In this article, I will introduce you to the basic rules of the card game Sequence and show you how to play. This game is for 2 to 12 players composed of even teams divisible by two or three.
Team members must alternate their physical position with opponents around the table so that each team has its turn in a consistent order the entire round.
The object of a two-team game is to be the first team to score two sequences. The object of a three-team game is to be the first team to score one sequence.
Setup
Layout the board. Remove the Joker cards as you don’t play with them. Each team cuts the deck. The player with the lowest card deals.
Shuffle a deck. Deal the appropriate number of cards to each player based on how many people are playing. Seven cards for two players all the way down to three cards for 12 players. Give each player an equal amount of chips from their team’s color.
Make a Sequence
To make a sequence you must have five chips in a row on the board either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. If you complete a sequence of more than five chips at once you must choose which five chips will make up that sequence.
You can overlap a new sequence with one space of an existing one. The four corners of the board are free spaces that count towards a sequence that any team may use.
Gameplay
Beginning with the player left of the dealer and proceeding clockwise players take turns playing a card from their hand to a personal discard pile in front of them. Then, they match that card to one of two locations on the board and place their team’s chip there. They cannot place a chip on a space already occupied by a chip.
After they’ve placed a chip they draw one card. If a player forgets to draw a card by the time the next player draws their card then that player loses the opportunity to draw and must finish the game with fewer cards in their hand.
Jacks
Jacks do not appear on the game board they are instead wild cards. If you can see both eyes of the jack when played you can place a chip anywhere on the board not already occupied by a chip.
If you can only see one eye on the jack then you may remove one chip that is already on the board. One-eyed Jack’s cannot remove chips of a completed sequence.
If there is a card in your hand where both matches on the board are covered by chips on your turn you may say dead card. Discard the card in front of you, draw a new card and continue your turn. You may only do this once per turn.
Finally, there is no strategy, table-talk or coaching team members. If a teammate says anything that alerts a fellow teammate to the fact that they’re about to do something that they shouldn’t then every team member on that team must discard one card of their choice to their discard pile.
If ever the draw deck runs out of cards shuffle all the discard piles together for a new draw deck. Play continues until one team has the correct amount of sequences needed to win.
Here is my gameplay video of the game Sequence wth rules how to play.
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