AVALANCHE

OBJECTIVE OF AVALANCHE:  Be the player who collects the most cards by the end of the game

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 – 6 players

NUMBER OF CARDS: 110 cards (two decks, 6 Jokers)

RANK OF CARDS: (low) 2’s – Jokers (high)

TYPE OF GAME: Card collecting

AUDIENCE: Adults, Kids

INTRODUCTION OF AVALANCHE

Avalanche is a card collecting game created by Légrády Gábor and Kápolnás György in 2010.  In this game, players are strategically playing sets of cards to a tableau in order to be the one with the most collected cards at the end of the game.  

THE CARDS & THE DEAL

Avalanche uses a 110 card deck composed of two standard 52 card French decks as well as six Jokers.  The cards rank 2’s low up through Aces, with Jokers as the highest.

To determine the dealer, each player should draw a card from the deck.  The player with the lowest card must deal.  Shuffle the deck and deal ten cards to each player.  The remaining cards are placed in the center of the playing space as the draw pile.

THE PLAY

The player to the left of the dealer begins the game, and they have two options.  

They may begin their turn by drawing a card from the top of the draw pile.  This is called Snow Fall.  If the player draws, they are unable to do anything else that turn.  

Rather than draw, the first player may play cards to the table.  This is called Starting the Avalanche.  If the player chooses to start the avalanche, they may play a single card, or a set of the same number.  For example, a player might play a single Queen, or a set of three Queens.  A play may not do both of these actions.  They must choose one or the other.

Play passes to the left.  The player who goes second may Start the Avalanche if it has not begun already, or they may draw a card.  Once an 사설토토 has begun, players may not draw a card.

If an Avalanche has begun, players must contribute to it.  A player can Grow the Avalanche by playing a set of equal size as the previous player with cards of the same or higher rank.  For example, if the previous player played a set of two 4’s, the next player could Grow the Avalanche by playing another set of two 4’s or a set of two 5’s.  A player may also Grow the Avalanche by playing a set of any higher ranking cards.  For example, if the previous player played a set of two 4’s, the next player can Grow the Avalanche by playing a set of three 2’s, or four Aces.  

A player may Stop the Avalanche by playing the same number of cards with a lower rank.  For example, if the previous player played a set of three 9’s, and the next player plays a set of three 7’s, the Avalanche has been stopped.

A player may also let the Avalanche Fall.  This occurs when a player plays fewer cards than the previous player.  It can also occur if the previous player adds a single card to the avalanche, and the next player adds a single card that is lower in rank.

If the Avalanche grows, the cards stay on the table face up.  If the Avalanche falls, the face up cards are awarded to the previous player who stores them face down.  If the Avalanche is stopped, the cards on the table are collected and stored face down in a neutral pile, and no one earns points for them.

After an Avalanche is stopped or has fallen, the next player may choose to draw a card or begin the next Avalanche.  

If a player’s hand is empty at the end of a turn, they must draw back up to ten cards.  If the draw pile has fewer than ten cards, the player draws the rest of the pile.  Once the draw pile is depleted, players must begin an Avalanche on their turn.  

Once a player runs out of cards and cannot draw, they are out of the game.  The last player to have cards in their hand must surrender them to the neutral pile.

WINNING

The player with the most collected Avalanche cards at the end of the game wins.