One Up

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The cards
3. Setup
4. Playing a turn
5. End of a round
6. Scoring
7. Winning the game
8. Tips for beginners
9. Variants

Overview

One Up is a quick shedding game: everybody tries to get rid of their hand onto a shared discard pile. On your turn you may play a card of the same value as the top card of the pile or exactly one higher – after the 6 come the Kings, and after the Kings the Aces again. If you can't or don't want to play, you either draw a card or drop out of the round. When the round ends, every card still in your hand costs you penalty points – but each value counts only once. The game ends when someone has 40 penalty points or more; the player with the fewest wins.

• Players: 2–6.
• You need: two standard 52-card decks (see below) and paper and pencil for the score pad.

One Up is our own adaptation for ordinary cards, inspired by L.L.A.M.A. (German: L.A.M.A.; Reiner Knizia, Amigo, 2019). It has not been playtested in this form yet.

The cards

Take these 56 cards out of two decks: the Aces to 6s (8 of each value) and the 8 Kings. The 7s to Queens and the jokers are not used.

Suits don't matter at all. The values form a circle: A – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – K – A – 2 …

Setup

1. Shuffle the 56 cards. Deal 6 cards face down to each player.
2. Put the rest face down in the middle as the draw pile. Turn its top card face up next to it: this starts the discard pile.
3. The youngest player starts the first round; play goes clockwise.

Playing a turn

On your turn, do one of these three things:

1. Play a card. Put one card from your hand face up on the discard pile. It must have the same value as the top card or be exactly one step higher: - on a 3 you may play a 3 or a 4; - on a 6 you may play a 6 or a King; - on a King you may play a King or an Ace.
2. Draw a card from the draw pile. You may not play a card on this turn. If the draw pile is empty, it is not refilled – choose one of the other actions.
3. Drop out. Lay your hand face down in front of you. You take no more turns this round; your cards stay there until the round is scored.

You always play just one card per turn, even if you hold several that fit.

Example: The top card is a 4. Anna plays a 5. Ben has no 5 or 6; he draws a card. Carla plays a 6. Dan holds two Kings and an Ace – he plays a King. Anna plays her second King, and Ben, who has just drawn an Ace, plays it on the King.

The last player in the round

When everybody else has dropped out, the last player carries on alone – but may not draw any more. They play fitting cards one after another until they are out of cards or stuck; then they must drop out too.

End of a round

The round ends at once when:

• a player plays their last card – they have gone out; or
• all players have dropped out.

Scoring

Everybody with cards left – in hand or face down in front of them – scores penalty points:

• each number card scores its value, Ace = 1;
• a King scores 10;
• each value counts only once: three 4s score 4, two Kings score 10.

Example: Ben dropped out with 3, 3, 5 and K: he scores 3 + 5 + 10 = 18 penalty points. Carla holds A, A: she scores 1.

Going out pays. The player who went out scores nothing this round and may also take back some earlier penalty points: 10 points if their total is 10 or more, otherwise 1 point (if they have any). This is the "give back a chip" rule of the model game: there you collect white chips worth 1 and black chips worth 10 and may change them at any time, and whoever goes out returns one chip of their choice.

For the next round, shuffle all 56 cards and deal again. The player who ended the round starts the next one – the one who went out, or the one who dropped out last.

Winning the game

The game ends after the round in which a player reaches 40 or more penalty points. The player with the fewest points wins; players who tie share the win.

Tips for beginners

• Drop out early with a cheap hand. A hand of three Aces and a 2 costs you only 3 points – drawing more cards can easily make it worse.
• Pairs and triples are cheap: several cards of the same value cost no more than one of them.
• A King in your hand is expensive. Get rid of it after the next 6 – or drop out before the others have made the 6s and Kings run out.
• Watch how many cards the others hold. A player with one card left may end the round next turn, and then your whole hand counts.
• Going out is worth up to 10 points – often more than the round itself.

Variants

• Chips: play with counters as in the model game – white worth 1, black worth 10 (change them at any time). Take chips for your penalty points; whoever goes out returns one chip of their choice.
• Wild joker (after the party edition of the model game): shuffle one joker into the cards. It may be played on any card; on the joker only a King or an Ace may follow. Left in your hand it scores 20.
• Short game: play to 30 penalty points.