Bud · the house player. Plays a decent game, sees only his own cards
Draw pile
The Count
0
Play pile
Play cards. Count up. Don't go over 99. Last player standing wins a bong hit.
Wanna know how to play first? Scroll down a little.
Demo rules: everything you need for this page. The free PDF has even more - play live with other people and a real deck.
Play cards. Count up. Don't go over 99. Last player standing wins a bong hit… unless somebody else steals it.
Everyone starts with four cards. The rest of the deck is the draw pile. Played cards go into the play pile.
The Count starts at zero. Play moves clockwise and stays clockwise.
On your turn: play one card onto the play pile, add its value to the Count, and draw one card.
If you can play a card, you have to play it. If you can play more than one, you pick which one. The Count can narrow your options, and the Count is not sentimental about it.
You begin with four cards, you end every turn with four cards, and if you go out, you go out holding four cards.
If the draw pile runs out, the play pile is shuffled to make a new one. The Count stays where it was and play continues.
| Ace | 1 |
| 2 through 10 | Face value |
| Jack, Queen | 10 |
| King | Sets the Count to 99 |
Kings don't add to the Count. They replace it. If the Count is already 99, a King keeps it at 99.
If the Count is below 99, everything that isn't a King is just a number. This includes the special cards listed in The 99 threshold section below. Their powers only wake up later, when the Count is exactly 99.
If it's your turn and every card in your hand would push the Count over 99, you're out of the hand. You keep your cards - you'll need them later. Play continues with whoever's left, and the last player standing wins the hand.
When the Count is exactly 99, these are your playable cards:
| 2 or 9 | Pass: the Count stays at 99 |
| 10 | Drops the Count to 89 |
| King | Holds the Count at 99 |
| Queen of Spades | Becomes the DEATH CARD |
If you have none of these on your turn, you're out.
When the Count is 99, and only when it's 99, the Queen of Spades is the Death Card. Play it, then draw like normal. You are attacking the next player who is still in the hand.
The target must play the Ace of Diamonds. This is the only shield, and no other card can save them. If they don't have it, they're out. Immediately. The Count remains 99 and play continues with the next live player. If they do have it, they play it, and YOU are out. They draw their replacement card, the Count stays at 99, and play continues with the next surviving player.
Two player game? Different story. See below.
When all but one player has been eliminated, the last one standing wins a bong hit. Nice. However…
At the end of the hand, everyone still has four cards. Some of those cards are clubs.
If any eliminated player is holding the Ace of Clubs, they reveal it and steal the hit. Then the hit may slide off of the Ace down the clubs suit: King of Clubs, Queen, Jack, 10, and so on. The chain must be unbroken: if nobody holds the next club in line, the slide stops there, and whoever had the last club steals the hit.
If nobody's holding the Ace of Clubs at all, then the winner of the hand keeps the hit.
But what if the winner is holding it? Well…
If the winner is holding the Ace of Clubs at the end, they keep the hit from winning the hand and a second, bonus hit is created. The bonus hit can slide too, to King of Clubs and further down the suit. If nobody has the King, the winner takes both hits. Yes, both.
Only two players present (just you and Bud)? That's plenty! One rule changes:
There's no Death Card blowback. If you play the Death Card and your opponent shields with the Ace of Diamonds, nobody dies. They draw a replacement, the Count stays at 99, and it's your turn again. If they don't have the shield? They're out, and your Death Card lived up to its name.
This demo plays each hand for 1 to 3 humans plus your host, Bud.
Get the free rules PDF below for the complete game - 2 to 8 players, including Loading Duty, a note on hitting the bong, and other cool stuff.