How to play Kaivo
Rules of the current version. We may tune them as the game grows.
The idea: end each round with the lowest total in your four cards. You only know two of them, so remember, bluff, and call KAIVO! at the right moment.
Players
Two to four players sit at a table: you, plus bots or other people. You can play one on one, with up to three bots, with friends on a private table, or with anyone who is looking for a game.
The cards
- Number cards 0 to 9 count their number.
- Four power cards count more: Peek 10, Spy 11, Swap 12, Mind Read 13. They are heavy to keep, but they can be played for their power.
- Everyone gets four cards in one row, face down. Right at the start you may peek at the two outer cards. Remember them, because they are hidden again after a few seconds.
Your turn
On your turn you do exactly one of these:
- Draw from the deck. Only you see the card. Then either swap it with one of your four cards (the old card goes to the discard pile, face up), or discard it. If you discard a power card you just drew, you may use its power.
- Take the top card of the discard pile. It is public. You must swap it with one of your cards. Took it by mistake? Press Put back (or tap the pile again) to undo it. Nothing is revealed and your turn is not used.
- Call KAIVO! if you think your hand is the lowest. You can call at the start of your turn instead of drawing.
A card drawn from the deck can not be put back, because that would be a free peek.
Power cards
A power card only does something when you draw it from the deck and discard it. If you swap it into your hand, or take it from the discard pile, its power is lost and it counts as its number.
| Card | Points | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Peek | 10 | Look at one of your own face-down cards. Only you see it. |
| Spy | 11 | Look at one card of an opponent. Only you see it. Pick the player first, then one of their cards. |
| Swap | 12 | Swap one of your cards with one of an opponent's. You both get to see the card you receive. |
| Mind Read | 13 | Pick an opponent's card and flip it face up for the whole table. Everyone gets to remember it. |
When someone peeks or spies, everyone sees which card was looked at (a small lettered badge stays on it), but not what it is. So you can remember who knows what.
Calling KAIVO!
- When someone calls, the round ends at once. There are no extra turns. Everyone reveals all four cards.
- The lowest total wins the round. If the caller ties for the lowest, the caller wins.
Scoring a match
- A match is many rounds. Scores add up and the deal moves on by one seat each round.
- Each player adds their hand total to their score. The caller adds 0 if they had the lowest hand, but their own total plus 10 if they called too early.
- The match ends when someone goes above 100. The lowest score wins.
- If your score lands on exactly 100, it drops to 50.
The mistake (glimpse)
After you draw from the deck, you can let the table catch a faint look at your card: tap the top half of the held card, or slide it up. Other players may see a folded corner of it, sometimes, from their own side of the table. Tapping the lower half discards the card as usual. It is a risk you can take on purpose to bluff.
The turn clock
You have 20 seconds per turn and 10 seconds to pick a target for a power card. The clock only runs while you can act. When it runs out, the game plays the safe move for you (draw, discard it, skip the power). There is no penalty.
Chips and gifts
Online games use chips, a virtual currency that has no cash value. You can spend chips on gifts for the table, such as a tissue for someone who just lost a round or a cake for the winner. Gifts are decoration: they cannot be cashed out and nobody receives chips from them. You can switch off gifts from other players, block a player, and report a name or behaviour from the gift window.
Joining and leaving
- Practice with bots: choose one, two or three bots.
- Play with anyone: you are matched with other players. If nobody comes within 10 seconds, bots fill the empty seats.
- Play with friends: open a table, share the 5-letter code, and decide how many bots to add, or none.
- Joining a game that already started: if a bot has a seat, you take it at the next round, never in the middle of one. You start with the average score of the table.
- Leaving: the game plays safe moves for you until the round ends, then your seat goes to a bot.
Tips
- A power card you hold is heavy. Play it as soon as you can.
- Watch the badges: if someone spied on a card, they know it. Maybe swap it away.
- Calling early is risky. If someone else has the lower hand, you pay ten extra points.
- Bluff with the glimpse. Show something that is not what you hold.