Card games
DREIst!
RavensburgerJanet Kneisel2016
- players
- 1–4
- minutes
- 20
- years
- 8+
In the box
8 base cards numbered 1 to 8 · 96 number cards: three copies of each number in four colours · 6 help cards
Box details
- Designer
- Janet Kneisel
- Publisher
- Ravensburger
- Mechanics
- Hand ManagementPattern Building
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
Affiliate link: Marquoir may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
The basics
Eight base cards, numbered 1 to 8, start eight columns; each player has their own draw pile and 5 cards in hand. On your turn, place as many cards as you like under the base card with the same number, never letting different colours sit side by side in a row, then refill your hand to 5. A single card goes beside or just below a number card already placed; otherwise, you need at least two touching cards. If you place nothing, you may discard a card and draw one. Three cards of the same colour side by side in a row, or three different colours in a column, make a trio: it lets you draw one more card, and a column trio clears the whole column, along with the cards no longer linked to the base cards. A player who empties their hand may give 2 cards from their draw pile to one or two opponents. The first rid of all their cards wins.
Checked against the official rules · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
8 base cards, A draw pile each, 5 cards in hand
- 1 to 4 players, ages 8 and up.
- The box holds 8 base cards (grey numbers from 1 to 8), 96 number cards (three copies of each number from 1 to 8 in each of the four colours: red, yellow, turquoise and purple) and 6 help cards illustrated with examples.
- Line up the 8 base cards along the edge of the table, in order from 1 to 8. They anchor the display and never leave the table, even when their column is cleared; they are not part of the display: a single card cannot lean on them.
- Shuffle the 96 number cards and share them out equally. Each player places their cards face down in front of them as a draw pile, without looking at them, then takes the top 5 into their hand.
- For the first games, keep the help cards within reach: their examples help in understanding which placements are allowed.
How to play
Single: by a number card, Trio: 1 more card, Empty hand: give 2
- The oldest player starts, then play goes clockwise.
- On your turn, place in the display, under the base cards, as many cards from your hand as you wish, within the limits of the allowed placements. At the end of your turn, refill your hand to 5 cards from your draw pile.
- A card always goes in the column of the base card showing the same number. The 8 columns grow downwards, and you can form as many rows as you like.
- To place cards, you need at least 2 touching cards: the same number one below the other, or the same colour side by side in a row. A single card is only allowed right beside or right below a number card already placed.
- In a row, two cards of different colours may never touch; a row may still hold several colours, provided an empty space separates them. In a column, there is no colour restriction.
- Every card must stay linked to the base cards, directly or through a chain of other cards. Lower rows and gaps in the display are allowed as long as that link exists.
- If you cannot or do not want to place anything, you may put a card from your hand face up on the shared discard pile; you draw one, and it is the next player’s turn.
- Row trio: the card you place lines up, in a row, at least 3 touching cards of the same colour.
- Column trio: the card you place brings a column its third different colour, no matter what separates the three colours in the column.
- Each trio allows you, without obligation, to take one more card from your draw pile at once; you may place it in the same turn if it fits.
- A column trio immediately sends the whole column to the discard pile, including the card that formed it. All cards no longer linked to the base cards go too. A row trio removes nothing.
- A single card that forms both a row trio and a column trio counts as a column trio; a card that completes two row trios, one to its left and one to its right, counts as one. In both cases, only one extra card.
- The gift: if you empty your whole hand during your turn, you may then take the top 2 cards of your draw pile, without looking at them, and place them on the draw pile of one or two opponents of your choice. Your turn ends, and you refill your hand to 5.
- An exhausted draw pile means playing with fewer than 5 cards in hand. In that case, a gift received goes straight into your hand, up to 5 cards.
Scoring
Cards left, Lowest total
- A single game is played without a score: the first player with no cards left wins.
- You can also play several games in a row, for example a series where each player starts once. After each game, each player notes how many cards they have left, in hand and in their draw pile; the lowest total wins.
- In Marquoir, after each game enter how many cards each player has left, 0 for the winner.
End of the game
No cards left, First one wins
- The game stops as soon as a player has no cards left, neither in hand nor in their draw pile, however they got rid of the last one: they win.
- Over several games, the player with the lowest total of cards left wins.
House rules and pitfalls
Solo variant: you face an imaginary opponent, who is given half the cards, and you start.
- Solo variant: you face an imaginary opponent, who is given half the cards, and you start. On its turn, you turn its cards over one by one: those that fit are placed at once, as close as possible to the base cards; the others are set aside, and can still be placed as soon as they become playable, the earliest turned over first. Its turn ends as soon as it has placed at least two cards; whatever remains aside then goes to the discard pile. It does not draw for its trios and gives no gifts; you do.
- To make the solo variant harder, play game after game until you lose: the imaginary opponent gives you 2 cards from the first game, then 2 more in each following game. The booklet gives a scale based on the number of starting cards reached, from 50 to 60 cards or more.
- The game is also known as TRIout.
Going further
Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Frequently asked questions
Can you place a single card just below a base card, in the first row?
Only if it touches, from the side, a number card already placed in that row. A single card can never lean on a base card alone: you must then place at least two together.
Can two different colours follow each other in a column?
Yes. The colour restriction only applies in rows: two touching cards in a row must be the same colour.
What happens to a column that forms a trio?
It goes entirely to the discard pile, along with all the cards then cut off from the base cards.
Do you have to draw after a trio?
No, it is a right. It is sometimes better to hold back, to empty your hand and give a gift.
What if you cannot place anything?
You may discard a card from your hand, face up, then draw one from your draw pile.