Play Your Cards Right Game Rules

Rules for 3 Players

Object:

To be the player with the most points after each player has taken one turn as the host.

Preparation:

Each player chooses a number (1-6). The oldest player acts as the host for the first round. The host shuffles the red playing cards and deals out five of these cards face down along the middle row of the board and does the same with five blue cards along the bottom row.

Play:

The host takes out the first question card from the larger question card box and asks the question on the front of the card to the player on their left (used question cards are reversed and placed in the back of the box). After an answer has been given, the host will then ask the other player whether or not they think the answer on the card is higher or lower. If the second player is correct they get control of the board. If the second player was incorrect, the first player gets control of the board (if the first player's answer was exactly the matching answer then they also win a bonus of 1,000 points which the host inputs onto that player's score on the calculator).

The host turns over the first card in the row of the player who gained control of the board and then gives that player the option of changing this card for the top card from their pack. If the change is made the new card is placed directly on top of the card it replaces.

The player must now say whether or not they think the next card along their row is higher or lower than preceding one. If they call correctly they can carry on. If the player gives an incorrect call, all their cards that have been turned over are removed from the board and replaced with new cards from their pack, face down.

The other player now has a 'free go'. The first card in their row is turned over and that player plays in the same way. A player receiving a free go cannot change their first card.

Freeze:

A player can choose to 'freeze' at any time in order to protect cards that have been turned over. This is done by the host placing the 'freeze' token above the chosen card. Players must turn at least one card before taking the option to freeze. If both players 'freeze' the turn is over. Any player taking control of the board after 'freezing' starts from the card under the 'Freeze' marker.

The second question:

If no player turns over their last card correctly to win the round during the first turn, the host reads out the next question card to the second player and the round is played in the same way.

The third question:

This is given to the first player if the first round is still not won.

Sudden Death:

If the round still hasn't been won after three questions, the fourth question becomes 'sudden death'. Whichever player gets control of the board can either play their cards and turn over all the cards remaining in their row to win (they may change their card under the 'freeze' marker) or they can force the other player to turn over all their remaining cards correctly to win the round (this player cannot change their starter card). Whichever team plays must reach the end of their row successfully to win or they lose that round.

The player winning the first round wins 1,000 points which the host enters into the calculator for that player.

Round two:

The playing cards are shuffled and reset as at the start of the first round and the next question is given to the player who lost the first round. This round is played in the same way. The winner of the second round also receives 1,000 points.

If the same player wins both rounds, they go on to play the final.

If the first two rounds were shared then a tie-breaker is played. Only three cards are set out on each row (the first face up and the next two cards face down). The round is played in the same way as rounds one and two. The winner goes on to play the final.

The final:

The winning player's pack is shuffled and seven cards are dealt out face down as shown in the pic. The winning player is then given 200 points which are entered into the final round section of the calculator. The host asks a multiple choice question from the first question card from the smaller box . If the player answers correctly they add 50 points to their 200. If they answer incorrectly they must take 50 points away.

The host now takes the top playing card from the pack and places it face up beside the left-hand card on the bottom row of the board. The player has the option of changing this card. The player must gamble at least 50 points on whether or not they think the next card is higher or lower. They can gamble anything up to the total number of points they have in play in the final (in multiples of 50). A correct call doubles the amount staked which is added to their score. An incorrect call loses all the points staked.

The player moves along until the last card in the bottom row is turned over. This card is then placed to the left of the next card on the next row up.pic The player is also given an extra 200 points. They can also change this card. They move along the second row until the last card in this row is turned over. This card is then placed to the left of the single card on the top row.

If the player has scored 4000 points or more, these points are safe and are added to the player's overall score. The player is then given the non-multiple choice question from the next card in the smaller box. If they answer this question correctly they have the chance to win a further 5000 points. They have the option of changing the final base card. If they correctly predict whether or not the final card is higher or lower, they win the extra 5000 points.

If the player did not score 4000 points or more they can then either stick with the points they have won or gamble the whole amount on correctly predicting whether the final card will be higher or lower. They may change the card if they wish but must say whether they are taking the gamble or not before the change (they do not need to answer a question).

The player's final points score (if any) after playing the final round is added to their score.

If a player runs out of points during a final round then that round is over and no points are scored.

Further games:

The other two players each take a turn as the host. The player with the highest points scored after the three games is the winner.

Operating Calculator:

• Press button 1-6 to enter the number of players.
• Press enter button.
• Press 1000 button to award bonus points and points for winning rounds.
• Press enter button.
• Press number 1-6 to allocate these points to corresponding player (repeat if 5 or 6 players are in the game).
• Press enter button.
• Press final button when one player/team has won two rounds.
• Press the tick or cross button when adding or subtracting 200 points.
• Press the combination of amounts when imputing the amount of points to be gambled.
• Press the tick or cross button when registering whether the prediction on a turn of a card was correct or incorrect (after 3 turns 'add 200' will scroll across the screen before being added.
• Press enter button after another 3 turns to register all points scored.
• Press the tick or cross button to register outcome if gambling points on the last card (the screen will display 'add or lose').
• Press tick button to review all scores.
• Press cross button not to view all scores.

Rules for 4 players:

Four games are played in total. Each player will play two games, act as host in one and act as card dealer in the other. The combination of who plays who can be made at random.

Rules for 5 players:

Five games are played with each player acting as the host once. The other four players play in two teams of two chosen at random each time. A winning pair each score the same points.

Rules for 6 players:

Six games are played with each player acting as host once and dealing the cards once. The other four players play in two teams of two. These teams are decided at random with players playing in different pairs each time.