Stick'em — Rules

Stick'em is a sharp, mean trick-taking card game for 3–7 players. Every player chooses a personal "misery color" each round. You want to win tricks, but you do not want to capture cards in your own misery color.

Object of the Game

Score the most points after 5 rounds.

In each round:

• Cards not in your misery color score +1 point each.
• Cards in your misery color score negative points equal to their number.
• A captured 0 in your misery color is worth 0, not negative.
• A captured 0 in any non-misery color is worth +1.

The trick is to take useful cards while avoiding your own misery color.

Setup by Player Count

Use the following cards:

Shuffle the cards and deal them evenly. Each player receives 15 cards.

With 7 players, 3 cards are left undealt. These are revealed to all players, then set aside. They do not score this round and are shuffled back in for the next round.

Choose the First Dealer

For the first round, the dealer is chosen randomly.

In later rounds, the dealer is determined by score. See Next Round below.

Choose Your Misery Color

Each player looks at their hand and chooses one card. The color of that card becomes that player's misery color for the round.

Each player selects their card privately. After all players have chosen, all misery cards are revealed at the same time.

Important:

• The misery card is removed from your hand.
• It is not played in a trick.
• It remains in front of you for the round.
• It counts against you during scoring.
• Multiple players may choose the same misery color.

After choosing, each player has 14 cards left to play.

Starting the Round

The dealer leads the first trick.

Playing a Trick

The lead player plays one card to the center of the table.

Then, clockwise, each other player plays one card.

You do not have to follow suit. You may play any card from your hand.

The first card played establishes the lead color.

Every non-zero card played in a color other than the lead color is a trump card for that trick. Trump cards beat lead-color cards.

The 0 cards are special:

• A 0 in the lead color is a lead-color card.
• A 0 in a non-lead color is not a trump card and cannot beat the lead color.

How to Determine the Trick Winner

Divide the played cards into groups:

1. Trump cards: non-zero cards in any color other than the lead color.
2. Lead-color cards: cards in the lead color, including 0.
3. Off-color 0s: 0 cards in colors other than the lead color — these can never win.

Then apply this order:

1. If any trump cards were played, the highest-numbered trump wins.
2. If two or more trumps tie for highest number, the first one played wins.
3. If no trumps were played, the highest lead-color card wins.
4. If two or more lead-color cards tie for highest, the first one played wins.
5. If every card in the trick is a 0, the first 0 played wins.

Examples of Trick Resolution

Example 1: No trump

Lead card: Red 7 Other cards: Red 2, Red 11, Red 0

Red is the lead color. No off-lead non-zero cards were played. Red 11 wins.

Example 2: Off-color 0 is not trump

Lead card: Blue 8 Other cards: Blue 12, Green 0, Yellow 0

Green 0 and Yellow 0 are not trump. Blue 12 wins.

Example 3: Trump beats the lead color

Lead card: Brown 13 Other cards: Brown 15, Red 2, Yellow 0

Red 2 is trump (non-zero, off-lead). Yellow 0 is not trump. Red 2 wins, even though Brown 15 is higher.

Example 4: Highest trump wins; ties go to first played

Lead card: Green 14 Other cards: Red 3, Blue 9, Brown 9

Red 3, Blue 9, and Brown 9 are all trump. The highest trump is 9. Blue 9 wins because it was played before Brown 9.

Example 5: All zeroes

Lead card: Red 0 Other cards: Blue 0, Green 0, Yellow 0

Every card is 0. The first 0 played wins — Red 0 wins.

Taking the Trick

The winner of the trick takes all cards and places them face down in front of themselves.

The trick winner leads the next trick.

End of the Round

The round ends after all 14 tricks have been played.

Scoring the Round

Each player scores:

• +1 for each captured card that is not in their misery color.
• Negative face value for each captured card in their misery color.
• Negative face value for their revealed misery card.

A misery-color 0 is worth 0 negative points. A non-misery 0 is worth +1 point.

Scoring Example

Axel chose Red 4 as his misery card.

During the round, he captured: Red 2, Red 5, and 14 cards in other colors.

+14 - 4 - 2 - 5 = 3

Axel scores 3 points for the round.

Next Round

After all players score, shuffle together all cards for that player count (including any set-aside undealt cards) and begin the next round.

The next dealer is:

1. The player with the lowest total score.
2. If tied for lowest total score, the tied player with the lowest score in the most recent round.
3. If still tied, the first tied player clockwise from the current dealer by seating order.

The dealer leads the first trick.

End of the Game

The game ends after 5 rounds.

The player with the highest total score wins.

If every player has a negative score, the player with the least negative score wins.

Quick Reference

Trick Winner

1. Non-zero off-lead cards are trump.
2. If any trump cards were played, highest trump wins.
3. Tied trumps: first played wins.
4. If no trumps, highest lead-color card wins.
5. Tied lead-color cards: first played wins.
6. Off-color 0s are never trump and cannot win.
7. If every card is 0, first 0 played wins.

Scoring