Blink Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• What's in the Box?
• The Object of Blink
• Setting Up
• Playing the Game
• Winning the Game
• Blink Notes
• More Ways to Play Blink
  • Go Blink
  • Three Player Blink
  • Four or More Players / Tournament Play
  • For Balanced Play
• Tournament Set-Up and Rules

What's in the Box?

• 60 Symbol cards
• Quick Play rules

The Object of Blink

Be the first one to play all of your cards.

Setting Up

1. Shuffle the cards and deal them, face down, to form two equal draw piles.
2. Place one draw pile in front of each player.
3. Place the top card from each draw pile, face down, between the players. These cards should be placed next to each other so they are accessible to both players.
4. Each player takes the top three cards from his or her draw pile to form a hand. Players may look at the cards in their hand.

Playing the Game

1. Players simultaneously turn over the card that they placed in the center of the table, and the game begins.
2. Without taking turns, players race to play cards from their hand, face up, on either of the center piles. To play a card, it must match at least one characteristic (color, shape, or count) of the card on which it is played. For example, a card with four yellow stars could be played on any card with yellow symbols (color), or on a card with any number of stars (shape), or on a card with four symbols of any kind (count).
3. As cards are played, players refill their hand by taking cards from their own draw pile. Players may have up to three cards in their hand at any time.
4. The game continues until one of the players is completely out of cards from his or her hand and draw pile.

Winning the Game

A player wins Blink by being the first one completely out of cards.

Blink Notes

1. A player may not play more than one card at a time.
2. On the rare occasion when neither player can match either of the top cards on the two center piles, play is paused and:
   • if both players have cards left in their draw pile, they simultaneously take the top card from their draw pile, place it face up on one of the center piles, and play resumes.
   • if one, or both, of the players has depleted their draw pile, both players simultaneously pick one card from their hand, place it face up on one of the center piles, and play resumes.
3. Because Blink is the world's fastest game, many players prefer to play a best-of-three, or best-of-five match to determine the winner.
4. Refer to the Blink symbols as Moon, Pyramid, Star, Water, Flower, and Lightening.

More Ways to Play Blink

Go Blink

Number of Players: 2-6

Object of the Game: Be the first player to play all of your cards by making matches of three-of-a-kind.

Setting Up

• Shuffle the cards and deal four cards to each player face down. Players may look at their cards.
• Place the remaining cards face down as a single draw pile in the center of the table.
• Place the black card tray next to the draw pile (for the discard pile).

Game Play

• Players attempt to create "matches" of cards by asking opponents for a type of card. "Matches" consist of three or more cards with any one of the same attributes on the card: shape, color, or quantity.

Starting the game

• Once everyone's cards have been dealt, any player can lay down a match-set in the discard pile that they currently hold from the deal. However, if they happen to have more than three cards matching, they can only lay three down; they have to retain one card from the deal. (i.e. Nobody can win only with the cards they receive in the deal.)
• The first player starts by asking any opponent, "Do you have any…?" and states a particular color, shape, or quantity on the card. For example, "Do you have any four of a kinds? Do you have any stars? Do you have any yellows." Each player only gets to ask for one type of card on his or her turn whether or not they receive any cards. They must have at least one of the cards in their own hand that match what they're asking for.
• If the opponent does not have that type of card, he or she says, "Go Blink" and the player draws one card from the center draw pile. If the card drawn forms a match, it can be played onto the discard pile immediately, even if it causes that person to win.
• If the opponent does have that type of card, he passes all of that type of card to the player face down, so that other opponents do not see the other attributes of that card. If the card or cards passed forms a match, the match can be played onto the discard pile immediately, even if it causes that person to win.
• Game play proceeds in a clockwise direction.

Other Rules

• Players are not required to play any matches they have in their hands. For example, it might serve a player well if he receives two of the same shape, but the other attributes of the card help fill out a match of a different attribute in their hand.
• Players may play more than one match at a time, as long as each match consists of its own minimum three-of-a-kind.
• If opponents deplete a players entire hand, he must draw one new card from the draw pile. A player cannot win unless he is laying down a match and uses all his cards.

To Win

• Play ends when one player lays down the last of his or her cards in a match set and exclaims, "I Blunk!"

Game Variation by Steven Reames

Three Player Blink

Blink can be played as a three-person game with the following changes:

1. Shuffle the cards and deal them, face down, to form three equal draw piles. (If you have the original 56 card deck, remove two cards before dealing.)
2. Place one draw pile in front of each player.
3. Each player places the top card from his or her draw pile, face down, so that it is an equal distance between the player and the person on the right. The cards will form a triangle and each player will have a card on the right and on the left.
4. Players can play cards from their hand on the pile to their left or the pile to their right.

Four or More Players / Tournament Play

With four or more players Blink can be played as a single-elimination tournament. To advance in the tournament, players must win two-out-of-three games against their opponent.

For Balanced Play

If one player is significantly faster than another, the faster player can start the game with more cards.

Tournament Set-Up and Rules

1. Blink tournaments are usually organized using a single-elimination format, with the goal of having three or four people in the final round.
2. The number of players will determine how the tournament brackets should be arranged. In order to balance the brackets, usually one or more players will receive a bye. Those players should be selected based upon their level of experience. For example, if a player has won a previous tournament, he or she would be given the bye so that less experienced players would not have to play such an experienced player in the first round.
3. Who-plays-who in the first round is determined by drawing numbers out of a hat. The numbers put in the hat should be comprised of the number of sets of players, with two numbers for each set. For example, if there are 12 people playing the first round, there would be 6 sets of numbers. Therefore there would be two number ones, two number twos, and so on through six. Each player draws a number from the hat and those with the matching numbers play each other.
4. In order to advance to the next round, players must win two-out-of-three games against their opponent.
5. Winners of each round advance through the brackets that were set up at the beginning of the game, until the number is reduced to three or four players.
6. The final round is played differently. The three, or four, players will each play three games against each of the other players. The number of wins is recorded and the person with the most wins takes first place, the person with the second most wins, second place, and so on. In the case of a tie in the number of wins, the tied players play another set of two-out-of-three to determine the winner.