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Pandemonium, or
"King/Queen of the World"
An introductory rummy game for 9 to 12 year olds
leading to more advanced games.
Object: To collect 5 cards of the same color (region) by trading with other players.
Number of Players: 4 to 7
Card Deck: 32 to 49 cards depending on the number of players:
4 players - 30 colored regional city cards + 2 white-centered cards
5 players - 30 colored regional city cards + 5 white-centered cards
6 players - 30 colored regional city cards + 6 white-centered cards
7 players - All 42 regional city cards + 7 white-centered cards
Note: For 4, 5, or 6 players, select the 30 regional cards as follows:
5 Gray South America/Dark Blue Western Asia;
5 Pink Pacific Asia/Red Caribbea;
5 Light Blue Western Europe/Olive Green Southeast Asia;
5 Orange Atlantic N.A./Yellow Africa;
5 Maroon Eastern Europe/Light Green AustralAsia;
5 Purple Pacific N.A./Dark Green Mediterranea.
Make sure each color group has 5 different cities.
The Play: Take turns being dealer. Deal out all the cards. All players get the same number of cards. At the end of each round the cards are gathered up, shuffled and dealt by the next dealer (player on the left of previous dealer). Cities are printed on both sides so players should look over their hand and arrange their cards according to color. When cards are all dealt players begin offering them for trade. No one takes turns. Everyone offers cards for trade at the same time by calling out the number of cards they want to trade.
Rules for trading. One or more cards can be offered in trade, but when trading more than one, the cards must be the same color except for a single added white-centered card, and the cards traded as a set must be face down. One, and only one, white-centered card can be included in a trade. But white cards cannot be traded as singles. When making a trade, players should stack their cards and may place their hand over the cards to conceal the colors. Cards to be traded are placed on the table and the players call out the number being offered in trade. When two players call out the same number they may exchange cards. But if one player does not want to accept cards from a particular player he or she doesn't have to do so, and that player waits for another trade with a different player.
As soon as a player has 5 cards of the same color, he or she shouts out "King of Red" or "Queen of Light Blue" (whatever color they are collecting). Or, they can shout the name of the region of that color, such as, "Queen of Caribbea" or "King of Western Europe". That player has then won that round. When the scores have been counted, the cards are gathered up, reshuffled by the next dealer and dealt again. If two players get a set of 5 at the same time, the one calling out first is the winner. If a winning player has a white-centered card plus a 5 card set, that card make it a 6 card set for extra points. Or a white-centered card can be counted along with a set of 4 colored cards to make a winning set of 5.
Therefore, one (but only one) white-centered card can be a "wild card" in the hand of a winning player. A second white-centered card is void. However, white-centered cards held by non-winners at the end of a round bring a penalty (see scoring below).
Scoring:
3 points for each card in a 5 or 6 card set.
3 point penalty for each white-centered card in your hand when another player wins the round.
Special Scoring: When there are 5, 6 or 7 players, 5 white-centered cards can be collected. This is risky. Stuck with 4 white-centered cards when someone else wins the hand, gives you a penalty of 12. But if successful, the player shouts "King/Queen of the World" and gets 45 points! This is called Shooting the Moon.
Ending the game: The game should be at least as many rounds as there are players. That is, each player should be the dealer once. Before starting, however, the players can decide whether to end the game after that number of rounds or some multiple of that number. That way the game can end after each player has been dealer twice, three times or whatever was agreed to previously.
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