Fiasco Rules
Number of Players
= 2 to 6
Ages
= 13 to Adult
Length of Play
= 15 minutes to 2 hours
Description
of Fiasco Cards
·
54 cards numbered
1 through 8 in six suits, plus six Kings.
·
Cards are ranked
from lowest to highest 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, K. All suits are of equal
rank.
·
The six suits are:
Swords (Gray), Roses (Red), Books (Green), Treasure Chests (Yellow),
Mandolins (Orange), and Horses (Blue).
·
Special Face
Cards, six of each, these cards are suitless:
Ø
The King (Purple)
is the highest-ranking card and is collectable.
Ø
The Fiasco card
(Black) has a rank of 5 and is a penalty card.
Playing
Fiasco
1.
The object of Fiasco is
to collect all of the cards of one suit to score the most points through
winning tricks, while preventing your opponents from doing the same.
2.
All players must choose
one of the six suits before the game starts, and let the other players know
what suit they are collecting. Two players cannot collect the same suit.
3.
Each player is initially
dealt six cards face down. The remaining cards in the deck are kept face
down beside the dealer. All players look at the cards in their hand. Then,
starting with the player on the dealer’s left (clockwise), each player
places one card from their hand into the middle of the table. The player who
placed the highest numbered card in the middle, wins the trick and every
card in the middle (the “pot”). If the pot contains a suit that the player
is collecting, then that card is placed face up in the player’s collection
pile. The collection pile is located on the table just in front of the
player and will be used to score points later in the game. All other cards
from the pot are swept into a waste pile. The player who won the last trick
must lead the next trick, and play continues. Play continues with the
highest card winning the trick, with the winner always leading. Note: Suit
cards cannot go directly from a player’s hand into his or her collection
pile. All suit cards must first be won from the pot.
4.
Play any card you want.
There is no trump, and all suits are of equal rank. You do not have to
follow suit. If you want to win the trick, play a high numbered card. Play
a low card to avoid it.
5.
The King is the highest
card in the deck and is also a means of collecting points, regardless of
what suit a player is collecting. If a player wins a pot containing a King,
then the King is placed into the player’s collection pile and is used to
score points.
6.
The Fiasco card has a
rank of 5, so half the deck is higher, and half the deck is of lower rank.
If a player wins a trick containing a Fiasco card, then that player loses
one card from his or her own collection pile for each Fiasco
card in the pot. If the player is to lose more cards than are in his or her
collection pile, then the player loses only what is available. Losses are
not carried over to the next trick. Attempt to get rid of your Fiasco cards
by inflicting them upon your opponents. Hence, committing a Fiasco!
7.
If the winner of a trick
cannot be determined because there is a tie for the highest cards played,
then there is a “tie-for-high”, and more cards must be played. The cards in
the middle stay in the pot, and now have no bearing on the winner of the new
trick. Each player places another card in the middle to determine the winner
of the new trick. The winner of this trick wins all of the cards in the pot.
If there is second tie-for-high, play continues until there is a winner. If
a tie occurs with the last cards in the player’s hands, more cards are dealt
until a winner can be determined. The only exception to this rule is, if
during the Counting Round a tie-for-high occurs, the cards are ignored and
are swept into the waste pile before counting points.
8.
After the initial six
cards have been played, the dealer gives out another six cards from the deck
to each player and play continues. If there are insufficient cards in the
deck, then each player is given an equal number of cards and these are
played out. Any remaining cards are discarded into the waste pile.
9.
When all the cards in the
deck have been played, the waste pile is
reshuffled and re-dealt. The person dealing
changes with each new deck, rotating clockwise. The deck is exhausted three
times before players count their points.
10.
After the deck has been
exhausted three times, play stops and players count the cards in their
collection piles. This is called the Counting Round. Players score:
Card Game
