The Rules
Ruby Racko won't let you do anything that you're not allowed to do. An understanding of the basic rules of Ruby Racko will help you have fun faster!
What's in the Box?
If Ruby Racko were a board game, its box would contain:
- One instruction booklet.
- Sixty numbered cards (ranging from 1 - 60).
- Four "racks" for securing the order of each player's numbered cards.
- An assortment of randomly-named "people", all of equal intelligence, who are always ready to play Ruby Racko with you.
Player Count
Minimum: 1 human player. Maximum: 4 players (including human and computer players).
Ruby Racko is best played with 2 or more players.
The Objective
Be the first player to sort your rack of numbered cards into chronological order!
When looking at the Game Table in Ruby Racko, your rack is considered to be in chronological order when it is sorted with the lowest number at position "a" and the highest number at position "j" (as shown below).
Gameplay
At the beginning of each game, Ruby Racko deals each player a "rack" of ten randomly-ordered number cards. These cards are in a fixed position; they cannot be moved unless a player replaces them with new cards. A rack must always contain exactly ten cards.
You begin each turn by drawing a new card. You must then strategically exchange (or not!) that new card with one of the cards in your rack. Your turn ends when you discard a card.
Gameplay continues with each player taking turns to swap out their cards. The game ends when somebody produces a sorted rack.
Taking a Turn
You draw a new card at the start of each turn. You can draw your new card from the Draw Pile or the Discard Pile.
Drawing from the Draw Pile
When drawing from the Draw Pile, you do not know what card you will receive.
If you draw from the Draw Pile and decide that you do not want to use your new card, you may discard that card and end your turn.
*If at any point the Draw Pile becomes empty, Ruby Racko will automatically shuffle the Discard Pile to create a new Draw Pile.
Drawing from the Discard Pile
The top card on the Discard Pile remains face-up for all players to see. You should only draw from the Discard Pile if you want to use the displayed card.
If you draw from the Discard Pile, you must exchange that card with one in your rack. You cannot discard a card that you drew from the Discard Pile on the same turn that you drew the card.
If, however, you placed a 14 (for example) from the Discard Pile into your rack during your previous turn, you are free to exchange and discard that 14 on your current turn.
Using Your New Card
After drawing your new card, you must decide whether you want to use it to replace one of the cards in your rack. Remember: the goal is to end up with a rack of cards that is sorted in chronological order.
Consider the example below.
Here we see that the current player has drawn a 48 (as indicated by its label in the Control Panel as the "Newest Card").
The player's rack is nearly sorted. If she decides to switch the 35 at position i with her new 48, she will win!
Discarding a Card
You must discard one card at the end of each turn.
In the example above, if the player decides to switch the 35 with her new 48 card, she will discard the 35.
*If your "Newest Card" came from the Discard Pile, you cannot discard it. You will be forced to discard one of the existing cards in your rack.
Ending the Game
The game ends automatically when any player successfully sorts her rack into chronological order and ends her turn.
You can also exit the game by entering the qq or quit commands.