23
23 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 66 cards (one "1", two "2"s, and three each of "3" through "23")
- 12 large bonus chips
- 50 small penalty chips
Setup
Before the start of a round, all the cards are shuffled well. Depending on the number of players, cards are counted out face down for the first round:
- 2 players – 30 cards
- 3 players – 45 cards
- 4 players – 60 cards
Make sure that the "1" is among the counted-out cards. It can be easily recognized by its different card back. Any remaining cards are put back in the box.
Each player is now dealt 15 cards from the counted-out cards, into their hand.
At the start of the first round, each player also receives three large bonus chips, which they place in front of themselves. The small penalty chips are placed in the middle of the table, within reach of all players.
Discarding three cards
All players each choose three cards from their hand and place them face down back in the box. They are no longer needed this round.
Note: the card with the "1" may not be put back this way.
Variant for learning the game: to get to know the game, you can also give each player only 12 cards to start, and skip the discard-three-cards step at the start of the round.
The player with the "1" begins the round by playing it into the middle of the table. Play then continues clockwise.
Example: Oliver plays his "1" into the middle of the table. Leon is next.
Gameplay
The player whose turn it is must decide between the following actions:
a) Play one or more cards b) Pass c) Drop out
Afterward, it is the next player's turn, clockwise.
a) Play one or more cards
The player may play a single card, or several cards with the same number, face up onto the discard pile. The following applies: the number on the played card(s) must be equal to or higher than the number on the top card of the discard pile.
Example: The next player can play a "5" or any higher number. If they play several cards, all of them must have the same number.
Taking penalty chips
If the player plays the same number as the top card of the discard pile, or a number that is exactly 1 higher, nothing further happens and it is the next player's turn. But if they play a number that is more than 1 higher, they take as many small penalty chips as the number of values they skipped. It makes no difference whether they play one or several cards with that number.
Example: Leon wants to play his two "8" cards. This skips "6" and "7", so he takes 2 penalty chips and places them in front of himself.
Using bonus chips
Three times during the game, a player may use one of their large bonus chips. With a bonus chip, they may change the number on the top card of the discard pile up or down by up to 5, before playing one of their own cards.
It is also possible to use several bonus chips at once. Bonus chips that are used are removed from the game.
Example: Laura wants to play her two "10" cards. She spends a bonus chip to raise the number so that she may play the two cards onto a "14".
Example: Jeanette wants to play her "17" card. She spends a bonus chip to raise the number of the top card to "15". When she now plays her "17", she only takes one penalty chip, because she only skips "16".
Playing all of your cards
If a player manages to play their last hand card during a round, they may immediately return three penalty chips they have already collected to the supply. If they have not yet collected three penalty chips, they return correspondingly fewer.
b) Pass
If the player does not want to play a card, they may pass. To do so, they take one penalty chip and place it in front of themselves.
Passing and forcing the next player to play
The player may also choose to take two penalty chips instead. By doing so, they don't just pass — they also force the next player to play one or more cards. That next player may then neither pass nor drop out.
Example: Oliver has passed and taken two penalty chips. Leon must now play at least one card. He plays his two "20" cards and takes two penalty chips for it.
c) Drop out
The player may choose to drop out of the round. To do so, they place all the hand cards they still have face down back in the box, and take the same number of small penalty chips from the supply.
Once a player has played all their cards or has dropped out, they are skipped for the rest of the round.
End of the First Round
The round ends when all players have either played all of their cards or dropped out. Players keep the small penalty chips they collected during the first round; they do not receive any new large bonus chips.
For the second round, all cards — including those previously put back in the box — are shuffled together again, and setup is carried out as described above.
End of the Game
The game ends after the second round. For each large bonus chip a player still has in front of them, they may give back two small penalty chips. Then the players count their penalty chips.
Whoever has the fewest wins.