3 to 13
3 to 13 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What You Need
For 3 to 13 card game, you will need one or more standard playing card decks, jokers included.
- If you are playing a two player game, then you will need just one deck.
- For a three or four player game you will need two decks.
- And for five to six players you will need three decks. You can play with any number of players as long as you have enough cards to play with.
- A score sheet.
How to Play 3 to 13
- First, there are 11 rounds to 3 to 13 card game. For each round there is an increasing amount of cards dealt and a different wild card.
- For the first round, players are dealt three cards and threes are wild. In the second round, players get four cards and fours are wild. You can see the chart below to see the full list.
- Jokers are always wild.
- The goal is to be the first player to go out, or down. The overall goal of the game is to be the player will the least amount of points at the end of the 11 rounds.
- To lay down cards, a player must use all of her cards and have a discard card.
- Cards can be out down in either straights or books.
Straights
Straights are three or more card that are in sequence in a suit. For example the 2, 3, 4 of hearts is a straight. So is 9, 10, Jack, Queen. The straights must be in the same suit.
Aces are low in this game.
Books
Books are sets of three or more of a number. For example three 4s or four 9s are books. A book may contain two or more of the same card; an example could be the 5 of clubs, the 5 of clubs and the 5 of spades.
Wild Cards
The wild cards are what make 3 to 13 card game interesting. The Jokers are always wild. In each round there is a different number that is wild; this is part of the challenge and fun of the game. Wild cards can be used as any card. A straight or book can have any number of wild cards in it.
Playing
The dealer job rotates for each round. To start, the dealer passes out three cards to each player and flips over the last card to form the discard pile. Each player has their own discard pile.
The first player then can draw the top card from the deck or pick up the top card on any discard pile. If she has a book or straight, she can go down. On the other hand, if she doesn't have the card to go down, she must discard and play moves to her left.
Going Down
To go down, a player must have used all of his cards in either books, straights or a combination of the two. A card may only be used in one place and can't be used in both a book and a straight at the same time. He must also have a discard.
Once a player has gone down, all other players have one more turn to lay down any and all cards that they can. A player may only use their own cards, meaning that they can't add on to anyone else's cards.
(The source sheet includes an illustration captioned "This player has a combination of a straight and a book using wild cards"; the illustration itself is not in the PDF.)
Scoring 3 to 13 Card Game
- Any cards left in a players hand after their last turn count against them.
- To start, the cards from 2 to 10 are worth their face value. Example 5s are worth 5 points, 6s are worth 6 points.
- Aces are worth one point.
- Picture cards are worth 10 points.
- Jokers are worth nothing and the current wild card is worth it's face value.
- Winning 3 to 13 Card Game
- The player with the lowest score after the 11th round is the winner.