Game Contents

72 game cards; 60 colored cards (6 colors, numbers 1 – 10), 2 SAUCE cards, 4 reference cards, 6 blank (unused) cards

# of Players

4 players, 2 teams of 2

Play Time

30 – 60 minutes

Object of the Game

To win cards in tricks in accordance with one’s bid to score points. The game is over after 10 hands are played, or when one team reaches at least 1,000 points. The team with the highest score at the end of the game wins.

Game Setup

Shuffle the 60 colored cards, and have each player select one at random. Seat the players clockwise based on their draws’ rank, from highest to lowest. If ties occur, the suits‘ priority are as follows:

Lowest O O O O O O Highest

The player who had the highest card deals the first hand.

Starting the Hand

The dealer shuffles the 60 colored cards, as well as one SAUCE card (or both, if a Super-Sauce requirement has been met). Once the cards are shuffled, the player to dealer’s right may cut the deck as he wishes. The dealer then takes the top card from the deck (or the top 2, if both SAUCE cards were in the deck) and flips it face-up on the table. The face-up card(s) are called Sauces, and they determine additional rules that remain in play for the rest of the hand (refer to the Sauce Menu for details on these). After that, the dealer deals the rest of the cards evenly to the players. The players then bid in clockwise order (see the Bidding section for details), starting from the dealer’s left, and play begins.

Basic Rules

The hand is composed of a number of tricks; when someone leads a trick, the other players each play one card, following suit if possible, in clockwise order. The trick is won by the player who played the highest-ranked card of the lead’s suit.

For the first trick in each hand, the player with the lowest-ranked card in the low suit (usually the blue 1) leads with it, and all other players play their lowest-ranked low-suit cards. Afterwards, whoever wins each trick leads the next one with a card of choice from his hand (excepting trump cards, unless one has been played before this hand, or he has nothing else to lead).

If at any time, a player is unable to follow suit, he can play any other card in his hand. If any trump cards are played on a trick, the highest-ranked trump card takes the trick, rather than the highest-ranked card of the lead’s suit.

The SAUCE card(s) do not behave like the 60 colored cards. Effectively, if any of these end up in the players’ hands, then they ought to be played as if they were the Sauce cards chosen at the beginning of the hand. For example, if the Sauce chosen was a red 5, the player with the SAUCE card may play it in the same manner as the red 5 would normally be playable (and must play it, if it is necessary to do so to follow suit). If there are 2 Sauce cards active, the SAUCE cards may represent either Sauce card; however, following suit is still necessary. For example, if the Sauce cards are green 2 and orange 6, and a green card is led, a player with a SAUCE card and no other green cards must play it as the green 2, even if the orange 6 has yet to be played. But if a yellow is led, and a player has a SAUCE card and no yellow cards, he can throw it off as either the green 2 or the orange 6 (or play any other card in his hand). When any SAUCE card is played, place the card it replaces in the trick instead, and lay the SAUCE card to the side.

Once all cards are gone from players’ hands, the hand is over, and scores are tallied. If the endgame conditions have not been met, the dealer passes the deal to the player to his left, and the next round begins.

Super-Sauce Mode

If six hands have been played to completion, or if either team has reached 700 or more points at any point in play, then in every subsequent hand, the dealer shuffles both SAUCE cards into the deck before dealing rather than one, and every hand afterwards is played with 2 Sauces. Furthermore, the score earned from every round played with 2 Sauces is doubled.

Bidding / Scoring

After each hand is dealt, players bid on how many points they believe they will earn from the tricks they win during the hand. Bidding starts at the player on the dealer’s left and continues clockwise. These are the types of bids that can be made:

Standard Bidding: Most common bids are simply the number of points the player intends to take; e.g. a bid of “80” indicates the player thinks he can take 80 points’ worth of tricks. Teammates’ bids are combined; e.g. if one player on a team bids 80 and the other bids 70, their team bid is 150.

The worth of a trick is based on the cards it contains; cards of the low suit (usually blue) are worth 0 points, cards of the high suit (purple) are worth 10, and the rest are all worth 5 points apiece. Thus, there are 300 points in total in every hand.

If a team successfully takes at least as many points as they bid, they earn that many points. Any points they earn in excess of their bid are deducted from their score; e.g. 170 points on a team bid of 150 → 150 – 20 = 130 points. Failure to take any bid, including specialty bids, means losing the worth of the bid; e.g. 140 points on a team bid of 150 → –150 points.

Specialty Bids:

Shadoof!: If a player thinks their team can earn at least 225 points, they can bid “Shadoof!”. If the team is successful, they earn 450 (double 225) points; there is no deduction for taking extra points.

No Way!: If one team bids “Shadoof!”, the other team can bid “No Way!” in response, changing their previous bid if necessary. If they take at least 80 points (enough to set the other team), they receive 160 (double 80) points; again, there is no deduction for taking extra.

Nope!: If a player thinks he can finish the hand without earning any points (though not necessarily without taking tricks), he can bid “Nope!”. If he successfully takes 0 points’ worth of cards, he earns 200 points. If a player goes “Nope!”, his partner can bid anything else, including specialty bids. Note that if the “Nope!” is unsuccessful, the points in the tricks won by the “Nope!” bidder still count towards the team’s total.

Blind Nope!: If a team is behind by at least 250 points, either of its players may choose to bid “Blind Nope!” and not look at his cards until bidding has ended (though note that a player is never forced to bid “Blind Nope!” on their turn, even if they have previously not looked at their cards). If one does so and successfully takes 0 points’ worth of cards, he earns 400 points.