Scout

How it plays

1. 1Every card has a number at each end. Once dealt you may not rearrange your hand; you only choose whether to turn the whole hand upside down once, and then it is fixed. Three to five is the standard game; two players use a variant of their own.
2. 2On your turn do one of two things. Show: play one card or several that sit next to each other in your hand, either all the same number or a run of consecutive numbers, and stronger than the set on the table. Take the set you beat and keep it face down, worth 1 point a card.
3. 3Strength: more cards wins; with the same count, a set of matching numbers beats a run; if still level, the higher number wins.
4. 4Scout: take a card from either end of the set on the table and put it anywhere in your hand, either way up. The owner of that set gets a 1-point token.
5. 5Once a round each player may Scout and Show: scout one card, then show straight away.

How you win

A round ends when someone empties their hand, or when a show goes all the way round with everyone else scouting. Score your captured cards plus your tokens, minus the cards left in your hand; the player everyone had to scout from doesn't subtract their hand. After all rounds the highest total wins.