BoardGameGeek: The Card Game
BoardGameGeek: The Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the game
Build up your game collection and play lots of games, tracking it all on the BoardGameGeek.com site.
Players: 2 to 6, all ages.
Contents: 10 cards in each of 8 Subdomains. 1 End card. These Rules. 6 Player Aids.
Editor's note on Subdomains: the rules refer to the cards' colors as Subdomains without naming them. The eight Subdomains are the game categories shown in the icon row on page 1 of the rules: Abstract Games, Customizable Games, Children's Games, Family Games, Party Games, Strategy Games, Thematic Games and War Games.
Editor's note on card markers: the rules print two markers in the top right corner of a card. A smiley icon marks a Popular game, and a solid black dot marks a Rare Gem (also known as a Holy Grail game).
Preparation
- Take the End card and shuffle it in with 10 other randomly selected cards. Then put that set of 11 cards under the rest of the shuffled deck as a draw deck (the Thrift Store).
- Deal 4 cards to each player.
- Place the top 4 cards from the deck face up next to the face-down deck. These cards are the BGG Marketplace.
- First Player: the person who most recently accessed the BGG site (not including now from your smartphone, SmartyPants).
Player's Turn
Unlimited Trading
On your turn, you may start by trading one or more cards with other players. All trades must include the player whose turn it is. All trades must be concluded before the active player takes his/her Action for this turn. All trades are optional (except Math Trade when chosen as an Action).
Player's ONE Action
The player may do any 1 of the following:
a) Buy 1 Game b) Play Games c) Display a Collection d) Math Trade
End of Turn
After the active player takes his/her one action, if s/he has more than 9 cards in hand, cards must be discarded to the bottom of the deck until s/he has 9 cards. Then play moves clockwise to the next player, who may start by Trading. (Refill the empty spot if the action was Buy.)
Buy 1 Game
Choose any face-up card from the Marketplace (face-up cards next to the deck) or the Thrift Store (top of the draw deck) and put it in your hand. If you choose a card from the Marketplace that has a smiley icon or a black dot in the top right corner, discard one card to the bottom of the deck. The space where the card was taken from is re-filled from the top of the deck before the next player's turn.
Play Games
When we get a group of people together to play games, they tend to all want to play the same sort of game (eg; family wants to play light games, geeks like to play strategy or war games, etc.) So when you play a set of cards that all have the same Subdomain on the table in front of you, place at least 2 cards of the same color vertically to indicate these games were Played. Since there are 10 cards in each Subdomain, the largest possible Play can be 10 cards long. You may add to a group of played cards in a later turn, but only if you again use the Play Games action, playing at least 2 cards. So a later Play Games action can either add to an existing Subdomain or start a new Subdomain but not both in the same turn.
Display a Collection
You have a huge variety of games in your collection, but your friends and family don't always get to appreciate it. So you display a variety of games on a shelf or bring them to game day, playing at least 2 cards, each in different Subdomains, horizontally on the table in front of you. Each "Collection Group" (set of cards played horizontally) can only have up to 1 card in each Subdomain (color). Only one collection group can be played per turn. Since there are 8 different Subdomains of games, the largest collection group you can display can be 8 cards wide, but it can have several Rare Gems. You may add to a collection group on a later turn as long as you add 2 new cards in different Subdomains. You may start a new Collection even when a previous collection has less than 8 cards.
Note: A particular game can be either Played or Displayed in a Collection, but the same game cannot be used for both.
Math Trade
When the active player declares a Math Trade, each player, including the active player, secretly selects 1 or more cards from his/her hand. All of these cards are placed face down in the middle of the table. Add a single card from the draw deck, also face down. Mix the cards then flip them face up. The active player chooses 1 card from this face up group of cards and puts it in his/her hand. Then each other player, in clockwise order from the active player, chooses a card to put in his/her hand. Players who played more than 1 card get to select another card until they get back as many as they put in. The leftover card that is not selected gets placed under the draw deck, face down.
Note: Active player cannot take this action if not able to put in at least 1 card from his/her hand.
Rare Gems and Popular Games
A smiley icon in the top right corner of a card indicates a game that is a very Popular game on BGG in its Subdomain. There is 1 of these for each Subdomain. Playing one of these cards in a Play Games action (vertical) gives you an additional 2 points per card Played in that Subdomain.
A solid black dot in the top right corner of a card indicates a game that is very rare, a Rare Gem (also known as Holy Grail game). There is 1 of these for each Subdomain. Each of these displayed in a Collection group (horizontal) gives you an additional 1 point per card Displayed in that Collection.
Scoring
Each Subdomain of Played Games (vertical) scores as follows:
| Cards in Subdomain | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 4 | 9 | 16 | 25 | 36 | 49 | 64 | 81 | 100 |
Plus 2 points per game Played in the Subdomain if a Popular game (smiley icon) is included.
Each Collection Group Displayed (horizontal) scores as follows:
| Cards in Collection Group | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 3 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 28 | 36 |
Plus 1 point per game in the Collection for each Rare Gem game (black dot) Displayed.
Scoring Example
Dan ends up with 3 cards in his hand, which do not count for or against him. But on the table he has:
- 4 Thematic games played vertically, including the Popular (smiley) game: 16 points + 8 for the Popular game = 24
- 5 Children's games played vertically: 25
- Games from 4 different Subdomains displayed in one collection: 10
- Games from 6 different Subdomains displayed in one collection, including 2 Rare Gems (black dots): 21 points + 6 for each Rare Gem (12) = 33
His total score is 24+25+10+33=92.
Aldie ends up with 2 cards in his hand, which do not count for or against him. But on the table he has:
- 6 War games played vertically, including the Popular (smiley) game: 36 points + 12 for the Popular game = 48
- 2 Party games played vertically: 4
- Games from 8 different Subdomains displayed in one collection: 36
- Games from 3 different Subdomains displayed in one collection, all 3 have Rare Gems (black dots): 6 points + 3 for each Rare Gem (9) = 15
His total score is 48+4+36+15=103.
Aldie wins!
Ending the Game
The game ends immediately when the End card is drawn. Note: Players may not count the cards remaining in the deck at any time. When the End card appears, each player adds up his/her score, and the player with the highest total score wins. In case of tie, the tied player with the largest group of Played games (vertical) wins. If there is still a tie, the tied player with the largest Collection Group wins. If still tied, the tied players are equal winning Geeks!