Translated from French by Steve ThorsTen (2018)
The Game Setting
The game consists of two decks of 58 cards, with each deck containing 3 jokers and the following 5 suites: stars, diamonds, clubs, hearts, and spades. Each suite contains 11 cards, from 3 – 10, a Jack, Queen, and a King.
The Dealing Stage
Before each dealing round, all 116 cards are shuffled. In the first dealing round, 3 cards are distributed, to each player, one after another in a clockwise direction. With each dealing round, the number of distributed cards grows by one, meaning four during the second round, five during the third, and so on and so forth. In the final round, each player has 13 cards in their hands. At the end of each round, all cards are returned to the pile while the top card is returned over and used as a discard pile.
Each card has an inherent value that it carries:
- King – 13
- Queens – 12
- Jacks – 11
- Jokers – 50
- Bonus/Wild – 20
The bonus card changes with each turn. The bonus or wild card is the card whose value corresponds to the total number of distributed cards. When three cards are dealt, "3" serves as a bonus, when four cards are distributed "4" serves as the wild and so on and so forth, until the last turn when the king becomes the bonus card.
Suites:
A suite is a combination of three consecutive cards, such as:
Clubs: 5,6, 7
Stars: 9, 10, J, Q
A suite can also be formed by using the Bonus/Wild card. For instance, you can have sequences such as:
Diamond 9, 7 Spades and J Diamond (when there are seven cards dealt and "7" is the bonus)
Diamond 6, Stars 7, Stars 7, 9 Diamond
Jokes can be placed next to each other, this way two jokers fill in for the "7" and "8" in the latest example of a sequence.
Families:
Families are combinations of at least three cards that have the same value:
Clubs 8, Stars 8, Spades 8
Spades King, Diamonds King, Hearts King, Stars King
Spades 8, Spades Queen, Stars Queen (when "8" is the bonus/wild card.)
Exit
When a player has drawn from the deck or picked a card from the discard pile, they will be given a chance their cards in suites or families, with one odd card out, the player lays down the cards and discards the remaining card to exit the game.
Playing:
The player on the left-hand side of the dealer goes first and then the turn change clockwise. Each turn starts with either a player drawing a card from the deck or picking up the top card available in the discard pile. Each player completes their turn by discarding a single card. A player can only exit the game when he can organize all his cards in families or suites or immediately after another player has completed his cards.
When a player exits the game, the remaining players will have one last turn each to wrap up their own cards. Again, each of the remaining players will either draw a card from the deck or discard pile. After this is completed, each player will lay down the available suites/families and count each card in his hands as points against them. The cards laid down on the table make no difference. Only the cards that remain in a player's hand are counted. The score is recorded and a fresh game start.
The next dealing, the player on the left of the dealer starts distributing cards. The number of cards will augment by one with each dealing round, and the wilds will change based on the rules we described. The game carries on until the eleventh dealing round when the King becomes wild. Whoever has the lowest score wins.
Notes:
- Learn how to keep your eyes open and see possible combinations in future. This will maximize your chances of winning. As our motto goes, 'The game's not quite over until the Kings have gone wild!'
- If you are no longer sure which card the bonus is, just count the cards in your hand. The bonus is the card that corresponds to that number.
- If a Jocker or Wild card is discarded, only the player who's immediately after the discarding player can use it. If it's not your turn, refrain from taking the card or you may end up losing your turn.
- If you manage to keep three Kings in your hands, it's considered an advantage, as you will be able to play the cards. However, keeping only 2 Kings towards the end of the game is considered a disadvantage unless you have a Jocker/Wild card.
- If you do have a Bonus or Jocker card at the end of the game, but cannot put it into a combination, we strongly advise that you discard it as it's worth a lot of points.
- If the game is played with 7 players, the discard pile could be used as a new draw pile after the cards have run out. If there are 9 or more players in the game, you may consider adding additional decks.