Gamehelpchimera

Overview

Be the first to discard your entire hand

The Bid

First players will bid to be the Chimera

You may pass and, as long as no one else passes, you can bid again when it comes back to you

Consecutive passes end the bid phase and the current highest bidder becomes the Chimera

To prevent unlimited bids or no bids, if everyone passes then the first player to pass automatically makes the only bid with 20 and becomes the Chimera. If everyone keeps bidding, the first player who bids 40 becomes the Chimera and ends bidding.

Those who do not win the bid for Chimera are known as Hunters

Partnerships

The two Hunters are partners and now pass cards equal to the bid, no pass on a 20 Chimera, 1 card on a 30 Chimera, and 2 cards swapped on a 40 Chimera

The Chimera is a lone partnership, and draws 3 cards to their hand

Turn

The Chimera leads the trick

Subsequent players have to play higher and in the same combination i.e. higher singles or higher pairs and so on

The exception to this is the Trap and Chimera Flight, which can be played outside of combination

The Trap is Four of a Kind

Players may pass and, as long as the trick is still going, may re-enter when it comes back to them

Players are not forced to play even if they can do

When all players pass, the last player who played to the trick wins the cards into their Treasure pile

End of Hand

The hand ends when one player empties their hand

Any cards still in players hands are ignored

If the Chimera went out first, they score double their bid, 25 points for traps, 25 points for Chimera Flight, 25 points for if at least 1 Hunter did not participate

If a Hunter went out first, ALL Hunters score 20 points, the Chimera loses points equal to their bid

Either way, all players gain points for their Treasure pile. 10 Points per Fortune Toad (2). 5 Points per Prosperity Cat (11). 10 Points per Messenger Bird (Q).

After which, check to see if the game ends, otherwise start a new round of bidding

End of Game

The game ends when a player passes 400 points, the player with the most points wins. If there is a tie, play additional rounds until the tie is broken.

If players wish, this limit can be changed to 300 or 500 for a short or long game respectively.