Showdown Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Basic Rules
• Advanced Rules
• Match Play
• Team Play

Basic Rules

Players: 2 to 6.

Object: To bid on how many of a particular number appears among all cards in play, and to challenge other players' bids that are too high.

The Cards: The playing cards have on them numbers 1 through 6 and the star. Some cards have two numbers, two stars, or a number and a star. The number on a card is known as its rank.

Bids: A bid consists of two numbers, a quantity and a rank. For example, a bid of three 5's means that you believe that there are at least three 5's among all of the cards in play, including those in your hand.

The printed sheet illustrates this with three players' hands: Player #1 holds a 4, a 5 and a 5; Player #2 holds a 3, a 4 and a card with two 6's; Player #3 holds a 2 and a 5.

In the example above, a bid of three 5's would succeed, no matter who makes the bid (even the player with no 5's). Any lower bid of 5's (one 5 or two 5's) would also succeed but four (or more) 5's would fail. Similarly, bids of two 4's, two 6's, one 2 or one 3 would also succeed. Note that when a card has more than one number (like the card with two 6's shown above), both numbers are counted.

Each bid must be higher than the previous bid. If the quantity is the same, the rank must be higher (for example, three 5's is higher than three 3's), but if the quantity is higher the rank may be anything (for example, four 1's is higher than three 5's). The quantity may never be lower than the previous bid.

Stars: Stars are "wild" - they can represent any rank - but not at the choice of the holder. Stars always count as the last rank that was bid, so a bid of three 5's really means that you believe that there are at least three 5's among all of the cards in play, including the cards in your hand, if you count all of the stars in everyone's hand as a 5.

The printed sheet illustrates this with two players' hands: Player #1 holds a 4, a 5 and a star; Player #2 holds a 3, a 4 and a card with a 6 and a star.

In the example above, a bid of three (or fewer) 5's would succeed (since there is one 5 and two "wild" stars), and so would bids of three 3's, three 6's and four 4's. In addition, bids of two 1's and two 2's would also succeed, since the two stars can count as any rank.

To Begin: Separate the four types of cards in the deck: the Playing cards, the Deal cards, the "Take Sides" cards and the Reference cards.

Give each player a Take Sides card. Any player may take a Reference card for help in remembering the rules.

Give each player a set of Deal cards to keep track of how many cards to deal to that player. With 4 or fewer players, each receives 6 Deal cards. With 5 players, each receives 5 cards. With 6 players, each receives 4 cards.

Starting the Game: Shuffle the Playing cards, and turn all of your Deal cards face up (with the words "Deal 1 Card" showing).

Starting a Round: Deal each player one Playing card, face down, for each face-up Deal card. However, if a player has only one remaining Deal card, that player is at "Last Chance" and is dealt a full hand as at the start of the game.

Your Turn: At your turn, you must do one of the following:

• Bid. You may make a bid that is higher than the current one. The first player in each round must bid and may make any bid.

• Draw. You may try to improve your hand before you bid. To improve your hand, discard any number of cards from your hand, face up. You may not discard any card with a star or with the same rank as the previous bid. Then, draw an equal number of cards from the deck. Finally, you must make a higher bid than the last bid. For example, if the last player bid three 5's, you can discard any number of cards (except 5's or stars), draw the same number of cards you discarded, and then make a bid higher than three 5's.

• Challenge. If you don't want to make a higher bid, you can call Challenge, which means you think that the last bid was too high.

• Perfecto. If you think that the last bid was exactly right, and so you don't want to bid higher or to Challenge, you can call Perfecto.

Play proceeds clockwise until a player calls Challenge or Perfecto.

Taking Sides: (3 or more players only) After the bidding, players other than the bidder and challenger must "take sides" by declaring who they think is right - the bidder or the challenger.

If two or more players are taking sides, they do so in secret by placing their Take Sides card with the single arrow face down pointing toward the player whose side they are taking.

The Showdown: After the bidding (and taking sides, if needed), all players show their hands and the cards are counted. For example, if the final bid was three 5's, the number of 5's is counted, counting each star as a 5.

If there are at least as many of the rank as the quantity bid, the bidder wins the showdown. If there are fewer than the quantity bid, the challenger wins the showdown. For example, if the final bid was three 5's and there are three or more 5's, the bidder wins the showdown, but if there are only two or fewer 5's, the challenger wins the showdown.

However, if the call was Perfecto, the challenger wins only if the quantity bid was exactly correct. If there are more or fewer cards of the rank than bid, the bidder wins the showdown. For example, if the final bid was three 5's and there are exactly three 5's, the challenger wins the showdown, otherwise the bidder wins the showdown.

Losing Cards: If you lose the showdown, you lose one Deal card - so you are dealt one card fewer in the next round. Also, any player who takes sides incorrectly loses one Deal card. Turn one of your Deal cards face down whenever you lose one.

At the end of each round, all players discard their hands. The winner of each round (the bidder or challenger who did not lose a card) bids first in the next round.

Last Chance: When you have only one Deal card remaining face up, you are at "Last Chance." Instead of being dealt just one card, you are dealt the same number of cards you received at the start of the game. However, if you lose one more card, you're out of the game, which continues with the remaining players.

Winning the Game: The last player remaining wins the game.

Shuffling: The cards are shuffled at the start of each game, but not between rounds. Whenever the last card is dealt or drawn, all of the discards are shuffled to form a new deck, and play continues. Remember to use up all of the cards in the deck before shuffling, even if you can see that you won't have enough cards to finish the deal or draw.

Bluffing: You are always allowed to make any legal bid regardless of the cards in your hand - even a bid that you know would fail. Bluffing to mislead your opponents is a big part of this game. However, peeking at your opponents' cards, hiding cards, intentionally counting incorrectly, and so on, are considered cheating.

Advanced Rules

For a greater challenge, you may add these advanced rules.

Your Turn: At your turn, you may do any of the things permitted in the basic rules, or you may make any one of the following calls:

• Double. Instead of simply challenging the last bid, you may call Double, which is just like Challenge except that the loser of the showdown loses 2 cards instead of 1. You may double only if both you and the bidder have at least 3 cards remaining. (Last Chance counts as having just 1 card remaining.)

  You may also call Double if the current bid is yours and it was challenged by another player, and both you and the challenger have at least 3 cards. For example, if you bid three 5's and your opponent calls Challenge, you may call Double at your turn.

• Redouble. If your bid or Challenge was doubled, then you may call Redouble, which increases the loss from 2 cards to 3 cards. You may Redouble only if both you and the player who Doubled have at least 4 cards.

• Surrender. If your bid or challenge was doubled or redoubled, you may call Surrender, in which case you will lose 1 card no matter who wins the showdown, but you will not risk losing 2 or 3 cards. The player against whose double or redouble you surrendered will not lose a card.

  Note that players Taking Sides incorrectly lose only one card, even if the bid was doubled or redoubled, or even if a player surrendered.

• Pass. If the last player did not bid or draw, and you don't want to make any bid or call, you may Pass. If the last player made a bid, you may not pass.

  Even if you can pass, you may choose to bid. For example, if you're afraid that you'll take sides incorrectly with the current bid, you might feel safer making your own bid.

Unlike in the basic rules, a call of Challenge or Perfecto does not end the round. Instead, play continues until one player makes a "call" (Challenge, Double, Redouble, Perfecto, or Surrender) and every other player passes. This means that if a bid is challenged, another player, including the bidder, can still bid. Any bid cancels all earlier bids or calls.

Sidesteps: If you make a bid which cancels your own earlier bid, that's called a "sidestep", and there is a penalty each time you do so: you must choose one card from your hand and leave it face up on the table for the rest of the round. (The card is still counted during the showdown.) If all of your cards are already showing, you can't sidestep. You may not draw to try and improve your hand before a sidestep - you must bid using your existing hand. Example: you bid three 5's, the next player calls Challenge, and the third player passes. You may not draw, but you think your bid will fail so instead of passing you sidestep by bidding four 3's and show a card from your hand, and play continues.

Match Play

If playing a series of games as a match, agree on a winning score before starting the match. Suggested scores are: 2 players - 3 points, 3 players - 5 points, 4 players - 7 points, 5 players - 9 points, 6 players - 11 points. Whenever a player is eliminated from a game, each player still in the game scores one point. If two or more players are eliminated on the same round, each remaining player scores one point for each eliminated player.

Team Play

You can play in teams of two or three players. Teammates do not sit next to each other and may not share information about their hands. Team play is similar to individual play with the following exceptions:

Last Chance: If you are at Last Chance and lose a card, one of your teammates gives up a card instead. When all teammates are at Last Chance and any teammate loses a card, the team is eliminated.

Taking Sides: With two teams, do not take sides. With three teams, the player who passed last takes sides for his or her team.

Doubles and Redoubles: If your team's bid is challenged, any member of your team may double at his or her turn. If your team's bid or challenge is doubled, any member of your team may redouble at his or her turn. You may not double if either team is within one card of the team being at Last Chance. You may not redouble if either team is within two cards of Last Chance.

Sidesteps: If you cancel a challenge to your teammate's bid with your own bid, or if you cancel your teammate's challenge with your own bid, that is considered a sidestep, so you must show a card. You may not draw in these situations.