This is a frontier tavern game. It’s quick, mean, and built to end with someone either rich or ruined.
At its heart it’s an elimination game. You’re not trying to score the most points every round, you’re trying to not be the lowest. Survive until Round 3, then drop the hammer with whatever you’ve been saving.
Six suits (Pillars, Flames, Waves, Winds, Cores, Aberrants).
Cards go 1 through 10.
Ones count as elevens. Call them Aces if it helps.
That’s it. No face cards, no jokers.
3–4 players is ideal (the table will fill empty seats with bots if you don’t have four).
Everyone antes in (the host sets the amount). That’s the pot you’re fighting for.
Each player starts with five cards in hand.
There are up to three rounds in a game.
Commit: On your turn, put down one or more cards face-down. Everyone will do the same.
Reveal: Once everyone’s committed, flip them all. Add up the numbers (remember: Ones = Elevens).
Lose: Whoever has the lowest total is out. Their hand is gone, they’re done.
If there’s a tie for lowest, those tied players draw one card each until someone is clearly the loser. That’s the sudden death tiebreak.
After Round 1, you must have at least two cards left in hand.
After Round 2, you must have at least one card left in hand.
Round 3? No rules. Throw down whatever you’ve got left.
If one player is left standing before Round 3, they take the pot.
If multiple players survive into Round 3, whoever wins that final showdown takes it.
If Round 3 ties? Keep redrawing sudden-death until someone loses.
Don’t blow your big cards in Round 1, but don’t sandbag so hard you end up the lowest either.
You want to arrive in Round 3 alive with something nasty still in your hand.
Watch what others commit: you’re not just fighting your cards, you’re fighting their greed and fear.
Announce if you’re stepping away, don’t ghost mid-game.
Don’t stall — it’s a quick game, not a campaign.
Trash talk is encouraged, whining isn’t.
That’s the Gambit..