Cradle to Grave
Cradle to Grave Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 70 Cards: Age Card: 6 '1'~'9' (total 54) / Special Cards: 4 cards of 4 types (total 16)
- Note! The '0' card is a special card (different background), not an age card.
Set Up
- Shuffle the cards and deal 6 cards each. If there are 4 or more '9' and special cards collectively, reveal all cards to the others, discard them all, then draw 6 more (the discarded cards are shuffled into the deck).
- Each player creates a two-digit number with the two age cards from his hand and sets them face down in front of him. These two digits will be your starting age. Now you have 4 cards in your hand.
- If everyone has played cards, reveal them at the same time. Start with the oldest person (by starting age). If there are the same age, start with the person who is actually older.
How to Play
Take turns clockwise. Each turn is played in two phases: 1. Playing a Card Phase, 2. Replenishing Phase.
1. Playing a Card Phase
Play one card from your hand in one of three ways:
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Raising the age of an adjacent player: Place the age card with exactly 1 higher number on top of the age card (either one's or tens') of the player sitting adjacent to you (right or left).
Example: The opponent on the right is 27 years old and you have '1', '3', '4' and '9' in your hand. You can make your opponent 37 years old by placing the '3' above the '2' in the tens place (but you cannot use '9').
Example: The opponent on the left is 43 years old, but you only have '1', '3', '8', and 'Swap places' in your hands, so you can't raise this opponent's age. You must increase your age or use special cards.
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Using Special Card: Discard 1 special card and use its effect. Note: '0' is a special card used over '9' instead of discarding.
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Raising your age: If you can't or don't want to do either of the above, you should raise your age instead. The age card must be overlaid on the one's or tens' place so that you are older than your current age. You don't have to be exactly 1 higher than the card being covered, unlike when you raise someone else's age.
Using the back '9': When increasing your age, if there are no cards you can cover or you do not want to increase your age with a card in your hand, put any card in your hand face down (9). It is used in the same way as the age card '9'.
Note: What if you don't have a card to use when you're 99? After the 'End of round check' (see 'End of the round'), if the round is not over, skip your turn.
Example: You can't raise your opponent's age, so you choose to raise your own. Since the cards placed are '5' and '6' and all the cards in your hand are lower than that, you have no choice but to turn any card over to make a '9' and place it on the work place to make it 59.
2. Replenishing Phase
Draw cards until you have 4 cards in your hand. On someone else's turn, you cannot replenish cards if you use the 'Stop!' special card. You can fill your hand at your replenishing phase.
End of the Round
A round ends in one of two ways.
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If you are 91 years old or older, you must reveal the top card of the deck before starting your turn. The round ends immediately when the sum of the number of cards revealed and your age is 100 or more years. If you are under 100, discard the card you just revealed and take your turn.
Example: If you are 97 years old and you have drawn '1', '2', or a special card, you are safe for now. You can take your turn.
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Or if the deck runs out, the round ends immediately.
Scoring
At the end of the round, each player records their current age as a penalty. For those who complete the round with 100 or more years old, the last age will be his penalty for this round.
After collecting all the cards, proceed from the 'Set Up' stage to start a new round. At the end of a round, the penalty points for that round are also recorded.
End of the Game
After 3 rounds the game is over. The player with the fewest total penalty points wins.
Special Cards
There are 4 types of special cards.
- Special cards can be used on you or on ANY opponent. Therefore, (when playing with 4-5 players) you can use it even if you are not seated directly on the right/left to that opponent (exception: '0' card is used only for you).
- The used special cards are discarded (exception: '0' cards).
Cover Ten Digit
After choosing a player, reveal the top card of the deck, covering the tens digit of the chosen player. It doesn't matter if the covering number is less than the covered number. When a special card is drawn, it is discarded.
Example: If you are 23 years old and you draw '5' for yourself, you will be 53 years old.
Swap Places
Choose a player and swaps his tens and one digit.
Example: 23 years old → 32 years old. 44 years old → 44 years old.
Stop!
You can play this card even when it is not your turn. Cancel the special cards used by the opponent (including the '0' card). In the case of 'Cover Ten Digit', you must use 'Stop!' before revealing the cards from the top of the deck. A 'Stop!' card can be canceled with another 'Stop!' card. If you can use it, you can use several 'Stop!' cards during a turn. All canceled special cards are discarded.
Example: When you lower your age with a '0' card, your opponent can cancel it with 'Stop!'.
0
You can cover your '9' age card with this. It makes you younger. You can use it only for yourself and do not discard it after use.
Example: 19 years old → 10 years old. 95 years old → 5 years old (05).
Just for Fun...
Players may add a special rule to speak politely to the 'elders' during the game!