ROWLETTE

🎮 Introduction

Rowlette is a fast-paced push-your-luck card game with a roulette vibe. Each player builds a personal line of number cards to activate Goals and multiply a jackpot.

Game Concept

• Black cards ⚫ → increase your jackpot (+1 coin)
• Red cards 🔴 → let you choose a Goal
• Green zeros 💚 → raise your zero-track; at 6+ points you explode!
• Blue Special cards 🔷 → special effects (remove zero, raise limit, order chains)

📦 Components

1. Number Cards (40 cards)

Numbered 1 to 40. Color alternates every 2 numbers: 1-2 red, 3-4 black, 5-6 red, etc.

2. Zero Cards (18 cards) 💚

Raise your zero-track. Reach 6+ zero-points and you explode, halving your score!

3. Special Cards (10 cards) 🔷

4. Goal Cards (24 cards) 🎯

6 types, 4 copies of each. Activated when you meet their thresholds.

⚙️ Setup

1. Shuffle the main deck: numbers + zeros + special cards. Reveal 3 cards as the initial market.
2. Each player starts with:
   • An empty personal line
   • A jackpot of 1 (Round 1)
   • Zero-track at 0
3. Randomly choose the first player.

Starting Jackpot in Rounds 2 & 3

Use this formula based on the leaderboard gap:

Jackpot ranges from 1 to 4, giving a boost to players who are behind.

🎲 Turn Structure

At the start of your turn, choose:

Effects of Number Cards

⚫ BLACK card

Add +1 coin to your jackpot.

🔴 RED card

Draw 3 Goal cards, keep 1, and return the other 2 to the bottom of the Goal deck.

⚠️ Auto-Stop Limit

When you reach 10 number cards in your line, you immediately STOP. Your round ends (but the market keeps refilling—a zero might still hit you).

🔷 Special Cards

Special cards are support cards. They don't count as numbers and are tucked under other cards, so your "last visible number" remains a number.

1. Remove 0 (R0)

• Immediately remove the most recent zero from your line.
• Reduce your zero-track by that zero's value (e.g., 000 = -3).
• Shuffle that zero back into the deck.
• One-shot use per round (discard after use).

2. +Limit (+L)

• Increase your number-card limit by +1 for this round (from 10 to 11, etc.).
• Tuck this card under your jackpot marker as a reminder.

3 & 4. Order ▲ / ▼

• Tuck this card under your most recent number.
• If you don't have a number yet, tuck it under your first number when you take one.
• Bonus scoring: For each number that follows the order (▲ = strictly increasing, ▼ = strictly decreasing), earn +2 points per step until the chain breaks.
• Order bonuses are added after jackpot calculation and not multiplied.

💚 Zero Assignment

When Zeros Appear

During market refill, if a zero is revealed:

1. It assigns immediately (doesn't enter the market).
2. If multiple zeros appear during the same refill, the first assigns, others are set aside and shuffle back into the deck when a non-zero appears.

Who is Eligible to Receive a Zero?

• ✅ Haven't STOPPED yet
• ✅ Haven't exploded
• ✅ Have at least 1 number in their line

Assignment Rule

Each zero has a target that determines who receives it:

Note: Ignore special cards and zeros when counting; only count the last actual number.

⚠️ Protection: One Zero per Player per Turn

During one active player's turn, each other player can receive at most 1 zero. If a second zero in the same turn would hit the same player, that zero is discarded.

Zero-Track & Explosion

• 0 = +1 zero-point
• 00 = +2 zero-points
• 000 = +3 zero-points

At 6+ zero-points, you explode:

• Immediate STOP for the round
• Your final score is halved (rounded down)

🎯 Goals & Scoring

How Goals Work

Each time you keep a Goal, place it in order. The activation threshold increases with each Goal you collect:

Goal Types

• 🔴 Red → red cards in your line
• ⚫ Black → black cards in your line
• 2️⃣ Even → cards with even numbers
• 1️⃣ Odd → cards with odd numbers
• ⬆️ High → numbers from 21 to 40
• ⬇️ Low → numbers from 1 to 20

Duplicates Allowed

You can have two Goals of the same type (e.g., two Red Goals). Each has its own independent threshold.

When a Goal Activates

The moment you reach the threshold, flip the card face down (or rotate 90°) as a reminder that it's locked in.

🏁 End of Round & Final Score

Scoring Steps

1. Count your active Goals
2. Goal Score = (your Jackpot) × (# Active Goals)
3. If you exploded, halve your score (round down)
4. Add Order bonuses: +2 for each valid step (not multiplied)
5. Record your total score
6. Reset everything: line, goals, zero-track

After Rounds 1 & 2

Sum your scores and start the next round with a new starting jackpot calculated from the leaderboard gap.

Game End (after Round 3)

Whoever has the highest total score wins!

In case of a tie: winner is whoever has more active Goals in the final round (or share the victory).

📋 Detailed Examples

Example A: Special Cards Make You Targetable Again

Nina has in her line: ..., 18, then takes Order ▲ and tucks it under 18.

Her last visible card is still a number (18). If a MAX Zero looks for the player with the highest number, Nina is still targetable.

Example B: One Zero per Player per Turn

Leo's last number is 3 (the lowest). During Maria's turn:

• First: a YOU zero appears that targets Leo ✅
• Later: a 00 MIN appears that would target Leo again
• Result: Leo already took one zero this turn → the 00 is discarded ❌

Example C: Remove 0 is One-Shot

Kay takes the Remove 0 card. In her line is a 00. She:

1. Removes the 00 from her line
2. Reduces her zero-track by 2 (-2 points)
3. Shuffles the 00 back into the deck
4. Discards the Remove 0 card (can't use again this round)

Example D: Complete Calculation with Multiple Goals

🎰 Rowlette — Complete Rulebook

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