CodyCards

CodyCards is a fast and light card game based on the traditional games of 31/Scat/Blitz/Ride The Bus; players compete in rounds to avoid having the lowest scoring hand of 3 cards. It is played with a custom deck of 54 cards in 4 suits (with values ranging from 1 to 10) but can be played with a normal deck with slight modification. A print-to-play edition exists.

The story of the game is that a bird named "Cody" is trying to steal coins from the players. At the start of the game each player gets 3 coins. At the end of each round one of the players will wake him up and he will then steal a coin from the weakest player at that time. Players try to avoid having the worst hand at the time that the bird wakes up. The game ends when all but one player have lost all of their coins. Players have to decide when it's to there advantage to try to force the end of a round -- but trying to end the round may invoke a penalty and often results not in the end of the round but in a sneak peek at a trump card which affects scoring.

Basic Gameplay:

At the start of each round, the dealer (who rotates clockwise after every round) shuffles the deck and deals 3 cards to each player, and then shuffles 2 random cards along with the special Cody-the-Bird card and sets these aside face down as the "nest" pile. The dealer then places the remaining cards face down in a draw pile, and turns the first one over face up as the discard pile. Starting with the player to the dealer's left and going clockwise, a player's turn consists of either: Taking the top face down card from the draw pile, or taking the top face up card from the discard pile, or knocking on Cody's Nest door.

If the player chooses to take a card, they then immediately discard one card from their hand face up on the discard pile and play proceeds clockwise (exception: once per round players may "bury" their discard face down). If they choose to knock on Cody's door, they take a peek at the top card in the Nest. If it's Cody the Bird, then it is turned face up and everyone has one more round to try to get a better hand. If it's not, the peeked at card is set aside in a special "Trump" pile, and the player who peeked has some advance information about how hands will be scored at the end. There are also a few special cards that allow players to perform actions out of turn.

The round ends when Cody the Bird is revealed, and at that point hands are scored and the lowest scoring player loses a coin. Hand value is based on: The sum value of up to 3 cards of the same suit, OR having a 3-card straight of the same suit (33 points), or having 3 cards of same face value (33 points). But having cards in a revealed trump suit will decrease the hand score. There is also a penalty for being the player to knock on Cody's Nest and end the round.

Strategy:

While there is a lot of luck in the game, there are some real strategic elements as well. Players must decide which cards to hold and draw that will be most likely to give them the highest scoring hand. To do this they must consider which cards have already been discarded and they must take into account the information they reveal to other players when they discard or choose a face-up discard card. In addition, players must decide when they have a good enough hand to take the risk of trying to end the round -- knowing that they will pay a scoring penalty for doing so. The moment when a player "Knocks on Cody's Door" is typically accompanied by curses and laughter as players find out if the round is really ending, or if a Trump suit is being revealed that will help or hurt them, and make emergency plans to quickly improve their hand before the round ends.