Jungo

Jungo is a card game where you’re trying to get rid of your cards before anyone else does. the significant catch is that you very literally take the hand you are dealt.

The cards are numbered 1 to 8, with a few special cards that can be played as one number or another (eg a 2 or a 3 on the same card). The starting player can play either a single or a set of two or more of the same number. But you can only play sets if these cards are actually next to each other in your hand, and when you pick up your cards, you’re not permitted to rearrange them at all. So for example I might have two 8 cards but a 4 nestled between them. At the moment, I can only play those 8s as singles, but if I can get rid of the 4 they’ll become a pair of 8s instead.

Play moves around the table clockwise, with each subsequent player either playing a stronger card or set or, if you can’t or don’t want to play, drawing a card from the deck. Played cards must either be a higher number of the same number of cards in the set (eg three 7s beats three 4s) or more cards of any number (four 1s beats three 7s). If you play you can choose to either discard the set you beat, or slot it into your hand. Why would you want more cards? Because if I pick up those three 4s, I can turn a single 4 into a much larger set, making it far easier to get rid of.

If you pick up instead of playing, you can either add the card to your hand – slotting it in anywhere you like – or discard it. If picking up now lets you legally play – using the new card – you can ‘invoke the law of Jungo’ and do so.

If everyone passes around the table back to the starting player, their played cards are discarded and they play a new set from their hand. As soon as anyone plays their last card, they win the round, and as soon as anyone wins two rounds they win the game.