SCOUT

Deal without sorting

Use the Oink Games circus-themed physical SCOUT edition and its English instruction sheet, version 1.1, ©2021. This is not the earlier One More Game! SCOUT! edition, a standard playing-card game or the app. Oink also supports two players with different rules; that format is outside this guide.

Sit 3–5 players around a table where everyone can see the central cards. Choose a starting player and give them the marker. For three players, remove all nine cards containing a 10, leaving 36 cards. For four players, remove only the card with 9 and 10, leaving 44. For five, use all 45. Keep removed cards in the box for the whole game.

Put Scout chips and score chips within reach. Give each player one Scout & Show chip, available side up. Shuffle the deck, changing both the order and the top/bottom orientation of cards. Deal every card face down, one at a time: 12 each for three players, 11 each for four, or nine each for five. Wait until dealing is complete before lifting your pile.

Pick up your cards in their dealt order. Each card has two possible values, one at each end. Your active values are the large numbers at the upper left. Before anyone takes a turn, you may rotate your entire collected hand 180 degrees and fan it again to use all the opposite values. You cannot choose a different orientation for each card or sort the numbers. Once play starts, neither rotation nor rearrangement is allowed. Keep your hand private. There is no draw deck left on the table.

Know what beats the table

A Show is one card, or a block of neighboring cards from your hand. A block must be all the same number, such as 6–6–6, or consecutive numbers in order, such as 3–4–5 or 5–4–3. You cannot skip a card in your hand, rearrange a block to make it legal, or wrap a run from 10 to 1. A single card may come from anywhere in your hand.

Compare a proposed Show with the active set, the cards currently face up on the table. First compare length: more cards always beat fewer, regardless of value or type. If lengths match, matching numbers beat a run. If length and type both match, compare the lowest number: the higher lowest number wins. Equal strength does not beat anything. A single card beats another single only with a higher number.

For example, 2–3–4 beats 9–9 because three cards beat two. A pair of 2s beats the two-card run 8–9 because matching numbers beat a run of the same length. The run 5–6–7 beats 4–5–6 because its lowest number is higher. A pair of 5s cannot beat a pair of 5s. When the table is empty, any legal Show may lead.

Show, Scout, or do both

Count points, then rotate the start

At the end of a round, earn one point per captured face-down card and one per Scout chip you received. Subtract one point per card left in your hand. The player whose Show ended the round because every opponent only Scouted does not subtract their remaining hand. Someone who went out already has no hand penalty. The active table cards earn nobody points, and an unused Scout & Show chip is worth nothing.

For example, four captured cards plus two Scout chips minus three hand cards scores three. If those same cards belonged to the owner whose Show survived every opponent's Scout, that player scores six instead. Negative round scores are possible. Exchange the result for score chips, using their negative sides when needed; retain each player's accumulated total.

Return all Scout chips to the supply and reset everyone's Scout & Show chip. Gather the in-play cards, shuffle their order and orientations, and deal again using the same headcount deck. Pass the starting-player marker one seat clockwise. Play three rounds with three players, four with four, or five with five, so everyone starts once. Highest total points wins. Equal highest totals share the win; there is no official tie-break round.

Make the hand-order rule visible

Before shuffling, show a small unscored example with the actual deck. Put 3–8–4–5 in a sample hand and explain why 3–4–5 cannot be played yet: the 8 is between them. Removing the single 8 would bring 3–4–5 together. Demonstrate a Scout at an end of a table set, rotating only the recruited card and inserting it without sorting. Then return every demo card and shuffle for the real deal.

Ask everyone to keep their new hand in order from the moment it is lifted. Players who habitually sort card games may need a reminder before looking. Count each other's remaining hand sizes openly if asked, without showing values. For each new Show, say the owner's name and keep their Scout-chip pile separate from the shared supply. This makes the all-opponents-Scout finish and the hand-penalty exception easier to track.

Settle strength disputes in this order: card count, matching set versus run, then lowest number. Recheck adjacency in the showing player's hand before they remove a disputed block. An end-card Scout may rotate the new card; old hand cards may never flip individually. The rulebook treats Scout chips as unlimited; if the supply runs out, use spare markers as one-point substitutes and announce their meaning. That contingency needs additional markers only if it arises.

The booklet does not prescribe a repair for an accidentally sorted hand or an illegal move discovered much later. Suggested house remedy: if caught before another player acts, restore the exact previous state when everyone agrees it is known. If order or hidden information cannot be restored, void that round, return its Scout chips, and redeal with the same starting player; do not count the void round. Agree to that remedy before play. Use the twists for a fully open rehearsal or a deliberate rules change, not an unannounced correction.

This is seated hand-management play with small printed numbers. Check that people can hold their ordered hand and see the table values. Keep cards on a stable, well-lit surface. No timer or phone is required.

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