Flinch rules

Basics

Flinch is a Traditional card game where the goal is to empty a specific pile called the flinch pile It is played with 10 decks of 15 cards numbered from 1 to 15

Players

It is played from two to 8 but this application allows up to 4 players at the moment

The layout

There are several piles:

• The flinch piles:

  Each player receives 10 cards dealt face down except for the last one

• The hands

  Each player have up to 5 cards hidden from the opponents

• The stack

  Placed at the center of the table, it consists of the remaining cards that haven’t been dealt yet and that will serve as the draw pile

• The reserve piles

  Each player have 5 separate piles of cards in front of him where he’ll place his cards (generally one by one) whenever he wished to end his turn

  After the five piles are formed a player can play cards to whichever pile he wishes

• middle common piles

  At the center of the table are 10 (the number of decks) piles that are playable by anyone. Each player may place during their turn cards from 1 to 15 in ascending order. Once a pile reached 15 it is discarded and is added later to the stack of remaining cards when needed.

Start of the game

The cards are shuffled and dealt in that order :

• 10 cards to each player for their flinch pile
• 5 cards for their hands
• The remainder is placed on the stack

How to play

If one player at least have a 1 (hand or flinch pile)

The first player with a 1 begins the game by placing it in playable pile in the center. If he can follow with a 2 he may do it. A player can stack cards as long as he can play, either from his hand, reserve piles or flinch pile. To end his turn he places a card from his hand to a reserve pile

If no one has a 1

Each player put their hand in their reserve piles face up (1 card per reserve pile) Each player draw 5 cards and repeat the discard until a 1 is found, this time each player can discard their cards in any reserve pile they wish.

Players Must play all of the 1s from their flinch pile or from their hands to the middle of the table, otherwise they may be “Flinched!” (see below) but they don’t need to play any other numbers 1s are never played in reserve piles You must play from your flinch pile in priority otherwise you may be “Flinched!”

During the game there will be as many middle piles as there are 1s which have been played. Each player can play on each middle pile as long as the cards are played in ascending order and following directly (1 to 15)

End of turn

To end your turn you place a card on one of your reserve pile. Considerable skill may be used to manage your reserves as you need to remember which cards were put to play them later. It is best to arrange them in descending order, that way you can unfold them 1 by 1 when needed

Drawing

Whenever you are out of cards you may draw as long as it is still your turn. e.g. if you place your last card on your reserve pile, you won’t draw until your next turn

Flinching

If a player makes a mistake during his turn, it is considered a “Flinch” and each player can call “Flinch!” at any moment. The first player to successfully call flinch will take his top flinch card and place it at the bottom of the “flinched” player, ending the flinched player turn on the spot.

Flinch cases

• A player played a card from his reserve or hand before playing from his flinch pile
• A player played a card from his hand or reserve before playing a 1 from his hand

Win condition

The winner is the first player to successfully get rid of all of the cards in his flinch pile

Additional Notes

An exposed card must be played. e.g. you take a card from your hand, you have to play it and can’t put it back There are no jokers in this game

Customization

You can change the number of decks (from 10 to 20), the number of flinch cards (from 1 to 10) and the max card value (from 5 to 15)

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