Pearls
Pearls Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Materials
100 pearl cards (backs sea)
- 16x wild card, value 0
- 24x yellow, value 1
- 20x red, value 1
- 16x green, value 2
- 12x blue, value 2
- 8x turquoise, value 3
- 4x purple, value 5
10 necklace cards (with backs conforming to the fronts)
- 1x value 4
- 2x value 5
- 2x value 6
- 2x value 7
- 2x value 8
- 1x value 9
Game Description
On each turn in Pearls, you collect or score pearl cards of one colour. Cards with higher values generate many points but are more rare. But even the considerably more common low-value pearls can be lucrative: If you score a lot of pearls at once, you can gain valuable bonus points for necklace cards. If only there were not a hand card limit and, of course, the other players who like to thwart your plans... At the end of the game, the player who has the most points overall wins.
Set-up of the Game
- Depending on the number of players, you might have to sort out the following pearl cards and put them back into the box:
| Number of players | Pearl cards to be removed | Pearl cards in play |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | the 24 yellow pearl cards (value 1) and the 16 green pearl cards (value 2) | 60 |
| 3 | the 20 red pearl cards (value 1) | 80 |
| 4-6 | none | 100 |
- Shuffle all pearl cards in play face down and deal 6 hand cards to each player.
- Put the remaining pearl cards as a face-down draw pile in the middle of the table.
- Take the 6 top cards from the draw pile and place them in one row as a face-up display next to the draw pile.
- Put the necklace cards, sorted by ascending values, in the middle of the table, some distance to the face-up display.
- The youngest player becomes the starting player and begins the game.
Example of a set-up for 4 players: each player has a hand of cards; the face-up display shows 6 pearl cards next to the draw pile; the necklace cards are arranged by ascending value nearby.
Course of the Game
Play proceeds clockwise. On your turn, you have to carry out exactly one of the two following actions:
A) Take Cards
Choose exactly one colour of the 6 pearl cards on display and take all cards in this colour from the display into your hand.
The following rules apply:
- You must take all pearl cards in this colour from the display into your hand. In the example to the left, you could take the three yellow cards with a value of 1 or the red 1 or both of the green 2's.
- When you pick cards, wild cards always count as a colour of their own and are never taken together with cards of a different colour. If you choose to take wild cards, you take all wild cards lying in the display.
- You may have a maximum of 10 hand cards at any time. If you exceeded this limit by taking all cards of a specific colour, you would not be allowed to choose this colour; in this case, you have to choose one of the other colours available or carry out action B) Place hand cards instead.
After that, you refill the face-up display to 6 pearl cards by drawing and placing the appropriate number of cards from the draw pile.
B) Place Hand Cards
Instead of taking cards, you can decide to place hand cards on your scoring pile. To do so, choose any number of pearl cards of exactly one colour from your hand and reveal them to the other players. Then place them face down on the pile in front of you.
The following rules apply:
- You must place at least one card.
- When you place cards, wild cards may be played as a colour of their own or as an addition to another colour. In the latter case, you may place any number of wild cards together with at least one card of one colour, thus increasing the number of cards placed in this colour.
- If the number of cards you place on this turn – including wild cards – matches the value of a necklace card in the middle of the table, you may take this necklace card as well and place it on your scoring pile.
Important: The number of cards you place must exactly match the value of the necklace card. If there is no necklace card of that value left in the middle of the table, you will go away empty-handed and may not take any necklace card of a lower value either, unless you place accordingly fewer cards.
After you have carried out the action, your turn ends and the next player has his turn.
End of the Game
The end of the game can be triggered in two ways:
- The draw pile has been depleted or
- There are no necklace cards left in the middle of the table
After that, all players – including the one who has triggered the game end – have one more turn. However, players may carry out only action B) Place hand cards. If somebody has no hand cards left for his final turn, he must pass and is skipped.
Scoring
Each player adds up the values of the pearl cards and necklace cards in his scoring pile.
Then he subtracts the values of his remaining hand cards. This means hand cards are minus points at the end of the game! The result is the total score for the player.
Remember: Wild cards have a value of 0.
The player with the highest total wins. In case of a tie, the player involved who has the most hand cards left wins; if there is still a tie, the players involved share the victory.
Variant for 2 & 3 Players
If you play with 2 or 3 players, you can decide to skip sorting out cards and play with all pearl cards. The game may take a bit longer, depending on how fast the necklace cards are taken.