Set up

Before every hand, the dealer shuffles all 36 cards, then deals each player the right number of cards for that hand, face down: 1 card in Hand 1, 2 in Hand 2, and so on up to 7 in Hand 7.

Playing a trick

1. The lead player chooses a card to start the trick and plays it face-up in the middle. Its suit is the lead suit for this trick.

2. Going clockwise, everyone else chooses the best card for the result they want and plays it face-up, in turn. Going first lets you choose the lead suit. Going last lets you see every card before you play.

3. You must follow suit. If you have a card of the lead suit, you must play one.

4. If you don't have the lead suit, you may play any card you like. But a card from a different suit can't win (unless it's a Vegan Vampire; see trumps).

5. The best card wins the trick: usually the highest card of the lead suit, unless a trump or power card beats it.

6. The winner takes the cards, stacks them in front of them, and leads the next trick.

Keep each trick in its own small stack so you can count them at the end.

Trumps: the Vegan Vampires

Vegan Vampires beat every other suit.

If you can't follow the lead suit, you may play a Vegan Vampire. That trumps the trick: any Vegan Vampire beats any card from the other suits, so even a Vampire 1 beats a Bat 8. If more than one Vegan Vampire is played, the highest one wins.

Remember: you may only trump when you can't follow suit, because you have no cards of the lead suit.

Example trick

Four players: Philippa, Robin, Dan and Jamey.

1. Philippa leads a Barmy Bat 7, so Bats are the lead suit for this trick.

2. Robin has Bats, so must follow suit, and plays a Bat 4.

3. Dan has no Bats, so he can play anything. He decides to play a Vegan Vampire 2: a trump!

4. Jamey has only one Bat, the Bat 8, so must play it, even though it can't beat Dan's trump.

Dan wins. Even a low Vegan Vampire beats every Bat. He takes the four cards and leads the next trick.

Power cards

Power cards can be played at any time, even if you could follow suit.

• Vanquish: wins the trick. If both Vanquish cards are played in the same trick, the first one played wins.

• Escape: always loses the trick. It's your way out when you don't want to win.

• Topsy Turvy: always escapes, so the player who plays it never wins that trick. Topsy Turvy's power is that it turns the whole trick upside down:

  • the lowest card wins instead of the highest

  • an Escape would now count as the lowest card, so it wins instead of escaping

  • a Vanquish loses its power, so it can't win

  • the suits flip too: the weakest suit becomes the strongest. A card that didn't follow the lead suit now beats the lead suit, and the lead suit beats the Vegan Vampires

  • it only flips the trick it's played in

  • in a two-player game, both players lose the trick: neither wins it, and the Topsy Turvy player leads the next trick

Ties: the first card played is senior. If two cards are equally strong (two Vanquish cards, or two cards with the same number that didn't follow the lead suit), the first played is senior and the second is junior. Normally the senior card wins. Under Topsy Turvy, the junior card is the lowest, so the second played wins.

If a power card is led: if it's a Vanquish, there is no lead suit and everyone may play any card. If it's an Escape or Topsy Turvy, the first player to play a suit card sets the lead suit for that trick.

Example: a Topsy Turvy tie

1. Michael leads a Vanquish. It's a power card, so there's no lead suit.

2. Bianca plays a Woofy Werewolf 2. A Vanquish was led, so there's no lead suit and everyone may play any card.

3. Jesse plays a Vampire Fairy 2.

4. Peter plays Topsy Turvy. The trick flips: lowest wins.

Michael's Vanquish loses, because Topsy Turvy has flipped it. Peter escapes, as Topsy Turvy always does. That leaves two 2s of equal strength.

Jesse wins. Bianca's Werewolf 2 was played first, so it is senior. Jesse's Fairy 2 is junior, which makes it the lowest card in the trick, and under Topsy Turvy the lowest card wins.

Topsy Turvy bonus: Peter's Topsy Turvy cancelled Michael's Vanquish, so Peter places that Vanquish face-up in front of him and scores +10 at the end of the hand (see Scoring).

Playing a full game

The game is played over seven hands. A hand is one deal of cards, played until everyone's cards run out.

• Hand 1: 1 card each

• Hand 2: 2 cards each

• Hand 3: 3 cards each

• ...and so on, up to Hand 7: 7 cards each.

After Hand 7, total the scores. The highest total wins.

Step 1: Deal

Shuffle and deal the cards for this hand (see Set up).

Step 2: Predict: "Munch, crunch, scrunch!"

Look at your cards and decide how many tricks you think you'll win this hand.

Like rock, paper, scissors, everyone pumps their fists together and says "Munch, crunch, scrunch!" On "scrunch", everyone shows their prediction at the same time: hold up that many fingers, or make a zero sign (finger and thumb in a circle) for zero. Write everyone's prediction on the score pad.

No changing your fingers after 'scrunch'. If you do, your prediction becomes zero.

Special first hand: the forehead round

In Hand 1, don't look at your card. Hold it on your forehead, facing out, so everyone else can see it but you can't. Then predict!

Step 3: Play

The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick. Play tricks until all cards are used.

Step 4: Score

Count your tricks and score the hand.

Scoring

If you predicted 1 or more tricks:

• Exactly right: +20, plus +10 for each trick you won.

• Wrong: -10 for each trick you were off, too many or too few.

If you predicted zero:

• Won no tricks: +20, plus +10 for every trick played that hand (one per card dealt).

• Won any tricks: -10 for each trick you won.

Topsy Turvy bonus: if your Topsy Turvy cancels a Vanquish, place that Vanquish face-up in front of you. You score +10 bonus points at the end of the hand, whatever else happens.

Scoring examples (5 cards dealt)

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