Board Game Arena - User contributions [en]

Gamehelpnaishi

2026-10-14T19:55:25Z

Cheddarific: /* Cards */ Added Legend and Traveller cards.

===Overview===

Whilst maintaining a fixed hand positioning, draw, replace, and play cards in order to create desired card placements in both your Line and your Hand

===Turn===

Take one of the following actions:

Develop

Impose

Recall

Declare

===Develop===

First pick a card from either your hand or line and discard it

Next take a card from the River which shared the same position as the discarded one and put it in that same location e.g. if you discarded far left hand or line, then you draw far left River

Replenish the river

If you have an Emissary token, then before or after the main Develop step you may take a bonus action

One Bonus Action is to discard the top card from two draw piles in the River

The other Bonus Action is to switch the position of 2 cards, these can be 2 cards in the River, or 2 cards in your Hand/Line, you can use this to switch the position in your Hand/Line or transfer a card from your Hand to your Line or vice versa, but you CANNOT trade a hand/line card with the River

===Impose===

There is only one space for this action, so it can only be taken once by a single player

Place an emissary on this space, then either exchange a Hand card with the opponent in the same position, or Exchange a Line card with the opponent in the same position

===Recall===

Retrieve Emissaries already sent out, but you CANNOT retrieve the emissary on the Impose space

===Declare===

This action is only unlocked once one of the draw piles is depleted

This action ends the game, giving your opponent one final turn

===Game End===

The game end is triggered either when someone takes the Declare action or when 2 River piles are depleted

If two piles are depleted, then complete the current round ending with the 2nd player, which means if 2nd player triggered it then there is no extra turn for 1st player unlike Declare

Both players reveal their hands and, without altering them, place them in the same positions but in a new row under their Line

If the Ninja is out, at this time it decides which card to copy

Each player scores the points each card provides them based on its conditions

The player with the most points, wins!

If tied, the player with the most varied colours wins!

===Base Game Cards===

White Mountains score 5vp if only 1, lost 5vp if 2 or more

Pink Naishi scores only if in the central column, 12 points for Line row and 8 points in Hand row

Purple Advisor scores based on its position, 2vp for positon 1 or 5, 4VP for position 2 or 4, 3VP for position 3. In addition, score 4VP per adjacent Naishi

Brown Fort scores 6VP if it is on an edge (position 1 or 5)

Green Sentinel scores 3VP if NOT adjacent to another Sentinel, and scores 4VP per adjacent Fort

Red Torii loses you 5VP for 1, loses nor gains anything for 2, and scores 30VP for 3

Orange Monk scores 5VP if in Hand row, plus 2VP per adjacent Torii

Yellow Rice Field scores 10VP for 2 adjacent, 20VP for 3 adjacent, and 30VP for 4 adjacent

Light Blue Banner scores 3VP if alone in Line row, or 8VP if with a partner in Line row

Deep Blue Horseman scores 3VP if in Hand row, plus 10VP if a Banner shares the same position in Line row

Turquoise Ronin scores for unique card types (excluding Ninja and Mountain), 8VP for 8 unique, 15VP for 9 unique, and 45VP for 10 unique

Black Ninja copies another card with a square icon in the coner, these are characters (so not hexagon in corner or nothing in corner)

===Legend Cards===

Pink Naishi scores 10 points if in the center or at the extremities of the line; 10 points if in the center of your hand.

Purple Advisor: if there is no Naishi in your territory, score 5 points per advisor.

Green Sentinel scores 5 points if not adjacent to another Sentinel; +3 points per rice field or fort in the same line.

Orange Monk scores 2 points per adjacent character. This card counts for both a monk and a torii.

Deep Blue Horseman scores 4 points per adjacent structure and 4 additional points per adjacent banner. (A banner would score 8 since it counts as both a structure and a banner.)

Turquoise Ronin scores on the longest set of identical cards: 3 identical cards score 8 points; 4 score 15 points; 5 or more score 25 points.

Black Ninja: at the end of the game, copy one character card (not a legend or traveler) from the opponent. If the opponent has no character card to copy, this card does nothing. If the legendary ninja copies a character that isn't in your territory, it counts as a different character for the ronin.

===Traveller Cards===
The Ryokan card begins the game in a neutral position. When a traveller enters your territory, you may take the Ryokan card from your opponent or from the neutral position and place it near your territory with the 4 point side facing up. If you take a traveller while you have the Ryokan card, you may flip it to the 7 point side.

Traveller cards do not score and have no icons. They are not considered characters for ninjas or legend monk scoring. They are only useful for their effects and for claiming the Ryokan card. Some effects (marked with river icon and arrow pointing down) trigger when the traveller enters your territory (row or hand) from the river. Others (marked with red X and arrow pointing up) trigger when the traveller leaves your territory to the discard pile. There are four possible effects based on the icon on the card:

* Swap 2 cards anywhere in your territory.
* Recall your emissaries. A token on the Impose space cannot be recalled.
* Take the Ryokan card and flip it to the 7 point side. If you already have the Ryokan card, flip it to the 7 side.
* Immediately develop an additional card. Note: the next river card is revealed only after resolving this effect.

Gamehelptoybattle

2026-02-26T14:53:20Z

Cheddarific: /* Your Turn */

== Overview ==
The game plays over a series of turns, until the game end is triggered in one of three ways.

* If an HQ is captured by a Troop, the capturing player immediately wins.
* If through region controal a player gains a certain number of medals as defined by the map, that player immediately wins.
* If a player cannot perform any more actions (e.g. they have no tiles to draw and cannot play any tiles), then the game ends. In this case, the player with the most medals wins. In the case of a tie, the player who triggered this end game condition loses.

Each player has 24 troops--8 types with 3 of each. During set up, 4 troops are randomly removed from each player's reserve without the players knowing which tiles are removed. The removed tiles are likely different between the two players, creating a mysterious asymmetry.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:auto;" border="2"
|+ Troops
|-
! style="background:linear-gradient(0deg, #f8f8f8, #e7e9e8);" | Name || Picture || Strength || Description || Notes
|-
| '''Kwak''' || [[File:toyBattle_kwak.gif]] || X || Kwak has no effect, but may be placed on top of any enemy Troop. However, any enemy Troop may also cover it. ||
|-
| '''Skully''' || [[File:toyBattle_skully.gif]] || 1 || You may draw 2 Troops from your reserve. || If you already have 7 Troops on your rack, you draw only one.
|-
| '''Capn''' || [[File:toyBattle_capn.gif]] || 2 || You may place 1 extra Troop following normal placement rules and apply its effect. || Effects of Troops placed (including Capn) are triggered first, then any special base effects.
|-
| '''Jumbo''' || [[File:toyBattle_jumbo.gif]] || 3 || You may choose 1 visible enemy Troop (adjacent to Jumbo) and discard it face up. || Troops are adjacent if connected by a single section of path.
|-
| '''Hook''' || [[File:toyBattle_hook.gif]] || 4 || You may ignore the connection rule and place Hook on any '''base''' whether or not it is connected to your H.Q. || To place Hook on the enemy HQ (which is not a base), it must be connected to your HQ by your troops.
|-
| '''XB-42''' || [[File:toyBattle_xb42.gif]] || 5 || You may take, at random, 1 Troop from your opponent's rack and discard it face up. ||
|-
| '''Star''' || [[File:toyBattle_star.gif]] || 6 || You may draw 1 Troop from your reserve and place it on your rack. ||
|-
| '''Roxy''' || [[File:toyBattle_roxy.gif]] || 7 || No effect. ||
|}

== Your Turn ==

You can either:

'''Draw 2 Troops''' from your reserve and place them on your rack. Your rack can hold up to 8 Troops maximum

or

'''Play 1 troop''' from your rack onto a space on the battlefield. You can place it anywhere that fulfills the following conditions:

<ul class="bulletlist" style="margin:1em 0;padding-inline-start:40px;">
<li>An empty base that is connected to your HQ (this means you must always follow a continuous path from your HQ (starting point) to the troop you are placing, passing only through bases you occupy)</li>
<li>A base occupied by any of your troops</li>
<li>A base occupied by an enemy troop with a lower strength than your troop</li>
<li>Your opponent's HQ. (You cannot place a troop on your own HQ)</li>
</ul>

Each troop has an effect that triggers after placement.

If the troop was placed on a special base, you first fully complete the troop's effect before trigger the effect of the special base.

If you control a region by occupying all the bases surrounding it, you claim any and all medal(s) currently in that area.

If you would draw a 9th troop, you simply do not draw the troop.

== Battlefields ==

{| class="wikitable" style="width:auto;" border="2"
! style="background:linear-gradient(0deg, #f8f8f8, #e7e9e8);" | Name || Effect of Special Bases
|-
| '''Castle Field''' || You may choose 1 of your other troops, no matter where it is, and place it back on your rack.
|-
| '''Tropical Pool''' || Only troops with the indicated values can be placed on these special bases and HQ
|-
| '''City of Clouds''' || You may draw 1 troop from your reserve and place it on your rack.
|-
| '''Volcanic Jungle''' || You may choose 1 enemy troop that is adjacent to this special base. Move it to a base that is adjacent to its starting base, ignoring placement rules.
|-
| '''Cursed Cemetery''' || You may choose 1 of your Troops in the discard and place it on your rack.
|-
| '''Caribbean Sea''' || No special bases, but is asymmetric with 2 blue HQ and 1 red HQ
|-
| '''Station Metal-X''' || Troop effects are not applied on special bases.
|-
| '''Battlefield''' || Select 1 of your opponent's Troops at random. It is "frozen" and cannot be placed until the next turn.
|}

Gamehelptoybattle

2026-02-26T14:48:15Z

Cheddarific: /* Your Turn */ Rewording for proper and clear English.

== Overview ==
The game plays over a series of turns, until the game end is triggered in one of three ways.

* If an HQ is captured by a Troop, the capturing player immediately wins.
* If through region controal a player gains a certain number of medals as defined by the map, that player immediately wins.
* If a player cannot perform any more actions (e.g. they have no tiles to draw and cannot play any tiles), then the game ends. In this case, the player with the most medals wins. In the case of a tie, the player who triggered this end game condition loses.

Each player has 24 troops--8 types with 3 of each. During set up, 4 troops are randomly removed from each player's reserve without the players knowing which tiles are removed. The removed tiles are likely different between the two players, creating a mysterious asymmetry.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:auto;" border="2"
|+ Troops
|-
! style="background:linear-gradient(0deg, #f8f8f8, #e7e9e8);" | Name || Picture || Strength || Description || Notes
|-
| '''Kwak''' || [[File:toyBattle_kwak.gif]] || X || Kwak has no effect, but may be placed on top of any enemy Troop. However, any enemy Troop may also cover it. ||
|-
| '''Skully''' || [[File:toyBattle_skully.gif]] || 1 || You may draw 2 Troops from your reserve. || If you already have 7 Troops on your rack, you draw only one.
|-
| '''Capn''' || [[File:toyBattle_capn.gif]] || 2 || You may place 1 extra Troop following normal placement rules and apply its effect. || Effects of Troops placed (including Capn) are triggered first, then any special base effects.
|-
| '''Jumbo''' || [[File:toyBattle_jumbo.gif]] || 3 || You may choose 1 visible enemy Troop (adjacent to Jumbo) and discard it face up. || Troops are adjacent if connected by a single section of path.
|-
| '''Hook''' || [[File:toyBattle_hook.gif]] || 4 || You may ignore the connection rule and place Hook on any '''base''' whether or not it is connected to your H.Q. || To place Hook on the enemy HQ (which is not a base), it must be connected to your HQ by your troops.
|-
| '''XB-42''' || [[File:toyBattle_xb42.gif]] || 5 || You may take, at random, 1 Troop from your opponent's rack and discard it face up. ||
|-
| '''Star''' || [[File:toyBattle_star.gif]] || 6 || You may draw 1 Troop from your reserve and place it on your rack. ||
|-
| '''Roxy''' || [[File:toyBattle_roxy.gif]] || 7 || No effect. ||
|}

== Your Turn ==

You can either:

'''Draw 2 Troops''' from your reserve and place them on your rack. Your rack can hold up to 8 Troops maximum

or

'''Play 1 troop''' from your rack onto a space on the battlefield. You can place it anywhere that fulfills the following conditions:

<ul class="bulletlist" style="margin:1em 0;padding-inline-start:40px;">
<li>An empty base that is connected to your HQ (this means you must always follow a continuous path from your HQ (starting point) to the troop you are placing, passing only through bases you occupy)</li>
<li>A base occupied by any of your troops</li>
<li>A base occupied by an enemy troop with a lower strength than yours</li>
<li>Your opponent's HQ. (You cannot place a troop on your own HQ)</li>
</ul>

Each troop has an effect that triggers after placement.

If the troop was placed on a special base, you first fully complete the troop's effect before trigger the effect of the special base.

If you control a region by occupying all the bases surrounding it, you claim any and all medal(s) currently in that area.

== Battlefields ==

{| class="wikitable" style="width:auto;" border="2"
! style="background:linear-gradient(0deg, #f8f8f8, #e7e9e8);" | Name || Effect of Special Bases
|-
| '''Castle Field''' || You may choose 1 of your other troops, no matter where it is, and place it back on your rack.
|-
| '''Tropical Pool''' || Only troops with the indicated values can be placed on these special bases and HQ
|-
| '''City of Clouds''' || You may draw 1 troop from your reserve and place it on your rack.
|-
| '''Volcanic Jungle''' || You may choose 1 enemy troop that is adjacent to this special base. Move it to a base that is adjacent to its starting base, ignoring placement rules.
|-
| '''Cursed Cemetery''' || You may choose 1 of your Troops in the discard and place it on your rack.
|-
| '''Caribbean Sea''' || No special bases, but is asymmetric with 2 blue HQ and 1 red HQ
|-
| '''Station Metal-X''' || Troop effects are not applied on special bases.
|-
| '''Battlefield''' || Select 1 of your opponent's Troops at random. It is "frozen" and cannot be placed until the next turn.
|}

Gamehelptoybattle

2026-02-26T14:45:09Z

Cheddarific: /* Overview */ Revising language on Capn for clarity.

== Overview ==
The game plays over a series of turns, until the game end is triggered in one of three ways.

* If an HQ is captured by a Troop, the capturing player immediately wins.
* If through region controal a player gains a certain number of medals as defined by the map, that player immediately wins.
* If a player cannot perform any more actions (e.g. they have no tiles to draw and cannot play any tiles), then the game ends. In this case, the player with the most medals wins. In the case of a tie, the player who triggered this end game condition loses.

Each player has 24 troops--8 types with 3 of each. During set up, 4 troops are randomly removed from each player's reserve without the players knowing which tiles are removed. The removed tiles are likely different between the two players, creating a mysterious asymmetry.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:auto;" border="2"
|+ Troops
|-
! style="background:linear-gradient(0deg, #f8f8f8, #e7e9e8);" | Name || Picture || Strength || Description || Notes
|-
| '''Kwak''' || [[File:toyBattle_kwak.gif]] || X || Kwak has no effect, but may be placed on top of any enemy Troop. However, any enemy Troop may also cover it. ||
|-
| '''Skully''' || [[File:toyBattle_skully.gif]] || 1 || You may draw 2 Troops from your reserve. || If you already have 7 Troops on your rack, you draw only one.
|-
| '''Capn''' || [[File:toyBattle_capn.gif]] || 2 || You may place 1 extra Troop following normal placement rules and apply its effect. || Effects of Troops placed (including Capn) are triggered first, then any special base effects.
|-
| '''Jumbo''' || [[File:toyBattle_jumbo.gif]] || 3 || You may choose 1 visible enemy Troop (adjacent to Jumbo) and discard it face up. || Troops are adjacent if connected by a single section of path.
|-
| '''Hook''' || [[File:toyBattle_hook.gif]] || 4 || You may ignore the connection rule and place Hook on any '''base''' whether or not it is connected to your H.Q. || To place Hook on the enemy HQ (which is not a base), it must be connected to your HQ by your troops.
|-
| '''XB-42''' || [[File:toyBattle_xb42.gif]] || 5 || You may take, at random, 1 Troop from your opponent's rack and discard it face up. ||
|-
| '''Star''' || [[File:toyBattle_star.gif]] || 6 || You may draw 1 Troop from your reserve and place it on your rack. ||
|-
| '''Roxy''' || [[File:toyBattle_roxy.gif]] || 7 || No effect. ||
|}

== Your Turn ==

You can either:

'''Draw 2 Troops''' from your reserve and place them on your rack. Your rack can hold up to 8 Troops maximum

or

'''Play 1 troop''' from your rack onto a space on the battlefield. You can place it anywhere that fulfills the following conditions:

<ul class="bulletlist" style="margin:1em 0;padding-inline-start:40px;">
<li>An empty base that is connected to your HQ (this means you must always follow a continuous path from your HQ (starting point) to the troop you are placing, passing only through bases you occupy)</li>
<li>A base occupied by any of your troops</li>
<li>A base occupied by an enemy troop with a lower strength than yours</li>
<li>Your opponent's HQ. (You cannot place a troop on your own HQ)</li>
</ul>

Each troop has an effect that triggers after placement.

If the troop was placed on a special base with an effect that triggers after the troop's effect triggers.

If you control a region by occupying all the bases surrounding it, the player claims the medal(s) in that area.

== Battlefields ==

{| class="wikitable" style="width:auto;" border="2"
! style="background:linear-gradient(0deg, #f8f8f8, #e7e9e8);" | Name || Effect of Special Bases
|-
| '''Castle Field''' || You may choose 1 of your other troops, no matter where it is, and place it back on your rack.
|-
| '''Tropical Pool''' || Only troops with the indicated values can be placed on these special bases and HQ
|-
| '''City of Clouds''' || You may draw 1 troop from your reserve and place it on your rack.
|-
| '''Volcanic Jungle''' || You may choose 1 enemy troop that is adjacent to this special base. Move it to a base that is adjacent to its starting base, ignoring placement rules.
|-
| '''Cursed Cemetery''' || You may choose 1 of your Troops in the discard and place it on your rack.
|-
| '''Caribbean Sea''' || No special bases, but is asymmetric with 2 blue HQ and 1 red HQ
|-
| '''Station Metal-X''' || Troop effects are not applied on special bases.
|-
| '''Battlefield''' || Select 1 of your opponent's Troops at random. It is "frozen" and cannot be placed until the next turn.
|}

Gamehelptoybattle

2026-02-26T14:42:02Z

Cheddarific: /* Overview */ clarified the win conditions and introduced some key information that occurs during the game's setup.

== Overview ==
The game plays over a series of turns, until the game end is triggered in one of three ways.

* If an HQ is captured by a Troop, the capturing player immediately wins.
* If through region controal a player gains a certain number of medals as defined by the map, that player immediately wins.
* If a player cannot perform any more actions (e.g. they have no tiles to draw and cannot play any tiles), then the game ends. In this case, the player with the most medals wins. In the case of a tie, the player who triggered this end game condition loses.

Each player has 24 troops--8 types with 3 of each. During set up, 4 troops are randomly removed from each player's reserve without the players knowing which tiles are removed. The removed tiles are likely different between the two players, creating a mysterious asymmetry.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:auto;" border="2"
|+ Troops
|-
! style="background:linear-gradient(0deg, #f8f8f8, #e7e9e8);" | Name || Picture || Strength || Description || Notes
|-
| '''Kwak''' || [[File:toyBattle_kwak.gif]] || X || Kwak has no effect, but may be placed on top of any enemy Troop. However, any enemy Troop may also cover it. ||
|-
| '''Skully''' || [[File:toyBattle_skully.gif]] || 1 || You may draw 2 Troops from your reserve. || If you already have 7 Troops on your rack, you draw only one.
|-
| '''Capn''' || [[File:toyBattle_capn.gif]] || 2 || You may place 1 extra Troop on the Terrain and apply its effect. || Effects of Troops placed are triggered first, then any special base effects.
|-
| '''Jumbo''' || [[File:toyBattle_jumbo.gif]] || 3 || You may choose 1 visible enemy Troop (adjacent to Jumbo) and discard it face up. || Troops are adjacent if connected by a single section of path.
|-
| '''Hook''' || [[File:toyBattle_hook.gif]] || 4 || You may ignore the connection rule and place Hook on any '''base''' whether or not it is connected to your H.Q. || To place Hook on the enemy HQ (which is not a base), it must be connected to your HQ by your troops.
|-
| '''XB-42''' || [[File:toyBattle_xb42.gif]] || 5 || You may take, at random, 1 Troop from your opponent's rack and discard it face up. ||
|-
| '''Star''' || [[File:toyBattle_star.gif]] || 6 || You may draw 1 Troop from your reserve and place it on your rack. ||
|-
| '''Roxy''' || [[File:toyBattle_roxy.gif]] || 7 || No effect. ||
|}

== Your Turn ==

You can either:

'''Draw 2 Troops''' from your reserve and place them on your rack. Your rack can hold up to 8 Troops maximum

or

'''Play 1 troop''' from your rack onto a space on the battlefield. You can place it anywhere that fulfills the following conditions:

<ul class="bulletlist" style="margin:1em 0;padding-inline-start:40px;">
<li>An empty base that is connected to your HQ (this means you must always follow a continuous path from your HQ (starting point) to the troop you are placing, passing only through bases you occupy)</li>
<li>A base occupied by any of your troops</li>
<li>A base occupied by an enemy troop with a lower strength than yours</li>
<li>Your opponent's HQ. (You cannot place a troop on your own HQ)</li>
</ul>

Each troop has an effect that triggers after placement.

If the troop was placed on a special base with an effect that triggers after the troop's effect triggers.

If you control a region by occupying all the bases surrounding it, the player claims the medal(s) in that area.

== Battlefields ==

{| class="wikitable" style="width:auto;" border="2"
! style="background:linear-gradient(0deg, #f8f8f8, #e7e9e8);" | Name || Effect of Special Bases
|-
| '''Castle Field''' || You may choose 1 of your other troops, no matter where it is, and place it back on your rack.
|-
| '''Tropical Pool''' || Only troops with the indicated values can be placed on these special bases and HQ
|-
| '''City of Clouds''' || You may draw 1 troop from your reserve and place it on your rack.
|-
| '''Volcanic Jungle''' || You may choose 1 enemy troop that is adjacent to this special base. Move it to a base that is adjacent to its starting base, ignoring placement rules.
|-
| '''Cursed Cemetery''' || You may choose 1 of your Troops in the discard and place it on your rack.
|-
| '''Caribbean Sea''' || No special bases, but is asymmetric with 2 blue HQ and 1 red HQ
|-
| '''Station Metal-X''' || Troop effects are not applied on special bases.
|-
| '''Battlefield''' || Select 1 of your opponent's Troops at random. It is "frozen" and cannot be placed until the next turn.
|}

Tips chuhan

2026-01-23T06:20:38Z

Cheddarific: Created page with "**Pick a writ?** Sometimes it is wise to take a writ and sometimes it is not. Generally, if you have a varied hand with most numbers, it is ok or even desirable to take a writ to pad out individual numbers in your hand and increase the numbers of 3s and 6s you have (for their abilities). Conversely, if you have only a few numbers left in your hand, it is better to avoid taking a writ that is likely to give you more to play. There's also the scoring to think about. Ea..."

**Pick a writ?**
Sometimes it is wise to take a writ and sometimes it is not. Generally, if you have a varied hand with most numbers, it is ok or even desirable to take a writ to pad out individual numbers in your hand and increase the numbers of 3s and 6s you have (for their abilities). Conversely, if you have only a few numbers left in your hand, it is better to avoid taking a writ that is likely to give you more to play. There's also the scoring to think about. Each card in your hand at the end of the game is a point, as is each writ. So in summary, taking a writ is good if it is likely to help you play your hand in fewer turns, and bad if it will add turns in order to play your hand.

**Playing six cards of rank 2**
Successfully playing six cards of rank 2 is immediately worth 6 points. You don't have to wait for the end of the round; you get them immediately (as long as your play isn't canceled somehow). The average round is likely to score around 4-8 points, so an additional 6 points is really helpful. If you have a really good shot at playing the six cards, it can be worth pursuing. For example, if you have five of the rank 2 cards, take a writ and hope for that sixth. If you can play the 3 powered card that says "play all different as lowest," which enables you to play a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 (for example) as if they were six of rank two, then do it. This often leaves your hand in weak position, but the six points is almost always worth it. In any case, it helps if you maintain a high card, such as a 7 or 8 to improve your chances of clearing out some weaker cards before the game's end, denying a point or two to your opponent.

**Keep a 3 or 6 with an ability, or play it in a set?**
If you have a set of 3s or a set of 6s, it's usually worthwhile to play the full set. In some cases, it may be more valuable to hold onto one or two for their ability, but these are situational. In most hands, a player is only likely to use a couple for their ability. Perhaps the most valuable include: "cancel," "play all different as lowest," "LEAD: discard a card," and the two that have you pass. But even these can be worthless for you in many circumstances, so just think critically.

**Some tips**
- The card with the ability "reveal the top 4 cards" also allows you to reveal the opponent's hand if there are no more writs. This is especially useful to play right at the end.
- Remember that you will only score points if you go out first. You need a plan to get rid of your worst card or worst set. Don't ditch your highest card/set until you have a plan to get rid of your worst card/set.
- You can play the "cancel" and then react on yourself with the "cancel the cancel," thereby playing two cards out of turn. But this requires that your opponent plays an ability card to triggere the opportunity.
- Don't be afraid of the discard pile. Each card has a number of dots on it that represent how many copies of that rank there are. Counting the discard pile can help tremendously to determine what your opponent may still have.
- The card that passes and doubles the points for the round is a big risk, especially since the pass immediately puts you at a disadvantage. It's more likely to explode in your own face than in your opponent's, so be judicious with this card.
- The card that lets you pull a 0-5 rank card from the discard can be really useful in picking up rank 3 cards for their ability, for completing your set of six twos, or just for extending a set so your opponent is less likely (or even completely unable) to respond.