Play Yellow Dwarf (also known as Nain Jaune) and do your best to collect as many chips as possible. Discover all the rules that will allow you to take full advantage of this game and increase your chance of winning.
Materials
To play Yellow Dwarf, you will need a game board, chips and a deck of cards (52 cards without jokers).
Before Starting the Game
- The number of players in Yellow Dwarf varies between 3 and 8. The cards must be dealt as follows:
3-player game: 15 cards per player and the remainder will be the draw pile
4-player game: 12 cards per player and the remainder will be the draw pile
5-player game: 9 cards per player and the remainder will be the draw pile
6-player game: 8 cards per player and the remainder will be the draw pile
7-player game: 7 cards per player and the remainder will be the draw pile
8-player game: 6 cards per player and the rest will be the draw pile
- There are 3 kinds of chips in the Yellow Dwarf: chips in the shape of a circle, a small rectangle and a large rectangle. The circle shaped chip is worth 1 point, the small rectangle shaped chip is worth 5 points and the large rectangle shaped chip is worth 10 points.
- Each player must receive chips that are worth at least 50 points.
- Each player places their chips in the boxs of the game board as follows:
✓ 1 point in the box where the 10 of diamonds is located.
✓ 2 points in the box where the jack of clubs is located.
✓ 3 points in the box where the queen of spades is located.
✓ 4 points in the box where the king of hearts is located.
✓ 5 points in the box where the yellow dwarf is located (the 7 of diamonds).
Aim of the Game
The Yellow Dwarf is played over several rounds. To win a round, you must be the first player to get rid of all your cards that are in your hand. All players must make a sequence of cards in an ascending order and when a player manages to get rid of all their cards, the round ends.
How to Play
- Choose the player who starts the game (the first player).
- The first player must discard one card face up and announce a sequence of cards in ascending order (not necessarily of the same suit). Example: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc.
- When they have no more cards to continue the sequence, they must announce the card they do not have in their possession.
Example: The player has placed the following sequence of cards: 2, 3, 4, 5. If they do not have the 6 card in their hand, they must announce “without 6” or “no 6” and the turn passes to the next player who is to their left.
- The next player must take over the sequence of cards according to the last card played. If they have one or more cards in their hand to make a straight, they can play that card or number of cards. If they do not have at least one card to continue the sequence, then they must announce the card that they don’t have and must pass the turn to the next player.
- All players will play in turn and will have to make as many straights as possible to get rid of all their cards. (Every player will be trying to be the first one to get rid of all of their cards.)
- The round ends when a player manages to get rid of all the cards they have in their hand.
Note:
✓ A card sequence ends with a king card.
✓ A player ends a card sequence when they lay down a king card. At this point, they can start a new sequence with a card of their choice.
✓ When a player has finished their turn and all the other players cannot continue the sequence of cards they have played, then the former player can play again and can start another sequence with a card of their choice (if they do not have a card to continue the straight they played previously).
Example: 4 players play a round. At some point, player number 1 places the following sequence: 7, 8, 9. Players number 2, 3, and 4 do not have a 10 card to continue the sequence. At this point, it is still player number 1’s turn to play and therefore they can start a new sequence of cards (for example, 4, 5, 6).
Cards Displayed on the Game Board
- The cards displayed on the game board are as follows: 10 of diamonds, jack of clubs, queen of spades, king of hearts and 7 of diamonds (or yellow dwarf).
- When a player places down a card that is displayed on the game board, they must announce the card and take all the chips on it.
Example: a player places the following sequence: 7 of spades, 8 of clubs, 9 of clubs , and 10 of diamonds. When placing the 10 of diamonds, they must announce it and must also take all the chips that are in the 10 of diamonds space on the game board.
Important note! When a player plays one of the cards displayed on the game board but they forget to take the chips from the corresponding box, they must double the value of chips in that box at the end of the round.
When a player has in their hand one of the cards displayed on the game board and they have not had the chance to place it down, they must double the value of chips present in the corresponding box at the end of the round.
End of a Round
✓ A round ends when a player manages to get rid of all the cards in their hand before all the other players.
✓ The other players must then tally up the points of the cards they still have in their hands and give them to the player who has just won the round by following a few instructions:
- Jack, queen, king and ace cards are worth 10 points (10 chips).
- The cards 2 to 10 are worth their face values (2 = 2 chips, 4 = 4 chips, etc.)
Example:
– A player manages to get rid of all their cards before any other player.
– Another player still has the cards: 5, 8, 9 and queen.
-That other player will then have to offer 5 + 8 + 9 + 10 (a queen = 10 points = 10 chips) chips to the winner of the round.
-The remaining players who still have cards in their hands will also do the same.
✓ Chips that are still on the game board will remain there for the next round.
End of a Game
Players must set a point total at the start of the game. After several rounds, the first player who manages to reach that total (thanks to the chips they have obtained) is declared the winner of the game.
The Grand Opera
This is a rare occurrence in Yellow Dwarf.
When a player manages to get rid of all their cards without any of the other players being able to play at least one card, this is called a grand opera. Therefore, they take all the chips that are on the game board and the other players must give them the value of their cards in hand in the form of chips.
