box-o-sand/hyrule

Hyrule

A card game for 2-7 players.

requirements

Use a standard card playing deck, keeping Jokers. Shuffle however you like.

dealing

Each player is dealt 7 cards, kept secret from other players.

turns

There are two variations for taking turns. "Chance rules" is strictly a matter of chance, and is recommended for impatient players because it tends to be faster-paced and has more of a surprise! element. "Strategy rules" introduces an element of strategy and is better suited for players with more patience.

chance rules

Each player selects one card and places it face down in the middle playing area between themselves and other players.

On the count of 3, all said together in rhythm, each player flips over their own card. Precedence applies and the winning player takes all cards.

strategy rules

On the first turn or when an equal number of cards have been captured by each player, the tallest player goes first. On each subsequent turn, the player with the most captured cards plays first. The play order then proceeds counter-clockwise.

When taking one's turn, the player may choose to either play or swap.

strategy play

When choosing to play, the player selects a card and places it face-up in the center play area. The remaining players take turns counter-clockwise, each placing a card face-up in the center play area. Precedence rules apply and the winning player takes all cards.

strategy swap

When choosing to swap, the player discards one card face-up in the discard pile (next to the stock pile) and then draws a card from the stock, which should be laying face-down. The goal here may be to take a chance at getting a better card than one is discarding, or to force the next player in the rotation to play, or both.

Note

: a player may only choose to swap if the player on the previous turn did not swap.

precedence

The following rules apply across suits with the exception of jokers and fives (explained below). Cards within a single suit are compared with higher-value cards winning. Cards are counted from ace (1) through king (13).

Ways to think about these rules could include:

• "rupee buys bomb" / money buys weapon
• "rupee buys sword" / money buys weapon
• "bomb blows up sword" / range weapon beats melee weapon
• "bomb blows up heart" / range weapon beats unarmed
• "sword cuts through heart" / melee weapon beats unarmed
• "heart is stronger than rupee" / love conquers money

NOTE: In the case of a turn that involves 3 or more cards, the presence of both diamonds and hearts will result in the highest-value heart winning the turn.

diamonds ("rupees")

Beats:

• clubs ("bombs")
• spades ("swords")

clubs ("bombs")

Beats:

• spades ("swords")
• hearts

spades ("swords")

Beats:

• hearts

hearts

Beats:

• diamonds ("rupees")

jokers ("tingles")

Beats everything except fives

fives

The 5 of a given suit will be granted special status only when played against a joker ("tingle") and will win with the following sub-precedence, which is roughly the inverse of the main precedence:

• 5 of hearts
• 5 of spades / "master sword"
• 5 of clubs / "bomb cluster"
• 5 of diamonds / "blue rupee"

scoring

At the conclusion of a round of 7 cards, the player with the most cards is the winner. The face values of the cards are not considered at scoring time. A draw may be handled in a "run-off game" or ignored as you like.

examples

In the following examples, the winning card is highlighted at the top of each list, followed by an explanation for the outcome.

2-player

• 2 of clubs
• 2 of spades

Clubs are higher-value than spades, or "bomb beats sword".

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• 2 of clubs
• ace of clubs

Cards within the same suit are compared at face value with aces being 1.

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• ace of hearts
• king of diamonds

Hearts take precedence over diamonds, or "love is stronger than money".

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• joker
• king of hearts

The opposing card is not a five, or "tingle takes (thing)".

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• 5 of spades
• joker

The 5 of any suit will beat a joker given its special item status in that scenario, or "tingle is distracted by the beauty of (thing)".

3-player

• 2 of diamonds
• 2 of clubs
• 2 of spades

Diamonds have higher precedence than clubs and spades, and there are no hearts present.

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• 6 of clubs
• 6 of spades
• 6 of hearts

Clubs have higher precedence than spades and hearts, and there are no diamonds present.

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• 8 of hearts
• 8 of diamonds
• 8 of spades

When both diamonds and hearts are present, hearts is highest precedence.

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• king of diamonds
• jack of diamonds
• queen of diamonds

Within the same suit, cards are compared by face value.