Round & Revel / Card drafting
Pattern Relay
Choose together, pass the rest, and make six small decisions fit.
Original printable party game. Timing is a planning estimate; this edition has not had a live group playtest.
Good for: A small-group game night with simultaneous choices and light strategy.
What you need
- Four copies of each of the 12 tile cards: 48 cards total
- One 2-by-3 tableau drawn on paper per player
- A pencil and a two-round score sheet per player
- Opaque paper backs or sleeves if printed cards show through
How to play
The idea
A sit-down choice for friends who like light strategy. Quick start: deal seven, draft six, score your display, then repeat. Everyone chooses one card at the same time, places it into their own six-space display, and passes the remaining hand. A tile has a motif and a texture. Matching motifs down columns scores differently from varied textures across rows, so an attractive card may be wrong for the empty spaces you still have. There are no card powers, auctions, spoken clues, or speed bonuses. Your display is public; the cards you have not chosen remain private.
Print and prepare
Print four copies of all 12 tile faces, giving four of every motif-and-texture combination. Shuffle all 48 together. Draw two rows of three empty boxes per player and label the rows TOP and BOTTOM. These labels, rather than the direction someone faces, govern scoring. Deal seven cards to each player, face down. Put the undealt cards aside without inspecting them. With six players, six cards remain undealt; with three, 27 remain. Everyone uses the same full deck regardless of group size.
Choose, lock, reveal
Look at your hand and privately select one tile. Put it face down beside your display. You may change your selection until everyone says ready. The reader counts three, two, one, reveal; turn over the selected tiles together. Starting with a different player each pick, everyone places their chosen tile in any empty box in their own display. Resolve these placements in seating order so there is no race. A tile is locked when released in its box: it cannot later move, rotate into another box, or exchange places with another tile.
Pass the remaining cards
After all placements, pass the unchosen cards one seat clockwise. Check that everybody receives the same hand size before selecting again. Repeat the choose-and-place process six times. The hand sizes before selection are seven, six, five, four, three, and two. After the sixth pick, put the one unchosen card in each hand into the discard pile without adding it to a display. Every player must now have exactly six tiles. Passing direction changes to counterclockwise in round two.
Three separate scoring checks
Score each of your three columns: gain 3 points if its top and bottom motifs match, otherwise 0. Textures do not affect this check. Score each of your two rows: gain 4 points if all three textures in that row are different, otherwise 0. Motifs do not affect this check. Finally, gain 4 points if all four textures appear anywhere in your six tiles, otherwise 0. Add these checks; a round scores 0–21. Tiles may contribute to more than one check. Repeated motifs across different columns are allowed.
A worked display
Suppose your top row is SUN/DOTS, LEAF/LINES, KEY/WAVES. Your bottom row is SUN/RINGS, KEY/DOTS, KEY/LINES. Columns one and three match motifs, earning 6; column two earns 0. Both rows contain three different textures, earning 8. DOTS, LINES, WAVES, and RINGS all appear, earning 4. This display scores 18. The repeated KEY motif across columns does not cancel anything. Read one another’s displays aloud while checking points so an unnoticed texture cannot change a result later.
Second round and the winner
Record round-one scores, then return every card, including unused and discarded cards, to the deck. Shuffle thoroughly and deal seven each again. Clear the displays. The round-one reader moves one seat clockwise; the first placement position also rotates after every pick. Play another six picks, this time passing counterclockwise. Add both round scores. Highest total wins; tied players share the win. There is no sudden-death draw or advantage for finishing a choice first.
Table talk, mistakes, and access
You may discuss visible displays and scoring, but do not name cards still in a private hand, arrange trades, or promise a future pass. Before the next selection, fix an accidental hand-size error using the actual misplaced cards. If a selected card was exposed before everybody locked, leave it selected and let the others finish; nobody gains permission to reselect after reveal. Use larger cards, a reader, or a helper who moves only the owner’s named tile. Remove choice timers entirely. A first practice display is useful: score six random face-up tiles together, then return them before shuffling.
Printable cards and components
Print single-sided and cut on the borders. Read the setup before sorting the cards; some games use separate card types or fewer copies for smaller groups.
SUN / DOTS
TILE. Motif: SUN. Texture: DOTS (small separated dots). Print four copies of this tile. The words, rather than pictures or colour, determine every match.
LEAF / DOTS
TILE. Motif: LEAF. Texture: DOTS (small separated dots). Print four copies of this tile. The words, rather than pictures or colour, determine every match.
KEY / DOTS
TILE. Motif: KEY. Texture: DOTS (small separated dots). Print four copies of this tile. The words, rather than pictures or colour, determine every match.
SUN / LINES
TILE. Motif: SUN. Texture: LINES (straight parallel strokes). Print four copies of this tile. The words, rather than pictures or colour, determine every match.
LEAF / LINES
TILE. Motif: LEAF. Texture: LINES (straight parallel strokes). Print four copies of this tile. The words, rather than pictures or colour, determine every match.
KEY / LINES
TILE. Motif: KEY. Texture: LINES (straight parallel strokes). Print four copies of this tile. The words, rather than pictures or colour, determine every match.
SUN / WAVES
TILE. Motif: SUN. Texture: WAVES (curving parallel strokes). Print four copies of this tile. The words, rather than pictures or colour, determine every match.
LEAF / WAVES
TILE. Motif: LEAF. Texture: WAVES (curving parallel strokes). Print four copies of this tile. The words, rather than pictures or colour, determine every match.
KEY / WAVES
TILE. Motif: KEY. Texture: WAVES (curving parallel strokes). Print four copies of this tile. The words, rather than pictures or colour, determine every match.
SUN / RINGS
TILE. Motif: SUN. Texture: RINGS (separate closed circles). Print four copies of this tile. The words, rather than pictures or colour, determine every match.
LEAF / RINGS
TILE. Motif: LEAF. Texture: RINGS (separate closed circles). Print four copies of this tile. The words, rather than pictures or colour, determine every match.
KEY / RINGS
TILE. Motif: KEY. Texture: RINGS (separate closed circles). Print four copies of this tile. The words, rather than pictures or colour, determine every match.
Round & Revel. Edition 1 / October 2026. No purchases, accounts or specialist equipment beyond the listed materials are required.