No Loose Ends
No Loose Ends Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
- Create piles of point tokens, sorted by type, within reach of all players. Then give each player 5 points.
- Return the 4 black getaway cards to the box. (These cards are described on p. 15.)
- For a 2- or 3-player game, return the 13, 14, and 15 of each remaining suit to the box.
- Shuffle the deck and deal cards to each player as shown in the table below. Set any remaining cards off to one side of the play area.
| Players | Deck Makeup | Cards Per Player |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1-12 | 15 |
| 3 | 1-12 | 16 |
| 4 | 1-15 | 15 |
| 5 | 1-15 | 12 |
- The player who most recently made a masterful plan is designated as the first player (or pick a random first player).
Components
- 64 cards (1-15 in 4 suits and 4 getaway cards)
- 66 point tokens (1s, 5s, and 10s)
Gameplay
The game consists of 3 rounds, and each round consists of three phases: 1) planning, 2) trick-taking, and 3) scoring. During the planning phase, players "bid" and predict the tricks they will win; these bid cards are considered "evidence." During the trick-taking phase, players must "follow suit" and aim to win tricks that cover the evidence in their bid. Once a player has no cards left in their hand, all players score points and the round ends. After 3 rounds, the game ends, and the thief with the most points wins.
Planning
Take turns in clockwise order, beginning with the first player. On your turn, you must either "increase your bid" or "pass." Your goal is to use the remaining cards in your hand to only win tricks that cover evidence in your bid (see Trick-Taking on p. 6). Plan carefully!
Increase Your Bid
If you choose to increase your bid, select any card from your hand and place it face up in front of you. The "maximum bid" shown in the table (see right) indicates the number of bid cards you may have. If your bid reaches this number of cards, you may not increase your bid and must pass on your next turn.
Pass
When you feel satisfied with your bid and no longer wish to increase it, simply announce that you pass. This ends your participation in the planning phase. A player may choose to pass on their first turn in the planning phase (see Snitching on p. 12).
| Players | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max. Bid | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
Continue taking turns until all players have passed. This ends the planning phase.
[Planning Example: Teresa bids with a gray 2. Kaylen bids a red 3. Taylor passes, deciding to try to lose all of the tricks this round. Next, Teresa bids a yellow 10. Kaylen bids a red 5. Teresa continues bidding with a blue 5. Then, Kaylen passes. Finally, Teresa bids one more time with a yellow 2 and then decides to pass. After bidding 4 cards, Teresa has 12 cards left in hand (the fewest of any player), so there will be 12 tricks played this round.] (see visual on page 7)
Trick-Taking
Play a series of tricks, attempting to cover the evidence in your bid, until someone is out of cards.
Winning Tricks
The last player to pass in the planning phase leads the first trick by playing any card from their hand face up to the center of the table (above their bid cards). In clockwise order, each other player must "follow suit" by playing a card that matches the lead suit (the first suit played into the trick), if possible. If a player cannot follow suit, they may play any card from their hand. Once everyone has played a card, the trick winner is determined:
- The highest trump card wins the trick. The blue "key evidence" suit is trump.
- If no trump card was played, the highest card of the lead suit wins the trick.
The player who won the trick leads the next trick, again playing any card from their hand. Tricks are played this way until someone is out of cards. When a player has no cards remaining in their hand, the trick-taking phase ends.
[Trick-Taking Example: Taylor leads with a red 12. Teresa must follow suit and play a red card, if possible, so she plays a red 4. Kaylen does not have any red cards in her hand, so she may play any card. She decides to play a trump card, a blue 10. Kaylen wins the trick for playing the highest trump card.]
Trick-Taking (Cont.)
Covering Bids
The winner of the trick attempts to cover up evidence in their bid with the cards from the trick. A bid card is eligible to be covered if it matches any of the following options:
- The winning card's number
- The winning card's suit
- The lead suit for the trick
This means that you will typically cover a bid card matching the suit or number of the card you played, but if you win with a trump card, you may have a third option, as shown in the example on the right.
When you win a trick, place the cards from the trick face down on top of an eligible bid card. If multiple bid cards are eligible to be covered, you may choose which one to cover.
Important: If you do not have an eligible bid card (because none match as described or because all of your bid cards have been covered), you must place that trick face up below your bids. This trick will count as a "loose end" and lose you points during scoring.
[Covering Tricks Example: Continuing the previous example, Kaylen won the trick with a blue 10. This allows her to cover any blue card or any 10 in her bid. Although she has neither, the lead suit was red, meaning Kaylen may choose to cover either red card in her bid. She decides to cover the red 5.]
Scoring
When someone has no cards left in hand, all players score points for their performance this round as described below:
- Successful Plans - Score 2 points for every bid card you were able to cover.
- Loose Ends - Lose 1 point for every bid card you were not able to cover. Also lose 1 point for every trick you won that did not cover a bid card.
- Perfect Crime - Score a 5-point bonus if you left no loose ends (i.e., you were able to cover all of your bid cards with no additional tricks won).
[Scoring Example: In the second round of the game, Kaylen only covered two of her four bid cards. She scores 2 points (+4 for covered bids and -2 for loose ends). Teresa covered all three of her bid cards but, unfortunately, she won an additional trick. She scores 5 points (+6 points for the covered bids and -1 point for the loose end). Taylor covered both of his bid cards with no additional tricks won. He scores 9 points (+4 for the covered bids and +5 for the perfect crime bonus).]
Snitching (Scoring, Cont.)
If a player bids no cards from their hand, they are "snitching," hoping to avoid winning any tricks at all. If the player succeeds in snitching and wins 0 tricks as planned, they score 10 points. In this case, no other player may score a perfect crime bonus, and all loose ends are -2 points instead of -1 point.
However, if a snitching player wins any tricks, they will count as loose ends, and all players will score normally.
[Snitching Example: In the final round, Kaylen bid no cards, attempting to snitch. By successfully winning no tricks, Kaylen scores 10 points. As in the previous round, Teresa covered three bid cards and won an additional trick. This time, she scores 4 points (+6 for the covered bids and -2 for the loose end). Again, Taylor covered his two bid cards with no additional tricks won. This time, he only scores 4 points, since the perfect crime bonus is unavailable.]
After calculating your score for the round, take point tokens to keep track of your total score for the game.
Game End
After 3 rounds, count up the points from all of your point tokens. The player with the most points wins!
In the case of a tie, the tied player who scored the most points in the final round wins. If the tie persists, the tied players share the victory.
Additional Rules
Once you are familiar with the game, we recommend playing with the following additional rules.
Double-Cross
With this rule, it is possible for one player to participate in planning the heist, only to double-cross the other players and snitch instead.
Planning: Each round, the first player to pass may also immediately choose to reverse their plans and "snitch." If they choose to do so, they pick up all of the cards in their bid and place them back into their hand. Only the first player to pass each round can change their plans like this.
Getaway Cards
Getaway cards are unnumbered, suitless cards in the deck. They help you avoid winning unwanted tricks.
Setup: Keep the 4 black getaway cards in the deck.
Planning: A getaway card may not be used to bid.
Trick-Taking: A getaway card may be played on any turn (even when you would otherwise have to follow suit). Since getaway cards are suitless, players are not required to "follow suit" until a non-getaway card is played into the trick. In the rare scenario that only getaway cards are played, the first card played wins the trick. Otherwise, a getaway card will never win a trick.
Simplified Scoring (optional)
For a simpler game, you may prefer playing with the following scoring system:
- No loose ends = 4 points
- 1 loose end = 2 points
- 2+ loose ends = -1 point per loose end
Quick Reference
Quick Setup
| Players | Deck Makeup | Cards Per Player | Max. Bid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1-12 | 15 | 6 |
| 3 | 1-12 | 16 | 5 |
| 4 | 1-15 | 15 | 4 |
| 5 | 1-15 | 12 | 3 |
Round Scoring
Normal Scoring
- 2 points per covered bid
- -1 point per loose end
- +5 points perfect crime bonus (no loose ends)
Successful Snitch Scoring
- 2 points per covered bid
- -2 points per loose end
- No perfect crime bonus
- +10 points to the snitch
Credits
Game Design: Taiki Shinzawa Development: Paul Salomon and Pete Wissinger Illustration: Sai Beppu Graphic Design: Jason D. Kingsley
Playtesting: Tommy O'Brien, Richard Nava, Emily Nava, Taylor Reiner, Henry R. Seymour, Gabrielle Stewart, Patrick Fitzgibbon, Bridgit Gerhardt, Mark Henke, Shayfer Hutt, Patrick Logan, John Schwartz, David Burleyson, Dave Deenik, Bryce Monser, Claire Burkemper, Jack Reid
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