Colour Shift

How to play

2 to 8 players race to get rid of their cards. The cards come in four colours, green, blue, yellow and red, numbered 1 to 9, with four Chameleons. From 5 players, the game uses two such decks. Each player is dealt 7 cards (6 from 5 players) and one card is turned face up to start the pile.

A turn

• Play one card on the pile: a card of the colour asked for, or of the same number as the top card.
• The Chameleon goes on any card. Whoever plays it chooses the colour the next player must match.
• Or draw one card, even if you could play. If the card you drew matches, you may play it at once; otherwise, or if you keep it, you pass.
• When the deck is empty, the pile but its top card is shuffled into a new deck. With nothing left to draw, a player who cannot play passes; when every player passes that way in a row, the round is blocked.

Scoring

The first player to play their last card wins the round and scores the cards left in the others' hands: a number card counts its number, a Chameleon 20. A blocked round goes to the player holding the fewest points, who scores the others' cards the same way; when the lowest hands are tied, nobody scores. The winner of a round starts the next one.

Once a player has 100 points at the end of a round, the game is over: the highest score wins.