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In this article, you can read about the basic rules of the board game Set and learn how to play. The object of the game is to have the highest score at the end of multiple rounds.

Setup Guide

Shuffle the deck and layout 12 cards face-up in a four by three grid so all players can see them. Each card has four features:

Symbols – each card has ovals, squiggles or diamonds on it.

Colors – the symbols are either red, green or purple.

Number – there are either 1 2 or 3 symbols on each card.

Shading – the symbols are either filled-in outlined or striped.

There is no turn order, all play is simultaneous. All players look at the face of a grid of cards looking for Sets. A set consists of three cards in which each of the card features looked at one by one is the same on each card or is different on each card.

All of the features must separately satisfy this rule. The shape must either be the same or different on all three cards. The color must either be the same or different on all three cards. The number must either be the same or different on all three cards and the shading must either be the same or different on all three cards.

Gameplay Rules

When the player recognizes a set they say ‘set’ and tap the three cards in the set. The other players verify that it is indeed a set and the player that recognized it picks up the three cards and collects them. The dealer replaces the taking cards with new ones from the deck.

When a player calls ‘set’, play is paused until that player picks up the cards then play resumes. If a player calls ‘set’ and does not have one they lose one point and play continues.

If among the twelve cards all the players agree there is no set visible then the dealer flips over three more cards face up. When a set is found, the three extra cards are not replaced until the total number of cards on the table is fewer than twelve or if there is no set visible. Play continues until the deck is depleted and no more sets can be made.

Each player scores one point for each set they made. The cards are all gathered and the dealer then passes the deal to the left. The new dealer shuffles and lays out cards and another round is played. Continue playing until every player has been the dealer once. Then the game ends and the player with the most points wins.