Wild Cards Teams

The cards

The Teams deck has 112 cards. It starts from the usual four colors, Red, Yellow, Green and Blue, with the symbols flame, sun, leaf and wave, and adds two team Wild cards and twelve number cards that carry a passing symbol. There is no Wild Draw 4 in this deck.

• 

  Red number cardsCount: 16

  One 0, two each of 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9, and one plain 2, 5 and 8, in Red with the flame symbol. A large numeral sits in the corner and in the middle, beside the color's symbol. A number card has no effect. It only has to match the top card by color or number, and left in a hand when a round ends it counts the number on it.

• 

  Yellow number cardsCount: 16

  One 0, two each of 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9, and one plain 2, 5 and 8, in Yellow with the sun symbol. A large numeral sits in the corner and in the middle, beside the color's symbol. A number card has no effect. It only has to match the top card by color or number, and left in a hand when a round ends it counts the number on it.

• 

  Green number cardsCount: 16

  One 0, two each of 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9, and one plain 2, 5 and 8, in Green with the leaf symbol. A large numeral sits in the corner and in the middle, beside the color's symbol. A number card has no effect. It only has to match the top card by color or number, and left in a hand when a round ends it counts the number on it.

• 

  Blue number cardsCount: 16

  One 0, two each of 1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9, and one plain 2, 5 and 8, in Blue with the wave symbol. A large numeral sits in the corner and in the middle, beside the color's symbol. A number card has no effect. It only has to match the top card by color or number, and left in a hand when a round ends it counts the number on it.

• 

  Number cards with the passing symbolCount: 12

  One extra 2, one extra 5 and one extra 8 in each color. They look like their plain twins but carry a small rounded badge with two straight arrows pointing opposite ways. They match exactly like the plain twin and count the number on them. When one is played, the partners swap a card.

• 

  Skip cardsCount: 8

  Two per color. The word SKIP and a circle with a diagonal line through it. Play it on its color or on another Skip: the next player still in the game loses their turn. Worth 20 points left in a hand.

• 

  Reverse cardsCount: 8

  Two per color. The word REVERSE and two curved arrows pointing in opposite directions. Play it on its color or on another Reverse: play now travels the other way. Worth 20 points left in a hand.

• 

  Draw 2 cardsCount: 8

  Two per color. The words DRAW 2 and two stacked card outlines with a plus 2. Play it on its color or on another Draw 2: the next player draws two cards and loses their turn. Worth 20 points left in a hand.

• 

  Wild cardsCount: 4

  No color of their own. The word WILD and a wheel of the four colors. Play one on any card, and choose the color that play continues in. Worth 50 points left in a hand.

• 

  Wild Team Play cardsCount: 4

  No color of their own. The four-color wheel with an arrow pointing to the seat across the table. Play one on any card. Choose the color, and your partner must take the next turn. Worth 50 points left in a hand.

• 

  Wild Team Draw 4 cardsCount: 4

  No color of their own. The four-color wheel with a split plus 2 and plus 2, one for each of the two players it hits. Play one on any card. Choose the color. The next player draws two cards, then so does their partner. Worth 50 points left in a hand.

112 cards in all.

• 

  Card backCount: 112

  Every card has the same shared Gamenook back. When a card is face down, nobody can tell it apart from any other.

• 

  Draw pileCount: 1

  A face-down stack. Everyone can see how many cards it holds but not what they are. Cards are taken from the top, one at a time.

• 

  Discard pileCount: 1

  A face-up stack. Each played card goes on top. The top card decides what can be played next, and anyone can look through the whole pile in order.

• 

  Your handCount: 7

  The cards only you can see. You start with seven. It is always shown sorted: Red, Yellow, Green, then Blue. Within a color, numbers come in order, with a card that carries the passing symbol straight after its plain twin, then Skip, Reverse and Draw 2. The Wild cards come last.

• Team marksCount: 1 per teamOn screen

  Each team has its own band and its own shape (circle, square, triangle or diamond) on its seat plates, so teams are never told apart by color alone. Your partner is also marked with two linked rings.

• Card-count badgeCount: 1 per playerOn screen

  A small number next to each player showing how many cards they hold. Everyone can also see which players are out.

• Direction ringCount: 1On screen

  A ring around the table with an arrow showing which way play is going. It turns around when a Reverse is played.

Every player is dealt seven cards and one card is turned over to start the discard pile. The rest is the draw pile.

Goal

Wild Cards Teams is played in partnerships of two. You and your partner sit directly opposite each other, and you win or lose together. Cards are played as in the standard game: match the top card, and the first player to run out of cards is closer to winning. The difference is that a team only wins when both partners have played every card.

That sounds like a long way off, so partners help each other. They swap cards in secret at the start. They swap cards again when a special card asks them to. When one partner goes out, the other hands over half their cards to bring them back into play, and a partner who is out is pulled back in whenever the other draws.

Setup

Teams and seats

A game has 4, 6 or 8 players, making 2, 3 or 4 teams of two. Your partner always sits directly across the table from you. Play goes clockwise at the start of every round.

Dealing

You do not shuffle or deal by hand. The table does it, and does it again at the start of every round.

1. The deck is shuffled.
2. Every player is dealt seven cards, starting with the player after the dealer. The first dealer is the first seat, and the deal moves to the next seat in each new round.
3. The top card of what is left is turned over. If it is a number card, it starts the discard pile and its color is the color in play. If it is anything else (Skip, Reverse, Draw 2 or any Wild), it is set aside at the bottom of the discard pile and the next card is turned. This repeats until a number card appears. Set-aside cards have no effect.
4. Before anyone plays, everyone makes the secret setup pass, described next.
5. The player after the dealer takes the first turn, and play goes clockwise.

The setup pass

Before the first turn, everyone chooses one card from their seven and gives it face down to their partner. Everyone chooses at the same time, nobody sees anyone else's choice, and all the exchanges happen at once when the last person has chosen. You choose only from the cards you were dealt, so you can never pass on a card you have just received. Everyone still holds seven cards afterwards.

Other players can see who has chosen, but never which card. Only the partner who receives it sees it, and only when it arrives.

A turn

On your turn you play one card, or, if you have nothing you can play, draw. A card is playable when it matches the color in play, matches the top card by number or action, or is any kind of Wild. A card with the passing symbol matches exactly like its plain twin.

1. Look at the top card of the discard pile and at the color in play.
2. If you hold any playable card, you must play one. Any playable card will do.
3. If you hold no playable card, draw one card. If that card is playable you must play it straight away. If it is not, it stays in your hand and your turn ends.
4. If the card you played is a Wild, choose the color that comes next. Nobody on your team may hint at which color to choose.
5. The card's effect happens, and the turn moves on.

All three kinds of Wild card are always playable, with no conditions. So as long as you hold any Wild, you can never draw.

Action cards in a team game

• Skip. The next player who is still in the game loses their turn. Because players who are out are passed over, that player can turn out to be your own partner.
• Reverse. The direction of play turns around, and that is all. Even when only two players are still in the game, a Reverse just changes direction.
• Draw 2. The next player in the direction of play draws two cards and loses their turn. This player is chosen even if they are out, and then they come back in (see Going out and coming back).
• Wild. Choose the color for the next play.

The team Wild cards

Wild Team Play. Play it and choose a color. Play then jumps straight to your partner, and anyone sitting between you loses nothing. Your partner must play a card if they have a playable one, which means a card of the color you chose or any Wild, and may not draw. After they play, its effect happens as usual and play carries on from your partner.

If your partner has no playable card, or is out, they do not draw. You draw two cards as a penalty instead, and play carries on from your partner's seat. If your partner is out, your draw also brings them back in (see tagging back in).

Wild Team Draw 4. Play it at any time and choose a color. The next player in the direction of play, whether in or out, draws two cards and loses their turn. Then that player's partner draws two cards as well, even if they are out. Play carries on with the next player still in after the first one who drew.

Neither team Wild can be played while a draw penalty is waiting, and neither can be stacked.

Passing and trading

Cards only ever move between partners, never to an opponent. There are exactly four kinds of trade. Two have happened already or are explained next, and the other two belong to going out.

The passing symbol

Twelve number cards carry the passing symbol, which is a small rounded badge with two straight arrows pointing in opposite directions. When you play one, you and your partner each choose one card from your own hands at the same moment and swap them. After the swap, the card you played does what any card of its number does, which is nothing, and the turn moves on.

Neither of you can choose a card that is about to arrive, and you each give your card in secret. Nobody else sees what was swapped. If either of you has no cards left, which happens when the card you played was your last or when your partner is out, nothing is swapped. The symbol counts whenever the card is played, including a card you had to play straight after drawing it.

Going out and coming back

Out and in

A player is out when their hand is empty but their team has not yet won. Every other player is in. A player who is out takes no turns and is passed over in the turn order. Everyone can see who is out.

The team has not won until both hands are empty. So a player going out is good news, but the game has only moved on a step.

Going out

When you play your last card, one of three things happens.

• If your partner's hand is empty too, your team wins the round.
• If your partner still holds cards, they hand you half of them straight away: the number of cards in their hand divided by two, rounded down, so they keep the larger half. They choose which cards to give without you seeing. You are back in with those cards and carry on in turn order.
• If your partner holds exactly one card, nothing is passed and you stay out.

Draw cards still reach an out player

Turn order passes over a player who is out, but penalty cards do not. If the player before an out player plays a Draw 2 or a Wild Team Draw 4, the out player draws those cards, is back in, and loses that turn. No half pass follows when the out player is the one who drew. After a Wild Team Draw 4, the out player's partner then draws two as well, and there is no half pass for that either, because the out player is no longer out. If instead the first player to draw has a partner who is out, the usual tag-in pass follows that player's draw, and then the partner draws their two.

Tagging back in

While your partner is out, whenever you draw at least one card for any reason, you straight away hand them half of your hand, counted after the draw and rounded down. They are back in. The reasons include drawing because you had nothing to play, a Draw 2 or Wild Team Draw 4 aimed at you, and a Wild Team Play penalty. You choose the cards without them seeing. A draw that gives you no cards, because nothing is left to draw, does not trigger a pass.

This happens straight after the draw and before you decide whether to play the card you drew. So you may hand over the card you just drew. If you do, the card is gone and your turn ends. If you keep a playable card you drew, you must still play it.

Special cases

When the draw pile runs out

If a card must be drawn and the draw pile is empty, every card in the discard pile except the top one is shuffled to make a new draw pile. If there is still nothing to draw, a short draw simply draws fewer cards. A player who cannot play and cannot draw passes, and a player who can play must play. Trades do not need a draw pile, so they carry on regardless.

A round nobody can finish

In the very rare case that nothing can be drawn and nobody still in the game can play, the round is blocked. No team wins and nobody scores. See How it ends.

Trades and your right to draw

A trade never changes who is allowed to draw. You may only draw when you hold no playable card, and a trade affects that only through the cards you hold afterwards. Players who are out cannot draw by choice.

What you can and cannot see

You see your own hand only. You do not see your partner's cards either. Everyone can see every hand size, who is out, the whole discard pile in order, and the size of the draw pile. You always know which card you gave your partner, and you see a card you received when it arrives. Nobody else learns what was traded, only that it happened. At the end of a round the cards left in every hand are shown so that they can be counted.

Talking with your partner

Partners may talk, but not about their cards, not about trades, and not about which color to choose. The table cannot check this, so it is a matter of fair play.

Scoring

When a round ends, the winning team scores points. The points are the total value of every card left in the hands of the players on the other teams. Your own team's cards are not counted. Both partners show the same team total, and the other teams' scores do not change.

The cards drawn because of a final-card penalty are counted too.

How it ends

A round ends when one player plays their last card while their partner is already out, so that both hands are empty. That team wins the round. A round also ends if it is blocked, with no winner, or if so many players leave that only one team remains.

The final card. If the winning card is a Draw 2, the next player draws two cards. If it is a Wild Team Draw 4, the next player draws two and then so does their partner. Any draw penalty that was waiting is cancelled. These drawn cards are counted in the score, and no pass follows them. A Wild Team Play or any other winning card has no effect. The option Final-card draw penalty can switch these draws off.

What happens next depends on the Scoring option chosen when the table was set up:

• Single round (the default). The game ends with the first round that has a winner. That team wins the game. A blocked round ends the game with no winner.
• Play to a target score. Rounds keep coming. The next dealer is the next player, the deck is shuffled again and scores are carried over. The first team whose total reaches the target wins. The target starts at 500 and can be set from 50 to 5000. A blocked round scores nothing and a new round is dealt.

When the game is over, teams are ranked. Teams that stayed to the end come before teams that left. The winner is first. After that, a higher score ranks higher, and if scores are equal, the team with fewer points left in hand in the last round ranks higher. Teams still level share a rank.

Options

The person who sets up the table picks the number of players and a few options. All of them apply to everyone for the whole game.

Number of players

The table seats 4, 6 or 8 players, which makes 2, 3 or 4 teams. Any other number is not offered.

Stack draw cards

Off by default. When it is on, a Draw 2 does not hit the next player at once. The penalty waits, and that player can either take it or pass it on by playing another Draw 2 of any color. Nothing else can be stacked, and the two team Wild cards cannot be played while a penalty waits. A player who is facing a waiting penalty cannot draw a single card and cannot pass. If the Draw 2 lands on a player who is out, they take the whole waiting amount at once, come back in, and lose that turn.

Final-card draw penalty

On by default. When it is on, a winning Draw 2 or Wild Team Draw 4 still makes the other team draw, and those cards count in the score. When it is off, the winning card makes nobody draw.

Scoring and target score

This chooses between a single round and playing to a target score, as described under How it ends. The default target is 500.

Not offered

The 7-0 swap, jump-in and draw until playable are not available in Teams, because their rules do not work with players who are out and with trades between partners.

Playing at a table

Wild Cards Teams can be played in real time or turn by turn. It cannot be played with several people sharing one device, because each hand has to stay private. Any seat can be filled by a bot.

Time limits

In real time the host picks a move timer: Relaxed (45 seconds), Normal (30) or Fast (15). In turn-by-turn play the host picks a deadline for each turn of 12, 24 or 72 hours, and a reminder goes out at the halfway point. When time runs out, the table makes a plain legal move for you. If a card has to be passed to your partner, it passes the card worth the fewest points. If you have to choose a color, it picks the color you hold most of. Time running out never makes you draw while you hold a playable card.

In real time, a player who runs out of time three times, not necessarily in a row, is replaced by a bot for the rest of the game. In turn-by-turn play, when a deadline passes the host's choice at setup applies: either a bot plays the turn, or the player is treated as having left the game.

Bots and difficulty

A bot can take any seat. Bots come at three levels, Easy, Normal and Hard. A level only changes how well a bot chooses between legal moves. It never changes a rule. A bot sees exactly what a person in its seat would see, and it can only make moves that you could make. A bot and its human partner trade cards like any other pair.

If you disconnect

If you lose your connection in a real-time game, your seat is held for two minutes. After that a bot plays for you until you return. A disconnect never changes the rules or your cards.

Leaving a game

You can concede from the in-game menu. Because teams win and lose together, your whole team leaves at once. Your hands go to the bottom of the draw pile. If two or more teams remain, the round goes on. If only one team remains, that team wins at once and no points are scored for the interrupted round. The scores your team already had are kept for the final ranking, but it ranks below every team that stayed.

Watching a game

Tables do not currently offer spectators. If watching is switched on for a table, a watcher only ever sees what is public: hand sizes, who is out, the discard pile and the draw pile size, and never any player's cards.

Quick reference

Glossary

Action card

Any card that is not a number card: Skip, Reverse, Draw 2 and the Wild cards. Each does something when it is played.

Blocked round

A round in which nothing can be drawn and nobody still in the game can play. No team wins it and nobody scores.

Color in play

The color that the next card must match, unless it matches by number or action or is a Wild. It is the color of the last colored card played, or the color chosen after a Wild.

Discard pile

The face-up pile that played cards go on. Its top card decides what can be played next, and everyone can see the whole pile.

Draw pile

The face-down pile that cards are drawn from. Everyone can see how many cards are left but not what they are.

Final-card draw penalty

An option, on by default. When the winning card is a Draw 2 or a Wild Team Draw 4, the other team draws the cards and they count in the score.

Half pass

When a player goes out and their partner still holds two or more cards, the partner hands over half of them, rounded down, chosen blind.

Hand

The cards a player holds. Only that player sees them. They are always shown sorted by color, then number, then action, with Wild cards last.

In

A player who still holds cards, or whose team has won. Players who are in take turns.

Out

A player whose hand is empty while their team has not yet won. They take no turns, but cards drawn because of a Draw 2 or a Wild Team Draw 4 still reach them, and their partner can bring them back in.

Partner

The other player on your team, sitting directly across from you. You and your partner win together.

Passing symbol

A small rounded badge with two straight arrows pointing opposite ways, shown on twelve number cards. Playing one makes you and your partner swap a card.

Penalty

A number of cards a player has to draw because of a Draw 2 or a Wild Team card. With stacking on, a Draw 2 penalty can wait and be passed on.

Playable

A card that can legally be played right now. It matches the color in play, matches the top card by number or action, or is a Wild.

Reshuffle

When the draw pile is empty and a card is needed, the discard pile except its top card is shuffled to make a new draw pile.

Round

One deal, played until a team wins or the round is blocked. A game is one round or several, depending on the Scoring option.

Setup pass

The secret exchange before the first turn. Everyone gives one of their seven dealt cards, face down, to their partner, all at the same time.

Stacking

An option. A waiting Draw 2 penalty is passed on by playing another Draw 2. Nothing else can be stacked in Teams.

Starter card

The first number card turned over to begin the discard pile. Any other card turned before it is set aside under it.

Symbol pass

The swap between partners when a card with the passing symbol is played. Each chooses one card in secret and the two cards change hands.

Tagging back in

When a player is out and their partner draws at least one card, the partner passes half their hand, rounded down, and the player is back in.

Target score

In a game played to a target, the total a team must reach to win. It starts at 500 and can be set from 50 to 5000.

Team

Two partners, sitting directly across from each other. A game has 2, 3 or 4 teams.

Wild card

A card with no color that can be played on anything. The player who plays it chooses the color that play continues in. Teams has three kinds: Wild, Wild Team Play and Wild Team Draw 4.

Wild Team Draw 4

A Wild card. The next player draws two and loses their turn, then that player's partner draws two as well.

Wild Team Play

A Wild card. Play goes straight to your partner, who must play a card if they can. If they cannot, you draw two.

Play Wild Cards Teams ↗ All the rules