User:Kenny TM~~enwiki/REDOX

If you want to know about redox reaction, read redox.

REDOX is an acronym of REDOX: Either Die Or eXtreme. This means that you need to be extreme so that you can survive. This is a strategical card game. The target of this game is to throw away cards in you hand as soon as possible.

Termings

A Royal Flush means three or more cards that their ranks are in sequence and suits the same. For example, ♣8-♣9-♣10-♣J-♣Q-♣K is a royal flush. Note that any ace cannot be put in the middle of the sequence; therefore ♥K-♥Q-♥A-♥2 is not a valid royal flush.

A multiple means three or more cards of the same rank, such as ♣4-♥4-♠4.

A plot means a royal flush or a multiple.

A slam means a complete hand made up of merely plots (that includes at least a royal flush with four cards or more).

Playing

Requirements

Players : 2 or more

Cards : 1 or more decks of standard Anglo-American playing cards.

Game Play

Shuffle the piles of cards and deliver 15 cards to each player, 5 each time.
Leave any excess cards in a pile faced down, called “Draw pile”. Display the first card of the draw pile, and put it separately in a “Discard pile”.
If this is an odd round (first, third, fifth, etc), the direction of turns will go counterclockwise. If this is an even round (second, fourth, sixth, etc.), the direction is clockwise.
The winner of the last round will play first. If this is the first round, choose a first player randomly.
The player in turn can do one of the followings:
- Remove a card from his/her hand to the discard pile, and draw a card from the draw pile.
- Remove a card from his/her hand to the discard pile and pick a card below it.
- Lay down a plot. Note that if that is his/her first plot, that must be a royal flush with at least 4 cards.
- Connect a card to any existing plot. For example, if there is a plot “♣8-♣9-♣10” on the table, and you have a “♣7”, you can put this card to the left of the plot, making it “♣7-♣8-♣9-♣10”. Note that you must have laid down a plot before you can make any connections.
- Showing a slam, which will be discussed later.
If the player has only 3 or less cards left, yell “Last x”, where x is the number of cards left.
After any of the above action, the next player takes the turn back to step 5 until someone wins.
If there is a winner, count to score and go to step 1 again.

Jokers

Jokers acts as wild cards in REDOX. It can be placed at anywhere to connect cards. Examples include ♠7-♠8-Joker-♠10, where the joker now plays as a ♠9.

Scoring

After a player won a round, score is counted. The score is added to each loser according to his remaining cards in hand.

Rank	Score
Joker	50
A	20
J, Q, K	10
Numbers	Face points

For example, if one left ♣8-♣9-♥7-♥Q-♦A in a round, his/her score is increased by 8 + 9 + 7 + 10 + 20 = 54.

The winner will be decreased by 10 points.

Slam

If a player has a hand of slam, he/she can show it all up in his/her turn. The others will lose immediately, and the scores of the losers added is doubled.

Slam can only be played if and only if there is no plots laid down.

Sample Play

Suppose we have 4 players and 2 decks of cards. We call the players N, E, S and W respectively.

Round #1

Initially, the cards in each hand like this:

N: ♠A-♠3-♠3-♠J-♥3-♥4-♣A-♣A-♣2-♣2-♣6-♣6-♦10-♦J-♦K

E: ♠2-♠8-♠9-♠Q-♥3-♥10-♥10-♣3-♣4-♣J-♣J-♣Q-♦4-♦4-♦6

S: ♥2-♥4-♥7-♥7-♥K-♥K-♣4-♣7-♣10-♣Q-♣K-♦3-♦5-♦Q-Joker

W: ♠A-♠2-♠4-♠5-♠6-♠6-♠7-♠9-♠J-♥J-♣5-♣9-♦A-♦8-♦J

And the Discard face is ♥8. There is an advantage on W that he/she has 2 natural plots and 2 incomplete plots. So he/she should try to develop a slam. Most player will also try to make a slam, but it is not a good idea to keep an undeveloped slam too long, as you might be slammed back.

S has a wild card. His/her best strategy is to let it be a ♣J, so there is a royal flush to start a slam/plot.

N would be the first play in this round, and the direction will be N → W → S → E.

N: Discard ♠J, draw a card: ♥A.

Throw away irrelevent cards with high score is a common technique.

W: Discard ♦8, get the discarded ♠J.

The ♠J is good for W, as it can connect to the existing mulitple on his/her hand.

S: Discard ♦Q, draw a card: ♣3.

N is looking for this card, as it can connect the ♦10-♦J-♦K to form a royal flush (and he/she can nearly make a slam). But it is not N's turn, so he/she would be very sad about this.

E: Discard ♦6, get the discarded ♦Q.

N: Discard ♥4, get the discarded ♦6.

Only one step to slam: too bad that the ♦Q is in E's hand!

W: Discard ♠6, draw a card: ♠K.

A nearly useless card.

S: Discard ♣3, draw a card: ♣10.

It is totally illogical to discard ♣3. It has to chance to form a multiple with ♦3. Instead, he should throw away ♦5. It is not necessary to have many royal flushes, and getting a ♦4 is more difficult than that of 3 of any suit.

E: Discard ♠9, get the discarded ♣3.

N: Discard ♣A, draw a card: ♠K.

W: Discard ♠K, get the discarded ♣A.

S: Discard ♣10, get the discarded ♠K.

E: Discard ♠10, get the discarded ♣10.

N: Discard ♠K, draw a card: ♠5.

W: Discard ♣5, draw a card: Joker.

A wise choice. Although W can get the ♣5 on the discard pile, there is no room for him/her to develop two multiples (5 and 9). So he/she shall discard the higher-score ♣5.

S: Discard ♦3, get the discarded ♣5.

S finally realized the problem, but that may be a bit late.

E: Discard ♣J, draw a card: ♦K.

N: Discard ♠5, draw a card: ♦6.

W: Discard ♠2, draw a card: ♦Q.

S: Discard ♥2, draw a card: Joker.

Another bad action: there is no room making 2 multiples!

E: Discard ♦K, get the discarded ♥2.

Bad. Too many pairs is not a good thing to have.

N: Discard ♦6, draw a card: ♥Q.

A little ironic to N.

W: Discard ♦K, draw a card: ♠4.

S: Discard ♥4, draw a card: ♣7.

E: Discard ♠2, get the discarded ♥4.

N: Discard ♥Q, draw a card: ♣ 8.

W: Lay down the plot: ♠4-♠5-♠6-♠7.

W foresees the danger of being slammed back by holding the cards too long, so he/she eliminate the risk by a plot. No more slam in this round is allowed from now on.

S: Lay down the plot: ♣10-Joker-♣Q-♣K

S is almost forced to lay down a plot, as he/she cannot do a slam anymore.

E: Discard ♣3, draw a card: ♥9

E needs a royal flush, so he/she has to break up the pair.

N: Discard ♣8, get the discarded ♣3.

N changed the strategy: he/she wants to form a royal flush as fast as possible.

W: Lay down the plot: ♠J-♠J-♥J-♦J.

S: Lay down the plot: ♥7-♥7-♣7-♣7.

E: Discard ♣3, draw a card: ♠8.

N: Discard ♠A, get the discarded ♣3.

W: Lay down the plot: ♠9-♣9-Joker.

S: Lay down the plot: ♠K-♥K-♥K.

E: Discard ♠8, draw a card: ♦2.

N: Discard ♥A, draw a card: ♠7.

W: Discard ♠4, get the discarded ♥A.

A clever move! If W is hurry and plot the multiple (A), his/her ♠4 may never be able to connect to other plots on table. Instead, now W has 4 aces that form one multple that can lead to a championship costing one turn only.

S: Lay down the plot: ♣5-♦5-Joker. {Last 1}

E: Discard ♦2, draw a card: ♣5.

N: Discard ♠7, draw a card : ♣9.

W: Lay down the plot: ♠A-♥A-♣A-♦A. {Winner}

Now scoring. The cards left on each hand are:

N: ♠3-♠3-♥3-♣2-♣2-♣3-♣3-♣6-♣6-♣9-♣A-♦6-♦10-♦J-♦K

E: ♠Q-♥2-♥3-♥4-♥9-♥10-♥10-♣4-♣5-♣10-♣J-♣Q-♦4-♦4-♦Q

S: ♣4

W: ---

So the scores are:

N: 3+3+3+2+2+3+3+6+6+9+20+6+10+10+10 = 96

E: 10+2+3+4+9+10+10+4+5+10+10+10+4+4+10 = 105

S: 4 = 4

W: (-10)

The total scores for now are:

N: + 96

E: +105

S: + 4

W: - 10

Round #2

This is the second round, so the direction will be N → E → S → W.

W is the last winner, so he/she will take the lead.

N: ♠A-♠4-♠8-♠J-♠J-♠Q-♥10-♥Q-♣10-♣J-♣Q-♣Q-♦2-♦K

E: ♥3-♥4-♥5-♥6-♥9-♥K-♥K-♣2-♣5-♣8-♦2-♦8-♦8-♦9

S: ♠A-♠3-♠3-♠4-♠5-♠6-♠7-♥J-♥J-♣K-♦5-♦6-♦7-♦9-♦J

W: ♠2-♠2-♠5-♠6-♠8-♠9-♠K-♥4-♥Q-♣8-♣J-♦3-♦6-♦Q-♦K

Discard pile: ♣5

W: Discard ♥Q, draw a card: ♥4.

N: Discard ♦K, get the discarded ♥Q.

N shall draw a card instead. Five queens may be too much from usefulness

E: Lay down the plot: ♥3-♥4-♥5-♥6

E may be too nervous about his/her last lost, but it is not recommended laying down a plot in the first turn.

S: Lay down the plot: ♠3-♠4-♠5-♠6-♠7.

W: Lay down the plot: ♠5-♠6-♠7-♠8-♠9.

N: Lay down the plot: ♣10-♣J-♣Q-Joker.

E: Lay down the plot: ♣8-♦8-♦8

S: Lay down the plot: ♦5-♦6-♦7

W: Connect ♠2 to ♠3-♠4-♠5-♠6-♠7.

N: Connect ♠A to ♠2-♠3-♠4-♠5-♠6-♠7.

E: Discard ♣5, draw a card: ♥9.

S: Lay down the plot: ♥J-♥J-♦J.

W: Connect ♣8 to ♣8-♦8-♦8.

N: Lay down the plot: ♠Q-♥Q-♥Q-♣Q.

E: Lay down the plot: ♥9-♥9-♦9.

S: Connect ♦9 to ♥9-♥9-♦9. {Last 3}

W: Connect ♣J to ♥J-♥J-♦J.

N: Connect ♠J-♠J to ♥J-♥J-♣J-♦J.

It is possible to connect more than one card.

E: Discard ♣5, get the discarded ♦K.

S: Discard ♠A, draw a card: ♦10.

W: Connect ♦Q to ♠Q-♥Q-♥Q-♣Q.

N: Connect ♠8 to ♣8-♣8-♦8-♦8. {Last 3}

E: Lay down the plot: ♥K-♥K-♦K. {Last 1}

Leaving only one card is usually not a very good idea, although it is usually unavoidable.

S: Connect ♣K to ♥K-♥K-♦K. {Last 2}

W: Connect ♦K to ♥K-♥K-♣K-♦K.

N: Connect ♠4 to ♠5-♠6-♠7-♠8-♠9. {Last 2}

E: Discard ♦2, draw a card: ♠Q.

S: Discard ♦10, get the discarded ♦2.

S gets the ♦2 because he/she doesn't want to lose so much. This is sometimes a smart (or more precisely, forced) action if someone is going to win.

W: Discard ♠7, draw a card: ♠10.

N: Discard ♥10, get the discarded ♠7.

The motion of N is similar to S. Note that there is a risk of drawing that the card may be more high-scored.

E: Connect ♠Q to ♠Q-♥Q-♥Q-♣Q-♦Q. {Winner}

This time the cards left are less, due to the early plot.

N: ♠7-♦2

E: ---

S: ♠3-♦2

W: ♠2-♥4-♥4-♦3-♦6

The scores to be added:

N: 7+2 = 9

E: (-10)

S: 3+2 = 5

W: 2+4+4+3+6 = 19

The total scores:

N: +101

E: + 95

S: + 9

W: + 9

Round #3

This is the third round, so the direction will be N → W → S → E.

E is the last winner, so he/she will take the lead.

N: ♠2-♠5-♠9-♥A-♥4-♥5-♥6-♥9-♣5-♣6-♣7-♣8-♣10-♣K-♦J

E: ♠A-♠10-♠Q-♥8-♥J-♣8-♣J-♦5-♦6-♦8-♦8-♦9-♦9-♦10-Joker

S: ♠2-♠3-♠4-♠5-♠J-♠J-♥6-♥7-♥8-♥J-♣4-♣5-♣7-♣8-♦J

W: ♠4-♠7-♠8-♠10-♠K-♠K-♥2-♥4-♥5-♥7-♥10-♥Q-♣J-♦2-♦5

Discard pile: ♠Q

In this round, S has an unexpectedly good arrangement of cards. All he/she needs is a ♣6. However, there are only two of them in the game, and one of them is held by N, which he/she won't give it away for obvious reason. Therefore, S is almost impossible to make a slam - although he/she doesn't know that.

E: Discard ♠A, get the discarded ♠Q.

S: Discard ♦J, draw a card: ♠A.

W: Discard ♣J, draw a card: ♠9.

N: Discard ♦J, draw a card: ♣9.

E: Discard ♠10, get the discarded ♦J.

S: Discard ♠A, draw a card: ♣6.

This is totally luck! Anyway, the slam from S is the fate. The other players will not lay down plots, as they won't think that S is getting a slam so soon.

W: Discard ♥Q, draw a card: ♥9.

N: Discard ♥A, draw a card: ♥A.

Oops.

E: Discard ♦9, draw a card: Joker

E is ready for slam, although it is already too late.

S: Slam: ♠2-♠3-♠4-♠5 / ♥6-♥7-♥8 / ♣4-♣5-♣6-♣7-♣8 / ♠J-♠J-♥J. {Winner}

Cards left:

N: ♠2-♠5-♠9-♥A-♥4-♥5-♥6-♥9-♣5-♣6-♣7-♣8-♣10-♣9-♣K

E: ♠Q-♠Q-♥8-♥J-♣8-♣J-♦5-♦6-♦8-♦8-♦9-♦10-♦J-Joker-Joker

S: ---

W: ♠4-♠7-♠8-♠9-♠10-♠K-♠K-♥2-♥4-♥5-♥7-♥9-♥10-♦2-♦5

Scores to be added is doubled:

N: 2 × (2+5+9+20+4+5+6+9+5+6+7+8+10+9+10) = 230

E: 2 × (10+10+8+10+8+10+5+6+8+8+9+10+10+50+50) = 424

S: (-10)

W: 2 × (4+7+8+9+10+10+10+2+4+5+7+9+10+2+5) = 204

The total scores:

N: +331

E: +519

S: - 1

W: +213

History

The history of REDOX is unknown. The name “REDOX” was created by the author meaning “Scores can rise (oxidized) and fall (reduced)”. However, the current name might be more meaningful to ones who don't know chemistry. The origin may be Canada, as this game is introduced to the author by his Canadian friend, who had forgotten its original name. This game might be dervied from 500 Rum.

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