Transcript
On Each Turn: On your turn, you have two choices: You may hit (take a card), or fold. If you catch a pair with a hit, or if you fold, the round is over and you score points. If not, play passes to the left. ™
A New Classic Pub Game by James Ernest and Paul Peterson Welcome! Pairs is a simple press-your-luck card game, using an unusual “triangular” deck. The deck contains the numbers 1 through 10, with 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, and so on. You can play many games with your Pairs deck, but let’s start off with the basic rules. The Basics: Pairs has no winner, just one loser. Players will take turns drawing cards, until one person either folds or gets a pair. Either of these scores points, and points are bad. The first player with too many points loses: Target Scores Players: 2 3 4 5 6+ Losing Score: 31 21 16 13 11 (The formula: Take 60, divide by players, then add 1.)
Penalties: If you like, you may choose a penalty for the loser. The loser could tell a joke, buy a round of drinks, make a funny noise, or whatever is appropriate for your group. Who Should Deal? One player can deal for the whole game, or the role of dealer can pass around the table. The dealer’s position doesn’t matter, since the starting player is always determined by the low card. Playing the Game Getting Started: Shuffle the deck and burn (discard) five cards, facedown, into the middle of the table. This is the start of the discard pile. Each time you shuffle, you will burn five cards again. This makes it harder to count the cards. To start each round, deal one card faceup to each player. The player with the lowest card will go first. Ties for Low Card: If there is a tie for lowest card at the start of the round, deal an extra card to the tied players, and use those cards to break the tie. (You might have to repeat this.) If any player catches a pair in this step, you discard the paired card and deal a replacement. You can’t lose by catching a pair on the deal.
Pairing Up: When you hit, you’re hoping not to get a pair (that is, any two cards in your stack with the same rank). If you pair a card, you score that many points. For example, if you catch a pair of 8’s, you score 8 points. Keep one of those cards aside, faceup, to track your score. Folding: You can surrender (fold) instead of taking a card. When you do this, you take the lowest card in play and keep it for points. You may choose this card from all players’ stacks, not just your own. Folding can be better than hitting, depending on the odds of catching a pair, but it’s up to you to decide when to do it. Ending the Round: As soon as one person pairs up or folds, the round is over. Discard all the cards in play, facedown into the middle, and deal another round. Players keep their scoring cards aside, faceup. These cards will not return to the deck until the game is over. Reshuffling: When the deck runs out, shuffle the discards, and resume dealing where you left off. (Remember to burn five cards off each new deck.) Losing the Game: There is no winner, just one loser. The game ends when one player reaches the target score. For example, in a 4-player game, the loser is the first player to score 16 points. (See the Target Scores chart on the left.) Keep Playing! We hope you’ll enjoy playing Pairs. Please visit playpairs.com for more games. Variation: Continuous Continuous Pairs is almost the same as basic Pairs, but it is played in one long round, instead of several short ones. When a player pairs up or folds, only that player’s cards are discarded. Everyone else keeps their cards, and that player is still in, with an empty stack. Here are a couple of rules adjustments for Continuous: 1: When you fold, you may take any card in play, not just the lowest. (Sometimes it’s strategically better to take a higher card.) 2: When you have no cards, you always hit. Continuous Pairs can be a great change of pace for players looking for just a little more strategy. Try it out!
About the Goddesses of Cuisine:
Alternate Rule: Allowing Pairs
Echo Chernik is a phenomenal illustrator and a fan of Pairs. She illustrated the Barmaids Pairs deck in 2014.
In this version, your recipe can contain multiple cards of the same rank, and the Judge works as follows:
This deck features art from her Goddesses of Cuisine series, which has been published elsewhere. We are thrilled to be able to bring it to you in a new Pairs deck, along with a new variant game about cooking, “The Judge.” Game Variant: The Judge The Judge is a Pairs variant about a cooking contest. Each player creates a recipe from a hand of random cards, and then enters that recipe in a contest. To win the contest, you have to avoid cooking with things that the Judge doesn’t like! Players: 2 to 6 You Need: A Pairs deck and a way to keep score The game is played over several hands. The winner is the first player to reach a target score, as follows: Players: Score:
2-3 50
4 40
5-6 30
When the Judge reveals a card, it eliminates only the recipes with the most of that card. For example, if there are three hands containing 10s, but one of those hands has two 10s, only that hand will be eliminated. If another card of the same rank appears, the same rules apply for the recipes that remain. Some Gambling Rules Here are a few ways to gamble on the basic Pairs game. Feel free to invent your own!
To Begin: Shuffle the deck and deal a hand of 7 cards to each player. Then, deal a face-down stack of 8 cards in the middle of the table to represent “The Judge.”
Note that you don’t have to play for real money to make gambling fun. Just keep score with chips, and see who has the most at the end of the night.
Play begins with the player who scored the most on the previous hand. On the first hand, start with the dealer.
Seattle Rules: At the end of the game, the loser pays one coin to every player.
Step 1, Cooking: Players take turns playing cards from their hands face up onto the table. Your faceup cards represent your entry into the contest in step 2.
Tacoma Rules: The loser pays 6 coins to the player(s) with the lowest score. Tied players split the prize. If the award is split, and coins are left over, leave the extra coins in the pot for the next game.
Each time around, you may add another card or pass. If you pass, you’re finished cooking, and you can’t add more cards. Step 1 is over when everyone passes. Also, your recipe can’t contain a pair (see the alternate rule below). Step 2, The Contest: The Judge will eliminate recipes from consideration. Reveal cards from the Judge one at a time. These cards represent things that this Judge doesn’t like. If any recipe contains a matching card, that player is eliminated. Continue until the Judge runs out of cards, or until there is only one player left. Occasionally, all remaining recipes will be eliminated at the same time, in which case no one scores, and the same player leads the next hand. Scoring: The remaining recipe(s), if any, score their face value. For example, if a recipe is 1-4-6, that player scores 11 points.
Olympia Rules: The loser pays the player(s) with the lowest score, as in Tacoma, but the penalty is equal to the difference in those players’ scores. This makes each point more interesting. (This might sound more expensive than the versions above, but you can play for smaller stakes.)
Credits Pairs was designed by James Ernest and Paul Peterson, with help from Joshua Howard and Joe Kisenwether. Goddesses of Cuisine artwork by Echo Chernik. Playtesters include Adam Sheridan, Ahna Blake, Bob De Dea, Boyan Radakovich, Carol Monahan, Cathy Saxton, Daniel Solis, Debbie Mischo, Don Flinspach, Hal Mangold, Jeremy Holcomb, John Mischo, Jonathan Fingold, Kenneth Hite, Mike Selinker, Nathan Clarenburg, Nora Miller, Owen Jungemann, Rick Fish, Shawn Carnes, Tom Saxton, and many others. Edited by Carol Monahan, Cathy Saxton, and Mike Selinker. Pairs and the Pairs fruit logo are © and ™ 2015 James Ernest and Hip Pocket Games, Seattle WA: hippocketgames.com. For rules, variants, alternate decks, and more, please visit us at: www.playpairs.com
