- 2 or more players.
- 1 or more standard 52-card decks, each with 0-2 jokers.
- Aces have a value of 1.
- Face cards and jokers have a value of 10.
- Everything else is face-value.
To begin a round, the dealer shuffles and deals out 5 cards to each player. The player to the left of the dealer starts, and turns proceed in a clockwise direction.
Cards are discarded to a pile in the center, called the "balance". The value of the balance starts at 0.
A player's turn goes as follows:
- The player draws a card to their hand.
- The player choses a card from their hand and either adds or subtracts its value from the balance.
- The player plays the card on the balance, declaring the new balance as either "plus (value)", "minus (value)", or "zero".
- If the balance is 0, then the player gains a point.
- If the balance exceeds 9 (greater than 9 or less than -9), and the played card was not a joker, then the player loses a point.
For example, if the balance is +4, and the player plays a 6, they can either add to get "plus ten" (which would lose them a point), or subtract to get "minus two". If they chose the latter, and the next player plays a 2, then they can either subtract to get "minus four", or add to get "zero" (which gains them a point).
When the deck runs out, play continues until everyone runs out of cards in their hands.
When everyone is out of cards, the round is over, and the players' points are added to those of the previous rounds. The player to the left of the previous dealer becomes the new dealer, the balance is reset to 0, and a new round begins.
If a player has 20 points or more at the end of a round, then they win the game.
If a player has -20 points or less at the end of a round, then they are out of the game.
It is generally a good idea not to keep many cards with a value of 10 in one's hand. If the balance is 0, and a player has nothing but 10-cards, then they cannot play a card without tipping over 9 and losing a point (unless the card is a joker).
Since it is bad to tip the balance to exceed 9, 10-cards are usually played to tip in the opposite direction of the balance (i.e. if positive, subtract; if negative, add). Since there are many 10-cards that players don't want to be stuck with, they are usually played often.
This leads to cards having "complements". A complement consists of two cards whose values, assuming your opponent(s) all play 10-cards, will let you tip the balance to 0.
For example, with two players, and a balance of 0, 4 and 6 are complements. You can play a 4 to tip to +4, then your opponent plays a 10 to tip to -6. You can now play your 6 to tip to 0.
As another example, with three players, and a balance of 0, cards with the same value become complements. You play a 3 to tip to +3, the next player plays a 10 to tip to -7, the next player plays a 10 to tip back to +3, then you play your other 3 to tip to 0.
There are also complements when the balance is non-zero. For example, with two players and a balance of +1, 3 and 6 can be considered complements. You can play the 3 to tip to +4, expect your opponent to play a 10 to tip to -6, then you can play your 6 to tip to 0.
Jokers can be used to exceed 9 without losing a point, to potentially force opponents to lose points (if they don't have a high enough card to get back within 9).
They can also be used to save a point in case the balance becomes too tipped to save otherwise. For example, if the balance manages to tip to +20, then a joker can be used to safely tip to +10 without losing a point.
Similar to jokers, if you have enough points (or even if you don't), you can choose to exceed 9, which loses you a point, but potentially forces opponents to lose points as well.
However, this can backfire if an opponent decides to exceed further, causing you to lose even more points.
Draw 5 cards from the deck for your hand, then draw a card to the balance. The value of the card is the starting balance.
Play your turn according to the usual steps above.
When your turn is finished, if you can draw a card, then draw one and play it on the balance.
- If the card's value matches the balance, set the balance to 0. If the card is not a joker, lose 1 point.
- Otherwise, if the balance is 0 or positive, then add the card's value to the balance.
- Otherwise, subtract the card's value from the balance.
Then proceed to your next turn. Continue until the deck and your hand runs out. If you have 10 points or more by the end, then you win.