or 4

Goal: To be the last player remaining

Each player is dealt seven cards face up. The rest of the cards are placed in a face-down draw pile in the middle of the table. The top card remains face-down.

The player to dealer's left begins. On each turn, a player selects one of their cards and uses it to attack the opponent of their choice.

This card is a viral vector, and will wipe out a matching monoculture of the opponent's hand -- that is, all cards with the same suit as the attacking card, or all cards with the same number as the attacking card:

• If the player being attacked has cards that match the attacking card in suit, but does not have any cards that match the attacking card in number, then they must discard all their cards that match by suit.
• Conversely, if the player being attacked has cards that match the attacking card in number, but does not have any cards that match the attacking card in suit, then they must discard all their cards that match by number.
• If the player being attacked has both cards that match by number and cards that match by suit, the player being attacked may choose which set of cards to discard.
• If the player being attacked has no cards that match either by suit or by number, then the attacking player draws an extra card from the draw pile. This is called "healing".

At the end of the attack, if the player being attacked has two or more cards left, they remain in the game. If the player being attacked has only one card left, they give that card to the attacker, and are eliminated from the game. If the player being attacked has no remaining cards, they are eliminated from the game.

The attacking player then draws one card from the draw pile to replace the attack card. Exception: If the attacking player won the last card of the player being attacked, then the attacking player does not draw a card.

If the draw pile is exhausted, shuffle the discard pile and replenish the draw pile with it.

Players: 1. Great for kids! (Invented by my six-year-old daughter, in fact)

Goal: To clear the 21 cards from the tableau.

Setup: Deal out 21 cards, face-up, in a seven-row triangle as follows: First deal out one card in the middle of the table. Then, closer to you, deal a row of two cards, each overlapping one corner of the first card. Now, deal out rows of 3, 4, 5, 6, and finally 7 cards; each card covers the corners of the two cards above it in the previous row. (The cards at the end of each row will only cover the corner of one card, of course.) [Picture to come]

Play: Turn over the top card of the draw pile and add it, face-up, to the top of the working pile. You may now discard: (a) any single 7, OR (b) any two fully uncovered cards whose numbers add up to 7, OR (c) any two cards whose numbers add up to 7 if one of them is uncovered and the second will become uncovered when you discard the first. The cards may come from the tableau or the top of the working pile. Cards may not be re-used once they have been added to the discard pile.

If you clear the tableau before using up the entire draw pile, you win.

If you use up the entire draw pile before clearing the tableau, you lose.

Players: 2 to 4. Great for kids!

Goal: To play out all one's cards

Each player is dealt seven cards face down. They may look at their hands once the deal is completed. The remaining cards are placed in a face-down draw pile in the middle of the table, and the topmost card is turned face-up to start the discard pile.

The player to dealer's left begins. If possible, the player should select a card from their hand which matches the top card in the discard pile in either number or suit, and discard it. If the player has no such card, they must draw one card from the draw pile. If that card can be played immediately, the player may do so, otherwise the card is added to the player's hand and play continues to the left.

There are no wild cards. There is no need to declare when you have only one card remaining. If the draw pile is exhausted, shuffle the discard pile (excepting the top card) and replenish the draw pile with it.

The winner is the first person to have zero cards.

Variant ("Silly Sevens"): Use the jokers as wildcards. When playing a joker, you may declare either a color or a number, which the next card played must follow. (That is, it only has one degree of freedom.)

Players: 1. Great for kids!

Goal: To complete the tableau before running out of cards.

Deal one card, the "target", in the center of the table, and then four cards around the outside: North, East, South, and West. Leave a decent amount of space between the four base cards and the target.

You will be building chains from each of the base cards to the target card. In each chain, each card must match either the number or the suit of the card before it; when you are done, each chain will contain seven cards (including the base and the target, which is shared by all the chains.)

One by one, turn over the cards in the deck. If the card can be placed as the next card in any of the four chains, you may play it; if it cannot, or if you do not wish to use it, place it face up atop the discard pile.After adding a card to a chain, and before turning over the next face-down card, you may take the top card from the discard pile and add it to one of your chains.

The sixth card played to each chain must match not only the suit or number of the card before it, but must also match either the suit or number of the target card. (It need not match both cards along the same criterion.) The sixth card completes that chain, turning that into a "closed" pile.

If you successfully complete all four chains, you win. If you use up all of the deck without completing all four chains, you lose.

Players: 2 or 3.

This game is similar to "Front and Center" but is played competatively.

Deal one card, the "target", in the center of the table. If playing with two players, deal three base cards in front of each player; if playing with three players, deal two base cards. The remainder of the deck goes face down as a draw pile.

On your turn, you may take either the top card in the draw pile or the top card in the discard pile. You may play it on top of any of your chains, provided that it matches either the suit or number of the previous top card of the chain.

If you cannot play that card, or do not wish to, you place it face-up atop the discard pile.

Unlike "Front and Center", you may "couple" two of your chains as follows: if the card you are playing could be played atop two of your chains, you may play it across both of them, merging them into one. You may merge a chain that was previously merged, but you may not merge more than two chains with a single card.

Your chains must be at least six cards long before you make the final link to the target card. Unlike "Front and Center", they need not be exactly six cards long to be closed.

The winner is the first player to close all their chains. If the draw pile is exhausted before any player closes all their chains, all players lose.

Players: 1 to 4. Great for kids!

Goal: To use up the entire deck

Each player is dealt 5 cards face up. One card is dealt face-up in the middle of a very large table. The remainder of the cards form the draw pile, off to one side.

The player to dealer's left begins.

On each turn, take one of your cards and add it to the cards on the table such that it for each card it touches, it shares either the number or the suit. (It does not have to share the same property with all adjacent cards.)

Playing "stacks": You may play a card on top of another card provided that it continues to share properties with all adjacent cards. If you do this, the card that has been covered up no longer needs to be considered when playing in any remaining adjacent spots. If you wish, you may even use this rule to override the starter card.

Note: It's entirely legal -- and good strategy -- for all players to discuss what cards will be best to play to help set up the next player. Ultimately, though, it is each player's choice what card to play on their own turn.

Then draw a card to replace the one you played.

If you can't go, pass your turn.

If you play all 49 cards into the tableau, everyone wins. If everyone passes and there are still cards in your hands, everyone loses.

Variant: Include the jokers in the deck. (Now you must play all 53 cards.) Jokers are completely wild - any card may be placed adjacent to a joker, provided it is legal with respect to all other cards to which it is adjacent. (That is, the joker does not take on the characteristics of the cards to which it is adjacent.)