HELP!
HELP! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
110 cards:
- 5 each of values 1, 2
- 7 each of values 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
- 8 each of values 8, 9, 10, 11
- 7 each of the special cards: Wild, Switch, Zap, No!
- 5 point cards
The Idea of the Game
Play your cards into a shared row, one after the other. If you don't have a playable card in your hand, ask the player who went before you for help. If they can't help you, you've both lost the round and all the other players get 1 point. The first player to make it to 3 points wins the game.
Setup
Each player takes a point card. As you start the game with 0 points, place your card in front of you so the 0 faces towards you. Put any point cards you don't use back in the box.
Shuffle all the other cards and deal four of them to each player without looking at the fronts. Put the remaining cards in the center of the table in a face-down draw deck. Leave some space to both sides of the draw deck for the discard pile and the card row respectively.
Playing the Game
The game is played over several rounds, alternating between a clockwise and counter-clockwise direction. The first round is played clockwise.
When it's your turn, play a number card in the card row or a special card.
At the start of the round, you all look at the cards in your hands. Then, you all shout out the lowest number in your hand at the same time. The player who has the lowest number goes first.
As the first player, you place your lowest card to the right of the draw deck face up to start the card row. Then, it's the next player's turn and they must choose a card from their hand to place next to the last card played, always moving to the right.
Important: The card you play must always be higher than the last card by at least 1. The whole card row must be in ascending order.
The card row can have a maximum of six cards. If you play the sixth card, take the whole row and put it on the discard pile. The next player starts off a new card row with any card from their hand.
Example: Klaus plays an 11 into the card row. This is the row's sixth card, so he puts the whole row on the discard pile. Alisa is up next and starts off a new card row with any card from her hand.
At the end of your turn, refill your hand to four cards from the draw deck. If the draw deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile and turn it into a new face-down draw deck.
If it's your turn and you can't play any of the cards in your hand, that doesn't mean it's the end! Ask the player who took the last turn for help: If they have a playable card in their hand, they pass it to you. In exchange, you give them one of your cards, face down.
Important: You can only ask for help if you cannot play any of the cards in your hand!
Special Cards
Instead of a number card, you can play a special card on your turn. If another player asks you for help, you can give them a special card, too.
Wild: The Wild can be any number between 1 and 11. It can be played at the end of a row or between any two cards in the row. However, you can't place a Wild between two consecutive numbers. When it's placed in the row, the Wild automatically takes on the value of the card to its left plus 1. If you play a Wild at the start of a card row, it has a value of 1.
Example: Klaus plays a Wild between the 5 and the 8. He could also have placed it before the 3 or after the 8.
Switch: The Switch card allows you to swap one of the cards in the card row with one from your hand. Put the Switch card on the discard pile. Then take any card from the row into your hand and replace it with another card from your hand. The card row still needs to be in ascending order when you're done.
Example: Alisa puts a Switch card on the discard pile and swaps the Wild in the card row for a 7 from her hand.
Zap: The Zap card removes the last card in the current card row. Put both cards on the discard pile. If there is only one card in the row, discard it anyway. The next player starts a new card row.
Note: If there aren't any cards in the row, you cannot play a Zap card.
No!: The No! card doesn't go into the row but in front of you instead. When you play it, draw a card, then it's the next player's turn. The next time your turn comes around, it is skipped. When it's your next turn after that, put the No! card on the discard pile and start your regular turn.
Note: While you have the No! card in front of you, you can't help other players. If the player who normally comes after you needs help, they must ask the player who would have gone before you.
The End of the Round
A round ends immediately when one of these situations occurs:
- You can't legally play a card and the player you asked to help doesn't have a card they can help you with, either. In this case, all the other players receive 1 point each and turn their point card to the next higher point total.
- You can't legally play a card and all the other players have No! cards in front of them. As the other players have left you "helpless," only you receive 1 point and turn your point card to the next higher value.
The Next Round
Set up the next round just like the previous one.
If the previous round was played clockwise, go counter-clockwise this time and vice versa.
Only the players who didn't get a point last round call out their lowest numbers to see who goes first this round. The player who calls out the lowest number first starts the new round.
The End of the Game
The game ends when one player has reached 3 points on their point card, and that player wins! If there is more than one player with 3 points at the end of a round, they all win.