Wild Wild Pattern

In Wild Wild Pattern, you race to create a pattern in the wheel of cards before you. Do so first, and you claim one or more of those cards that will later cash in at the bank. However, if you make the right pattern, you can win the game instantly!

To set up, lay out a wheel of eight cards, then place the deck in the center of this wheel. As on a clock, a card to the right of another card is considered to be "after" that card, and a card to the left is "before". Each card features one of eight objects, one of five colors, and one of two suits.

On a turn, everyone draws a card from the deck and looks at it simultaneously. Whoever thinks that they can create a new pattern plays their card on top of another in the wheel, then identifies their pattern, such as after every red card is a gun or before every dynamite is a bullet. A pattern must include an object, and it can occur one or more times.

If a pattern is true for all instances — for example, a gun is indeed present after every red card — then the pattern creator claims one or two cards from the wheel depending on whether the pattern includes a color or a suit. If the pattern relates to all eight cards, the player wins instantly. (If the pattern is invalid, then everyone else claims a card from the wheel.)

Refill the wheel, then continue taking turns until someone has claimed at least five cards, at which time everyone cashes in their cards at the bank, earning from 20 cents to $3. If someone has exactly five different colors or exactly five of the same object, they win instantly. Otherwise, if someone has a total of at least $3, they win. If no one has this much money, play another round.

Alternatively, you can play the whoever has the least money at the end of a round is eliminated. Keep playing rounds until one player remains.