Description

Jibe is a strategic matching card game.

The Cards

There are twelve icons, each with a different point value. Each six-sided card has either two sets of three identical icons or one set of six identical icons. The cards with six identical icons are known as a “core” cards. There are 80 unique cards. There are four colors associated with the icons. Each color is shared by three icons.

The value of each card is the sum of the values of each icon set on the card and is displayed in the center of the card.

The icon set values are as follows: Can=0; Joker=0; Beakers=5; Pencil=10; Bulb=15; Note=20; Star=25; Heart=30; Plane=35; Gear=40; Key=45; Fire=50.
Play

There is a core card for every icon. Every round of the game is started by placing a core card in the center of the playing surface. You can play just one round, or you can play multiple rounds, starting with a different core card each time. Choose it before distributing cards to the players.

Deal five cards to each player. During your turn, play one card from your hand by matching the colors or icons with cards already played. If you just match the color(s), you can only count the value of the card you laid down. If you match the icon(s), you can count the value of your card plus the value of each card(s) where the icon(s) matched. All colors must match, except when a joker is played.

If you play a core card during your turn, you can play another card during your turn to match it.

After your play, you replenish your hand by drawing one card from the pile. If you play a core card and are able to match it with another card from your hand, you draw two cards.

If you can’t play or choose not to play during your turn, pick up one card from the pile.

Jokers are wild. They can match any icon and each of the three Joker core cards can be used to match six cards at once. They have no point value when played, but make sure you play them, because their value switches to 100 points and count against your score if left in your hand.

Record your score after each play. Keep playing until all the cards in the pile are drawn. Then play until someone has played all their cards or until no other play can be made. Each player then adds up the card values left in their hand and subtracts the sum from their score.

If you play multiple rounds, you can add the scores from each round to determine the winner. Or, you can treat each round separately, award a point to the player with the highest score for each round, and the winner is the player who won the most rounds.