Number Chain (2024)

Overview

You want to rid yourself of cards as quickly as possible in Number Chain, and to do so you will...chain numbers. Yes, no surprise there!

Each player starts with a hand of cards, with each showing a two-digit number, although sometimes one digit is a ?, a "wild" stands for a digit of your choice. Place three cards face up in the pool and one card face up on the floor. A condition tile starts on the pivot side; more on that later.

On a turn, you can play any number of cards from your hand as long as the first number on these cards matches the last number on the floor card. (That last number is the "pivot".) Arrange your played cards on the floor in the order of your choice with the top card becoming the new floor.

If you can chain three consecutive numbers, you can play them no matter what the floor card is, then you take another turn.

Instead of playing or chaining, you can take a pool card or the top card of the deck into your hand, refilling the pool, if necessary.

Finally, you can reset by taking all three pool cards into your hand, then flipping the condition tile. The side opposite "pivot" is relay, and when relay is the condition, you can play cards one by one, with the first digit of each played card matching the last digit of the new floor card. Maybe you can empty your hand all in one go this way?

When one player empties their hand, everyone else can only play or chain from that point, exiting the game when they can't put down cards on their turn. Each wild card still in hand is worth 3 points, and each non-wild card is 1 point.

Play three rounds in this manner, then whoever has the fewest points wins.