SCOUT

The normal Oink rules here cover three to five players: remove the nine cards containing 10 for three players and deal 12 each; with four remove the 9/10 card and deal 11 each; with five use all 45 cards and deal 9 each. Each player receives one Scout & Show chip per round. Put Scout chips centrally and do not look at hands until dealing is complete.

Card order and orientation are fixed during a round. After inspecting the initial deal, you may rotate the whole hand together before play. A Show uses a consecutive section of your hand: a single card, matching numbers, or an ascending or descending numerical run. Do not skip intervening cards or rearrange selected numbers.

Without an active set, show any legal combination; otherwise strictly beat it. Compare card count first, with more cards stronger. At equal count, matching numbers beat a run. At equal count and type, compare the smallest number; higher wins and an equal value cannot beat the set.

A successful Show captures the previous active set face down as score cards. Your newly played cards become the active set and you become its owner. Scout one card from its left or right end, choose its orientation and insert it anywhere in your hand without changing the relative order of existing cards.

An ordinary Scout ends your turn. The active set’s owner takes one Scout chip from the center; the scouting player does not pay personal points. The remaining set keeps its owner, but if no cards remain the next player can Show any legal combination. Use substitutes if the central chips run out.

Once per player per round, spend your Scout & Show chip to Scout and then immediately Show a legal set stronger than what remains active. It is not once per entire game, nor an automatic extra action after an ordinary Scout. Chips are reissued for the next round. If scouting emptied the active set, any legal Show is permitted.

A round ends immediately when a Show empties a hand, or when every other player takes only Scout turns after a Show without beating it. Score one per captured score card and Scout chip, minus one per remaining hand card. The last show’s owner avoids the hand penalty when nobody beats that show. Active cards and Scout & Show chips do not themselves score.

Play as many rounds as there are players. Return Scout chips to the center, retrieve Scout & Show chips, prepare a fresh deal and pass the starting marker left between rounds. Highest accumulated score wins, with tied players sharing victory. Two players use their separate rules rather than this player-count setup.