Objective of the Game
Picken is a fast-paced card game where the goal is to accumulate the most points by cleverly stealing pairs of opponent cards or skillfully placing your own cards. Each player aims to have the highest score at the end of the game.
Number of Players and Materials
- Number of Players: 2-6 players
- Materials: A special deck of cards with different symbols and numerical values.
Setup
- Shuffle the deck thoroughly.
- Each player receives 5 cards in their hand.
- The remaining cards are placed face down in the middle as the draw pile.
- The top card from the draw pile is flipped over and placed next to it, forming the discard pile.
Gameplay
- The player to the left of the dealer begins. The game proceeds clockwise.
- A player has two options on their turn:
- Play a card from their hand openly onto the discard pile.
- "Steal" a card from the discard pile by playing one with the same symbol (regardless of its numerical value).
- If a player steals a card from the discard pile, they place their played card onto their score pile and draw a new card from the draw pile.
- If a player places a card without stealing, they also draw a card from the draw pile.
- The game ends when the draw pile is exhausted and a player has no cards left in hand.
Scoring
- Each stolen card counts positively to their value.
- Each non-stolen card in hand counts negatively to their value.
- The player with the highest total score wins the game.
Strategic Tips
- Try to steal cards with high values, as they contribute more points.
- Keep cards with common symbols on hand for more flexibility when wanting to steal cards.
- Be mindful not to keep too many high cards in your hand, as they can count against you as negative points at the end of the game.
Have fun playing Picken!
