Stick to Colours Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• Setup
• Game Turn
  • 1. Card Selection
  • 2. Bidding
  • 3. End of Bidding
  • 4. End of Turn
• End of the Game
• Variant for 2 Players

Components

48 cards:

• Red, blue and green cards from 1 to 6, 2 of each
• Red, blue and green cards from 7 to 9, 1 of each, plus 1 joker card (marked with a star symbol)

24 double-sided tokens:

• Red, blue, yellow and green tokens, 6 of each. One side shows a question mark (?), the other side shows a cross (X).

1 dealer token (marked with a bullseye symbol)

4 player aids

Goal of the Game

Score the most victory points.

Victory points are earned from sets of cards collected by players:

• A set of 3 cards of the same value (from 1 to 6) but of different colours: 3 points
• A set of 3 cards of the same value (from 7 to 9) but of different colours: 6 points
• A set of cards of the same colour but of different values, arranged in a row in strictly ascending order (minimum set: 3 cards). The set's points equal the number of cards in it. The set does not have to start at 1.

One card may be used in several sets at once.

Joker: a card that, by the end of the game, takes on any one value, but of a strictly defined colour.

Setup

1. Shuffle the deck of cards.
2. Deal each player 2 cards. Do not show your cards to your opponents!
3. Lay out a row of cards face up in the centre of the table. This is the market, available to all players.
   • 2-3 players: 5 cards on the market
   • 4 players: 6 cards on the market
4. Deal each player 6 tokens of one colour.
5. Choose the first player and give them the dealer token.

(The original rulebook shows an example starting layout here: the dealer token, five cards face up in a row on the market, and each player's tokens beside the deck.)

Game Turn

A turn consists of four steps: card selection, bidding, end of bidding, and end of turn.

1. Card Selection

The dealer chooses 1 card from the market (the one they want to get) and pulls it out of the common row, thereby putting it up for auction.

If the dealer does not want to start bidding, they may immediately say "Pass" and pass the dealer token to the next player clockwise.

If all players acting as dealer have each said "Pass" once, all cards on the market are discarded and new cards are placed on the market.

2. Bidding

After choosing a card, the dealer must make a bid. To do this they place a token of their colour, question mark side up, on any other card on the market, thereby refusing that card.

A bid does not have to equal 1 card. Any player may raise the bid by 1 or more cards.

Example: Ilya is the dealer. He decides to start the auction for the 5 and puts it forward from the row. Ilya needs the 3 least, so he makes a bid (?) on the 3, refusing that card.

Refusing a card means that, if the player wins the auction, they will no longer be able to put this card up for bidding, bid on it, or get it during the game.

The turn then passes to the next player clockwise from the dealer. If this player wants to contest the card put up for auction, they must support the dealer's bid by placing a token of their colour, question mark side up, on the same card as the dealer, and then raise the bid, refusing one more card.

Example: Masha also decides to contest the 5. First she must support Ilya's bid, so she places her (?) on the 3. Then she raises the bid, additionally refusing the 8.

After this, the right to take part in the bidding passes to the next player, who must support the bids of all previous players and only then raise the bid.

If a player does not want to take part in the bidding for the chosen card, they may say "Pass".

A player cannot refuse cards on which their own colour token already lies.

The number of bids is not limited by the number of a player's tokens. Components from other games, coins and other small items may be used to denote bids.

Boxed note in the rulebook: During bidding, a player may refuse not only cards on the market but also cards from their hand (for example, if their refusal tokens already lie on all cards on the market, or if an opponent raised the bid by placing their token on a card the player has already refused earlier). To do so, the player discards any card (or cards) from their hand face down and places their token on it with the cross side up. A player may not refuse cards from another player's hand.

3. End of Bidding

When all players except one have said "Pass", the bidding ends.

• The player who did not pass takes the card put up for auction for themselves and turns all their tokens cross side up.
• The other players take back all their tokens that are lying question mark side up.
• All cards from hand that players have refused are discarded, regardless of whether the player won the auction or not.
• If there are cards on the market on which the refusal tokens (cross side) of all players except one lie, this player takes such cards from the market into their hand. This rule does not apply in a 2-player game.

4. End of Turn

• Refill the market with cards from the deck up to the starting number (5 or 6, depending on the number of players).
• Pass the dealer token to the next player clockwise. They now choose a card for auction.

End of the Game

The game ends when no cards remain in the deck and on the market, and the players move on to counting points. In case of a tie, the players who scored the most points share the victory.

Variant for 2 Players

In this case the game involves a virtual player, the "bot".

• The bot receives 2 cards.
• The bot cannot be the dealer.
• The bot does not take part in the bidding.
• The bot receives the cards on which the refusal tokens of both players have accumulated. Return the tokens to their owners and set the cards aside in a separate pile.
• At the end of the game the bot may take part in the scoring and even win.
• During the game, players may not look at the bot's cards.