Pivot
A fast, combative card game for 2–5 players. Play sets, bounce your rivals
back, and rotate your two-sided cards to change their values. Be the first to
empty your hand to win rounds, and the first to 4 points to win the game.
The Cards & The Golden Rule
The deck has 36 cards. Every card shows two numbers: an active value
(right-side up) and an inactive value (upside down). Only the active value
counts while the card sits that way.
The Golden Rule: you may freely rearrange the cards in your hand from left to
right, but you cannot rotate them at will. To change a card's value you must
use a game mechanic that forces a rotation (Take a Set, Rotate Your Hand, or
being bounced).
Objective
Empty your hand before everyone else. When two players have gone out, the round
ends and points are awarded. The first player to reach 4 points wins the
game.
Setup
Shuffle the 36-card deck and deal a hand to each player:
Undealt cards stay in the deck and are not used during the round. Each player
has an empty play area in front of them where their sets are laid out.
Taking a Turn
At the start of your turn you must first clear away any cards still
sitting in your play area (the set you played on your previous turn) — they go to
the discard pile. Then take exactly one of these four actions:
1. Play a Set
Play every card of one active value from your hand, face-up, into your play
area.
•
Bouncing (overplaying): if an opponent already has a set of the exact
same size, your set must be a higher value. You cannot play a same-size
set at an equal or lower value.
•
When you legally overplay a same-size opponent, their smaller-valued set is
bounced: those cards are rotated 180° (swapping active/inactive) and
returned to that opponent's hand.
2. Add a Card
Play one card from your hand that matches the value of an opponent's set,
adding it to that set and increasing its size.
•
Bouncing (matching size): if the added card makes that set the same size
as another set on the table, the set with the lower value is bounced back
to its owner's hand (rotated 180°, as always).
3. Take a Set
Pick up any opponent's set from the table. Rotate all of its cards 180° and
add them to your own hand. Useful for grabbing the numbers you need.
4. Rotate Your Hand
Flip your entire hand 180° at once, swapping the active and inactive value of
every card you hold. This costs your whole turn.
Rotation
Rotating a card swaps its active and inactive numbers. Rotation happens only
through Take a Set, Rotate Your Hand, or being bounced — never at will.
Winning a Round
The round ends the moment the second player runs out of cards:
•
1st place (first to empty their hand): 2 points
•
2nd place (second to empty their hand): 1 point
Once you have emptied your hand you are out for the rest of the round and skip
your turns. All cards are then reshuffled and a new round begins with a fresh
deal (the starting player rotates each round).
Two players: with only two players the round ends as soon as the first
player empties their hand — that player takes 1st place (2 points) and the other
player takes 2nd place (1 point). (There is no one left to become the "second"
player out, so the round resolves immediately.)
Winning the Game
The first player to reach a total of 4 points wins the entire game.
Digital Adaptation Notes
•
Play a Set plays all cards of the chosen value at once, so a set's size
is determined by how many of that value you hold.
•
Bounces are resolved automatically at the end of the turn that triggers them.
•
Cleanup (discarding your previous set) happens automatically at the start of
your turn.