FLINCH



OBJECT OF FLINCH: The objective of Flinch is to be the first player to play all ten cards from your Stockpile.

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 to 8 Players

MATERIALS: 3 Playing Decks and Rules

TYPE OF GAME: Stockpile Card Game

AUDIENCE: 7+


OVERVIEW OF FLINCH

Flinch will have you flinching over your decisions before you know it. The goal of the game is to rid your Stockpile of all of its cards before any other player does. Make sure steps are followed correctly, as another player may call you out and add a card to your Stockpile! 

Make smart decisions, play cards in numeric order, and slim your pile down as quick as possible!

SETUP

There are numerous piles where the cards will be placed during setup. The Stockpiles are made up of the first ten cards that have been dealt to each player. These piles are placed in front of each player. The player will then turn over the top card, revealing the top card. 

The Hands consist of the next five cards that the players are dealt. These cards will be held so other players are unable to see your cards. 

After the Stockpiles and Hands have been completed, the Stack is created. This consists of all the cards that remain. Cards are separated into groups of five and stacked perpendicular to each other, in a crisscross manner.

When play begins, the Reserve piles are created, as each player must place one card in front of their Stockpile. As cards grow, more Reserve piles are made. Players may only have up to five Reserve piles.

Choose a player to be the dealer and have them shuffle the cards. They will then deal the cards as described above forming the necessary piles.

GAMEPLAY

The player on the dealer’s left will begin the game. If they have a 1 card that is showing on their Stockpile, they play it to the middle of the table. This will become the first Play pile. Flip the next card in the Stockpile, if it is also a 1 card, play it to the middle as well. When the card on the Stockpile is no longer a 1, players are to look in their hand for a 1 card. 

If the player has a 2 card, they may play that on top of the 1 card, but play must continue in numerical order. If there are no cards in a player’s hand, they may then draw five more cards, refreshing their hand. If there are no cards that are playable, continuing numerical order, the player should play a card into their Reserve pile, saving it for a later time in the game.

Players may play from their Reserve piles, but only when the card is on top of the pile. They are unable to sort through their piles. Play piles go from 1 to 15, at which point they are removed from the table. These cards may be shuffled and dealt again to continue the game. When a card has been exposed it must be played, so make sure mistakes are few and far between!

Play continues until a player exhausts their Stockpile! This player becomes the winner!

Flinch

Players should always play from their Stockpile first if they are able. If they do not do this, another player may call “Flinch”. In this case the player that has been challenged must take the top card from the player who challenged them and place it on the bottom of their Stockpile, pushing them farther behind in the game! Players may also challenge a player if they think another player is holding a 1 card after they should have been played.

END OF GAME

When a player has played all the cards from their hand, the game comes to an end! That player wins the game!

Nakoa Davis
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