Nuclear Chess
survival apocalyptic thinking
In the THE FUTUR, there is no board anymore,
and the chess pieces roam the world, scattering chaos and destruction.
Will you be smart and cautious enough to escape them one more day ?
Summary :
Nuclear chess is à 2-6 players card & party game, with a mix of memory,
observation and to a lesser extent : reflexes.
Everybody races toward the same goal, nobody knows all the cards in play.
Goal of the game :
– Nuclear chess is a free-for-all competition played in seven rounds.
All of the game is played with cards face-down. You’ll have to memorise the
cards you have, and (to some extent) the cards of your opponents.
– All playing-cards of the game have a numeric value.
To win a round, the added total of all your cards will have to reach
certain conditions (being inferior, superior or equal to a given number).
Those goal-conditions are fixed each round by a shelter card.
The round end when somebody wins the shelter card.
After seven rounds, the one with most shelters wins !
a playing-card, a shelter card,
with a value of 5 goal : being under 9.
1
Preparation :
– Shuffle all the playing cards together, and put them in a pile,
face-down, at the center of the table.
– Shuffle all the seven shelter-cards together, and place them,
face-down, somewhere on the side.
– Choose a “first player” by any means necessary.
Start of a round :
– At the start of a round, draw the first shelter-card, and place it at the
center of the table, where everyone can see it.
– Deal four playing-cards face-hidden to each player.
(be careful ! Don’t look at your cards as soon as you get them : ).
– Everyone place their cards in line in front on them, and then everyone
look and memorize one of their cards (two if it is the first round of the
game).
– The first player can start his/her turn, then the game go clockwise.
pile of P1 cards
shelter
cards
P4 cards deck P2 cards
current discard
shelter pile
card
P3 cards
2
A player turn :
– The active player can draw the first playing-card from the deck, look at it
secretly, and then choose to swap it with one of them cards or to put it
face-up in the discard pile (near the deck).
– Alternatively, the active player can draw the first card of the discard pile,
and swap it with one of them cards. (A safer move : you know which card
you’ll pick, but also a risky because everyone see what card you take).
Cards power :
Some of the playing cards have special-powers.
– The blue laser-cards can be used to look at a card in the game.
– The reds explosions-cards can be used to swap one of your cards with
one card of a choosen opponent.
When and how to use card-powers :
The special power of card can only be used at your turn, when you draw it
from the deck, and discard it immediately.
You can’t use a card special-power :
– if it was already in the game of somebody,
– if you draw it from the discard pile.
vanilla laser explosion
worth 5 worth 5 or : worth 5 or :
see a card swap two cards
3
Ninja move :
Their is a special-move any player can do at any moment.
If the number of the first card in the discard-pile match the number of one of
your’s, you can take your card and put it on top of the discard pile. Now you
have one less card in front of you, sweet !
Be attentive though : two player can’t do it in a row. (which mean : if there is
a 6 in the discard pile, and Barbara take one 6 of her game to put it on top
of the discard pile, nobody can use the 6 discarded by barbara to do the
same thing. First come, first served.)
Mistake : if you try the ninja-move but made a mistake (the two cards numbers
don’t match), you can’t retry-it on the same card. That’s the only penalty.
End of a round, start of the next :
When a player think they have met the conditions of the shelter card,
they can yell “booyah !” or “got it !” (or any other vocable they find
appropriate) to end the round...
The player then reveal cards. If the yelling-player made a mistake, that
disqualified them for the round. If no mistake was made, they win the shelter
card in play, and everyone can prepare for the next round :
– everyone reveal their cards.
– draw the next shelter card.
– then everyone keep one of their cards for the next round.
– shuffle the deck with the discard-pile and deal cards cards again so
everyone have 4 in front of them again.
Victory !
The game end when the seven rounds are over. You can modulate the length
of the game to your will by putting less “shelter card” in the start pile, or by
drawing them endlessly, while checking winned-rounds on a piece of paper.
