Published card games
Odin
Be the first to get rid of your cards by playing combinations that always beat the ones in the middle, and finish the game with as few points as possible.
- players
- 2–6
- minutes
- 15
- variants
- 4
You’ll need the game box. Marquoir sums up the rules and keeps score.
Setup
- The game has 54 cards: the numbers 1 to 9 in six colours.
- 2 to 6 players, ages 7 and up.
- Shuffle, then deal 9 cards face down to each player, who keeps them in hand without showing them.
- Pick a first player at random; play goes clockwise.
How to play
- A game is played over several hands, and each hand over several rounds.
- At the start of a round, the player who opens it plays a single card face up in the middle of the table.
- Then, on their turn, each player either plays one or more cards, or passes.
- What you play must be worth strictly more than what is in the middle, using as many cards as the middle or one more: on two cards, you play two or three, never one or four.
- Several cards played together must share the same number or the same colour. Their value reads like a number, digits set side by side from highest to lowest: a 7 and a 3 are worth 73; a 6, a 5 and a 1 are worth 651.
- After playing, you take back into your hand just one of the cards that were in the middle before your play: if there was only one, you take it; if there were several, you keep one of your choice and discard the rest. The cards you just played stay in the middle.
- Passing doesn't stop you from playing later: you may play again on your next turn.
- The round is over once only one player has not passed: the middle goes to the discard pile, hands stay as they are, and whoever played last starts the next round.
Scoring
- The hand ends as soon as a player plays their last cards: they take nothing back from the middle.
- It also ends when the player opening a round holds only cards of the same number or the same colour: they may play them all at once.
- Everyone then scores one point per card left in their hand.
- For the next hand, deal 9 cards to each player again; the player to the left of whoever opened the previous hand starts by playing one card.
- In Marquoir, enter each hand the number of cards each player kept.
End of the game
- For a first game, the rules suggest a 15-point limit: the game is over as soon as any total gets to 15 or more.
- The lowest total takes the game; a tie means a shared victory.
- Later on, you can aim for 20 points for a longer game, 10 for a shorter one, or play a single hand.
House rules and pitfalls
- A combination's value reads like a number: three cards always beat two cards, since the number gains a digit.
- Taking a card back from the middle is not optional: every time you play onto cards already in the middle, you pick one up, unless you have just emptied your hand.
Variants
Game to
10 points (short game)
15 points (recommended)
20 points (long game)
A single round
The shortest game the rules suggest: a single round, and the fewest cards in hand wins.
chosen when starting, the scorer follows
Frequently asked questions
How do you score in Odin?
At the end of each hand, each player scores one point per card left in their hand; whoever emptied their hand scores zero. Points add up from hand to hand, and the lowest total wins.
Can you play cards of different colours together?
Yes, as long as they all show the same number. Otherwise, they must all be the same colour.
What is a three-card combination worth?
Arrange the digits from highest to lowest and read them as a number: an 8, a 5 and a 1 make 851. A three-card combination therefore always beats a two-card one.
Can you play as many cards as you like?
No: as many cards as there are in the middle, or one more. On a single card, you play one or two.
The box
- Released
- 2024
- Age
- Ages 7+
- Designers
- Gary Kim, Hope S. Hwang, Yohan Goh
- Artwork
- Crocotame
- Publisher
- Helvetiq
- Mechanics
- Hand ManagementLadder Climbing
- Contents
- 54 cards numbered 1 to 9 in six colours