Card CommonsCard Commons

Goal

Be the first to complete a win condition with the cards in your court, the cards you have played face up in front of you. Two win conditions always count.

• Royal Council: a Number card of each of the four suits and any Face card.
• Faction Supremacy: 5 Face cards or 5 Number cards of one suit.

Three more can be added as a variant.

Cards

Use a standard 52-card deck without Jokers. The Jack, Queen, and King are Face cards. The Ace to the 10 are Number cards.

Starting hand

The player who goes first is dealt 4 cards, and the other player 5. The rest of the deck is the draw pile. Each player has their own discard pile.

Play

1. Draw 1 card. If the draw pile is empty, first shuffle both discard piles together to make a new one.
2. Play 1 card from your hand face up into your court.
3. Your opponent may issue a Decree. To do it, they discard a Face card and one other card from their hand onto their own discard pile, with the Face card on top. A Decree cancels the card beneath it, and you may answer it with a Decree of your own, which cancels theirs. Decrees can go back and forth like this. If an odd number of Decrees are issued, your card is canceled. It goes to your discard pile, and its ability doesn’t happen.
4. If your card isn’t canceled, use its ability (see Card abilities).
5. Check your court. If it completes a win condition, you win at once. Otherwise it’s your opponent’s turn.

Card abilities

A Number card’s ability comes from its suit. Every Face card, of any suit, has Recruit.

• ♣ Club: choose a card in your opponent’s court. It goes to their discard pile.
• ♦ Bribe: look at your opponent’s hand and choose a card from it. It goes to their discard pile.
• ♠ Dig: take the top card of either discard pile, yours or your opponent’s, into your hand.
• ♥ Inspire: choose another card in your court that’s not a ♥ Number card, and use its ability.
• Recruit (J, Q, K): draw 1 card. If the draw pile is empty, you draw nothing.

An ability with nothing to act on does nothing.

Variants

Any of these three win conditions can be added to the game.

• Royal Bloc: 4 cards of the same rank, Face cards included.
• United House: 5 cards of one suit, Face cards included.
• Line of Succession: 5 ranks in a row, of any suits. The Ace is high (10–A) or low (A–5), and a run can’t go from the King to the 2.