Unisono

Full rules

1. Overview
2. The order of the cards
3. Setup
4. Playing a level
5. Mistakes
6. The fermata
7. Rewards
8. A level step by step (worked example)
9. Winning the game
10. Tips for beginners
11. Variants

Overview

Unisono is a cooperative card game: all players form one team and win or lose together. In each level, everybody gets a few cards, and together you must play all of them onto one pile in the middle, from lowest to highest. There are no turns – anybody may play at any moment. And there is one strict rule: you may not talk or signal. You only have the silence, the rhythm of the table and your feeling for how long your teammates are waiting.

Level 1 is easy – one card each. Every level adds a card. Clear the last level, and the team has won.

• Players: 2–4.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, a few coins (lives) and a few matches or buttons (fermatas).

Unisono is an original game written for this site, inspired by the cooperative card game The Mind. The card ladder, the count-in and the level counts are its own; the mistake rule, the rewards and the fermata follow The Mind.

The order of the cards

All 52 cards are different, so they form one long ladder from lowest to highest. Compare cards like this:

1. First the rank: A (lowest), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K (highest). The Ace is always low.
2. Same rank? Then the suit: ♣ (lowest) < ♦ < ♥ < ♠ (highest).

It helps to think of every card as a number from 1 to 52:

Example: 6♠ is lower than 7♣, because the rank counts first (24 < 25). 7♣ is lower than 7♦, because the ranks are equal and ♣ is the lowest suit (25 < 26).

Setup

1. Put 3 coins in the middle: these are the team's lives.
2. Put 1 match next to them: this is a fermata (a pause in music – here a joint pause of the whole team).
3. Decide how many levels you must clear:

Playing a level

1. Deal. The dealer changes every level: anyone deals level 1, then the deal passes clockwise (to the left). The dealer shuffles all 52 cards. In level 1, deal 1 card to each player, in level 2 two cards, and so on: in level n everyone gets n cards. The rest of the deck is not used in this level.
2. Look at your cards and sort them from low to high. Keep them hidden.
3. Count-in. When everyone is ready, the dealer knocks four times on the table in a steady beat. After the fourth knock the level starts – and from now on everyone is silent.
4. Play. Whenever you feel the moment has come, play your lowest card face up onto the pile in the middle. There are no turns: you may play several cards in a row, or wait a long time. The cards on the pile must go up, from low to high.
5. The level is cleared when all players have played all their cards.

Silent means silent: no words, no nodding, no staring at someone, no counting aloud, no knocking a rhythm. You may only use your timing. A player with a very low card should play soon; a player with a high card should wait.

Example: Level 1, two players. Anna holds 3♥ (11), Ben holds Q♦ (46). After the count-in, Anna waits two or three seconds and plays her card. Ben, with a high card, has waited calmly and now plays. Level cleared.

Mistakes

When a card is played while somebody still holds a lower card, that is a wrong note. Whoever holds the lower card says "Stop!" (the only word you may say). Then:

1. Everyone who holds cards lower than the card just played lays them face up beside the pile. These cards are out of the level.
2. The team loses one life (one coin goes back into the box) – just one, no matter how many cards were laid aside.
3. The dealer counts in again with four knocks, and the level continues.

If two cards land at the very same moment, put them onto the pile in the right order – that is no mistake, as long as nobody still holds a lower card.

If the team loses its last life, the game is lost.

The fermata

Once you have a fermata, anybody may raise a hand in silence to suggest using it. If all players who still hold cards raise their hands too, you use it: put the match back in the box, and every player lays their lowest card face up beside the pile. Those cards are out of the level. Then the dealer counts in again.

If not everyone joins in within a few seconds, lower your hands and play on. A fermata is useful when nobody dares to play – and the revealed cards tell everyone roughly where the others stand.

Rewards

After clearing a level:

• Levels 3, 6 and 9: the team gains 1 life.
• Clean level: from level 4 on, a level cleared without losing a life and without using a fermata earns 1 fermata.

The team can hold at most 5 lives and 3 fermatas.

A level step by step (worked example)

Three players, level 2, 3 lives, 1 fermata. The cards:

• Anna: 4♦ (14), J♥ (43)
• Ben: 4♠ (16), 9♣ (33)
• Carla: 2♥ (7), 8♦ (30)

After the count-in, Carla quickly plays her 2♥ (7). A moment later Anna plays 4♦ (14), and Ben, whose card is only just above, follows at once with 4♠ (16). Now it gets tense: the next cards are 30 and 33, close together. Ben loses patience and plays his 9♣ (33) – but Carla still holds the 8♦ (30). She says "Stop!" and lays the 8♦ face up beside the pile. The team loses a life (2 left). The dealer counts in again; Anna waits a long time and finally plays her J♥ (43). Level 2 is cleared.

No reward this time: level 2 gives no life, and clean-level fermatas only start at level 4. On to level 3 with 3 cards each.

Winning the game

You win as soon as you clear the last level (10 for two players, 8 for three, 6 for four). You lose if your last life is gone. Write down the level you reached and try to go further next time.

Tips for beginners

• Think in numbers. Turn your cards into numbers from 1 to 52 with the table – then you know how far you are from the last card played.
• Measure the gap. The bigger the difference between the top card of the pile and your lowest card, the longer you should wait. A calm, even inner beat helps: count silently, one number per beat.
• Watch the others' hands. Somebody holding back with many cards left probably has high cards.
• Don't rush after a stop. The count-in gives everyone the same starting moment again.
• Save the fermata for a tense moment in a big level – it costs no life.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Easy start: begin with 4 lives.
• Long concert (harder): play 12 levels with two players, 9 with three and 7 with four.
• No pauses (harder): play without fermatas.
• Endless: after the last level, keep going with one more card per level until you lose or the deck runs out – the level reached is your score.