Five Three Five Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Round Set Up
• Definitions
• How to Play
• Four Actions
  • 1) Lead
  • 2) Overwrite
    • Notes on Overwriting
  • 3) Add
    • Notes on Adding
  • 4) Pass
• End of Trick
• Rule of 8's
• End of Round
• End of Game

Components

• 65 Animal Cards (all cards 5 copies of each)
  • 1-5: Cat cards
  • 7-9: Dog & Cat cards
  • 11-15: Dog cards
  • Each card shows a Card Number, a Card Group (an icon of the animal type), and Card Points (in a paw-print icon below the number)
• 24 Reference Cards
• 36 Point Tokens (twenty 1's, ten 5's, and six 10's)
• 2 Rulebooks

Goal of the Game

Be the first player to get rid of all your cards in hand. As soon as any player runs out of cards, all other players gain points from the cards left in their hands. When at least one player has reached 20 points or more, the player with the fewest points wins!

Round Set Up

Players	Card Distribution (1-5, 7-9, 11-15)	Cards Dealt	Undealt Cards (undealt facedown)
2	4 copies of each card	First-half 12, Second-half 12	4
3	4 copies of each card	16	4
4	4 copies of each card	12	4
5	5 copies of each card	12	5
6	5 copies of each card	10	5

Place the point tokens within reach of all players. In a 2, 3, or 4 player game, return one copy of each card (1-5, 7-9, 11-15) back to the box. The player who most recently checked the weather is the lead player.

The lead player shuffles and deals the cards according to the setup chart above. All undealt cards are set aside, facedown.

2-player only: At the start of each round, both players are dealt two separate hands of 12 cards: one 12-card hand for the first half of the round and one 12-card hand for the second half. Without looking at either hand, players pick up one and set the other aside for now.

Definitions

• Meld: One, two, or three cards played as a group to the Central Meld.
• Central Meld: The Meld currently in play at the center of the table. Can consist of up to five cards.
• Clear: Discard all cards, facedown, from the Central Meld.
• Trick: Consists of multiple Melds, until they are Cleared.
• Round: Consists of multiple Tricks, until one player is out of cards.
• Game: Consists of multiple Rounds, until any player reaches 20 or more points.

How to Play

The game proceeds in a clockwise direction, beginning with the lead player.

On your turn, you must perform one of the following four actions:

1. Lead
2. Overwrite
3. Add
4. Pass

There are special rules when playing 8's that will be explained in detail later (see Rule of 8's).

Four Actions

1) Lead

This action must always be performed by the lead player of each trick. The lead player chooses one, two, or three cards and plays any one legal meld type, forming the Central Meld.

Example: Summer must Lead and plays a Run [2, 3, 4] from their hand. This creates a new Central Meld, consisting of [2, 3, 4].

The legal meld types are:

• Singles: A single card. E.g. [4] or [9]
• Sets: Two or three cards consisting of identical numbers. E.g. [1, 1] or [5, 5, 5]
• Runs: Two or three cards consisting of consecutive numbers. E.g. [7, 8] or [12, 13, 14]

2) Overwrite

Play one, two, or three cards that are of the same meld type, equal size, and greater strength than the Central Meld.

When Overwriting, stack your card(s) on top of the Central Meld, to hide the previously played card(s).

Notes on Overwriting

• Players can only Overwrite by playing equal size melds.
  • One card only Overwrites one card.
  • Two cards only Overwrites two cards.
  • Three cards only Overwrites three cards.
• When playing Singles and Sets, 1's are the lowest strength and 15's are the highest.

Example: Spring chooses to Overwrite and plays Single [14] from their hand to the [1] in play. This creates a new Central Meld, consisting of [14].

• When playing Runs, 15's are the lowest strength and 1's are the highest.

Example: Winter chooses to Overwrite and plays Run [2, 3] from their hand to the [14, 15] in play. This creates a new Central Meld, consisting of [2, 3].

• Once Sets are in the Central Meld, players cannot Overwrite with Runs.
• Once Runs are in the Central Meld, players cannot Overwrite with Sets.
• If the Central Meld contains four cards, players cannot take the Overwrite action and must either Add or Pass.

3) Add

Play one, two, or three cards to the Central Meld, increasing its overall size.

Notes on Adding

• Players can Add a Run or a Set to a Singles, a Run, or a Set in the Central Meld. But all cards in the Central Meld must be kept as a Run or a Set after the Adding.
• Players can Add a Singles to a Run or a Set in the Central Meld.

Example: Sonny chooses to Add and plays Set [7, 7] from their hand to the [7] in play. This creates a new Central Meld, consisting of [7, 7, 7].

• Players cannot Add a Run while a Set is in the Central Meld.
• Players cannot Add a Set while a Run is in the Central Meld.
• Cards played do not need to be consecutive numbers when Adding to the Central Meld to make a Run. However, all cards in the Central Meld must be consecutive numbers after they are played.

Example: Spring chooses to Add and plays [1, 3, 4] from their hand to the [2] in play. This creates a new Central Meld, consisting of [1, 2, 3, 4].

4) Pass

If a player cannot or chooses not to play cards, they Pass. Players always continue to play cards at their turns even though they have passed at the current trick, if the trick is not cleared.

The lead player of a trick may not Pass, because they must take the Lead action. However, they may Pass on any of their future actions.

End of Trick

A trick goes around the table multiple times until one of the following happens:

• All but one player passes. E.g. 3 players pass in a 4 player game.
• All cards of the same number are in the Central Meld: four cards in a 2, 3, or 4 player game, or five cards in a 5 or 6 player game.
• A Run of five cards is in the Central Meld.
• An 8 is played using the Rule of 8's.

If any of the above occurs, the trick ends immediately and is cleared. The last player to play a card clears the trick and will lead the next trick.

Example: Winter chooses to Add and plays Single [1] from their hand to the [1, 1, 1] in play. This creates a new Central Meld, consisting of [1, 1, 1, 1]. Since all four 1's (in a 2, 3, or 4 player game) have been played, the trick is cleared and Winter will lead the next trick.

Rule of 8's

• When one or more 8's are used to Overwrite or Add, the trick ends and is cleared immediately.

Example: Spring chooses to Overwrite and plays Run [8, 9] from their hand to the [13, 14] in play. This creates a new Central Meld, consisting of [8, 9]. Since at least one 8 was played, the Rule of 8's applies.

• If 8's are played during the Lead action, the trick will not clear.

Example: Spring must Lead and plays a Set [8, 8] from their hand. Since the [8, 8] was played during the Lead action, the trick does not clear.

Example: After Autumn's Lead of [8, 8], Winter chooses to Add and plays a Single [8] from their hand to the [8, 8] in play. This creates a new Set, consisting of [8, 8, 8]. Since at least one 8 was played, the Rule of 8's applies.

End of Round

As soon as any player runs out of cards, the round ends immediately. Everyone else takes point tokens equal to the total points of the cards remaining in their hand. Point values are located in the poop-shaped icon below each card.

Example: Summer plays their last two cards [11, 11]. Winter scores 13 points and Spring scores 7 points.

If End of Game has not been reached, start the next round from Round Set Up. The player with the most points is the lead player for the next round. If there is a tie, the lead player is the player closest to the previous round's lead player, in clockwise order.

2-player only: As soon as one player runs out of cards, the hand ends immediately.

• The other player takes point tokens equal to the total points of the cards remaining in their hand. After scoring, they place the scored cards next to their point tokens. These are used in case of a tiebreaker.
• If the first half of the round was played, then both players pick up their previously set aside hand to start the second half of the round. The player with the most points is the lead player.
• If the second half of the round was played, then proceed to End of Game.

End of Game

If any player reaches 20 or more points, the game ends.

The player with the fewest points is the winner. If there is a tie, the player with the fewest cards left in hand at the last round is the winner. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.

2-player only: After one round, which consists of two hands of 12 cards, the game ends. The player with the fewest points is the winner. If there is a tie, the player with the fewest cards next to their point tokens is the winner. If there is still a tie, the player who did not score points in the second half is the winner.