To figure out what team goes first, cut the deck. A player from each team should pick up a part of the deck. Then, look at the bottom card of each deck of cards. And the team with the lowest card deals first.
To deal, shuffle the cards first and deal cards to each player. The number of cards dealt is determined by the number of players:
The remaining cards form the draw deck.
According to the official sequence game rules, the player to the left of the dealer starts the game. Play then proceeds in a clockwise direction.
On a player’s turn, they will take a card of their choice from their hand and play it on their personal discard pile face-up in front of them so other players can see. Then, they will place one of their markers on the matching card on the game board. Players can play on either one of the card spaces as long as they are not already covered by another chip. Once placed on the board, do not remove any chips!
Note: The Sequence board is made up of 100 images of each card of the 2 complete decks of cards – minus the four jacks (more on this later!).
Finally, to mark the end of a turn, players must draw a new card from the draw pile and into their hand. This is IMPORTANT! If you forget to draw a new card before the next player takes their turn, you’ll play the rest of the game with one less card than everyone else!
As you might be able to guess from the game’s name, the goal of the game is to make sequences. You do this by matching 5 of your team’s colored chips in a row on the board. You can do this horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, but they must all be in line with no gaps in between!
If playing with 2 teams, you’ll need 2 completed sequences to win. However, if playing with 3 teams, you’ll need just one sequence to win the game!
On the Sequence game board, you’ll find 4 corner spaces – these spaces don’t represent any card. You can use these spaces as bonus spaces, so when building a sequence connected to this space, you only need to have 4 cards (instead of 5) to create a sequence.
Interestingly, multiple players can use the same corner spaces at the same time. This means, if Team 1 has 4 blue chips in a row vertically from a bonus corner while Team 2 has 4 blue chips in a row diagonally, both teams have a completed sequence!
The reason why there are no jacks on the Sequence board is that they are special cards. There are 8 jacks in total in the deck, and there are two different kinds of jacks.
It is possible to have dead cards in your hand. These are cards you cannot play because both spots are already covered for the card you have. If this happens, simply say “dead card” and put it in the discard pile before you draw a new card and begin your turn.
According to official Sequence rules, during this game, members cannot communicate! Do not coach, do not encourage your teammates, and do not discourage them from certain moves or strategies. If a teammate says anything that may indicate how the game should go, every team member must put one card on their discard pile.
At some point during the game, the draw deck may become depleted. When this happens, shuffle all the personal discard piles to create a new draw pile.
The game ends when a player or team completes the needed number of sequences to win. As mentioned, for 2 players or 2 teams, this requires 2 sequences. But for 3 players or 3 teams, this only requires one sequence.
Love Sequence? Then try out Shogi for another fun family strategy game.
There are different variations of rules and expansions of Sequence you should check out if you love this game!
To get rid of a dead card, at the beginning of your turn, place it on your discard pile and declare it dead. Then, you may draw a new replacement card and proceed with your turn as normal.
The number of cards dealt to each player is determined by the total number of people playing. For two-player games, both players receive 7 cards each. For games with 3 or 4 players, all players receive 6 cards each. In a 6-player game, each player is dealt 5 cards. For 8 and 9-player games, each player receives 4 cards, and finally, for 10 and 12-player games, 3 cards are dealt to each player.
There are two types of jacks in Sequence: one-eyed jacks and two-eyed jacks. The one-eyed jacks allow you to remove another team’s chip off the board, while the two-eyed jacks act as wild cards for you to place a marker wherever you please on the board.
To win Sequence, you must have 5 of your team’s colored markers in a row without any gaps. This can be horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. If there are two teams playing, you’ll need to create two such sequences, but if there are three teams, you’ll need to create just one.
Amber (They/Them) is an Austin writer and gaming connoisseur. A self-proclaimed gaming master with a love for dogs, plants, and D&D.
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