Effervesce

Contributed by Clark DeCant

This game requires two 52-card decks, one Red Joker, one Black Joker, and two six-sided dice to play. It is for two to seven players.

At the beginning of the game, each player is dealt fifteen cards as their hand, and the remaining cards serve as the stock. The object of the game is to assemble a full suit in the hand, from ace to king, without duplicates. If, for example, a player has an Ace through a King of Spades in their hand, and one of their two left-over cards is another Three of Spades, they do not win until the Three has left their hand and they maintain the suit.

This is a turn-based game, and play moves counterclockwise. The turn player first declares either the stock or another player in the game. The turn player then rolls the two dice. The turn player takes the total of the two dice, and selects an equal number of cards from their hand.

• If the player declared stock, the selected cards are shuffled into the undealt stock and the player then draws an equal number of cards from the stock. In this process the player may get back some of the selected cards.
• If the player declared another player, that player offers their cards face down, and the turn player draws the number of cards indicated by the dice total from their hand. The cards are then traded: the turn player takes the cards drawn from the declared player's hand and the declared player takes the cards selected by the turn player.

The player who has been declared against in a trade can challenge the trade. The turn player and the challenging player each reveal the highest-valued card in their hands and the higher card wins. For this purpose Aces are high and Sevens have the same value as Kings, so the ranking from high to low A, 7=K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Between cards of equal rank the suits rank from high to low: Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, Clubs. The Jokers have special effects as described below. Example: if the turn player produces a King of Spades, and the challenging player produces a Seven of Hearts. Their values are equal, so the winner is determined by suit. The challenging player wins, because he or she has a Heart, and the turn player has a Spade.

What happens next depends on who wins.

• If the turn player wins, then the challenging player reveals their hand. The turn player may then select one or both of the dice as the total number of traded cards. The turn player then selects which cards they want from the challenging player's hand, and trade an equal number of their own cards for them. Play continues to the right.
• If the challenging player wins, the turn player reveals their hand. The challenging player selects up to two cards, takes them, and chooses two cards to give in exchange. Additionally, the challenging player selects up to five cards from the turn player's hand. The turn player must shuffle these into the stock, and then draw an equal number of cards from the stock.
• In the event that the challenging and the turn player show cards equal in suit and value (for example Seven of Diamonds against King of Diamonds or two identical cards), the two players trade their entire hands and the turn ends, moving to the next player.

There are two special rules about the total of dice.

• If doubles are rolled, then all players involved in the trade - the turn player, and the player declared against, if there is one - must shuffle their entire hand into the stock. Each then draws 15 new cards from the stock.
• A total roll of seven cannot be challenged by the declared player, except by using a Red Joker (see below).

Note that whatever the results of a turn, all players should have 15 cards at the end of the turn, when play passes to the right.

The Red Joker and the Black Joker are unique cards. Both can be played from a player's hand.

The Red Joker can be played to instantly win any challenged trade, at any point during the challenge. When the Red Joker is used, each player in the game selects two cards out of their hand and passes them to their left. Then the Joker is shuffled into the stock and the player who used it draws one card. That person then wins the challenged trade and the appropriate rules apply. A Red Joker can challenge a dice roll of seven and automatically win. Unlike the Black Joker, it cannot be used as a wild card.

The Black Joker is different: it has two uses.

1. Cancel a trade. The Black Joker cannot be played to win challenges, but it can be played to cancel a trade, at any time during the trade up to the point where the cards are exchanged, by any player involved in the trade, including the turn player. The Black Joker is then shuffled into the stock, and one card is drawn by the player who used it. The Black Joker can be played after the Red Joker, to cancel a trade for which the Red Joker has claimed an instant win.
2. Wild card. For the purpose of winning the game, the Black Joker can be used as a wild card to represent any Spade or Club, but not to represent a red card. However, when it is used in a winning suit, the player attempting to win with the Joker must select another player in the game to challenge the win. The winning player must select one of the two leftover cards in their hand and show it. The player chosen to challenge the win can use any card in his or her hand. If the winning player is defeated, the player who tried to win must shuffle their hand into the stock and draw fifteen new cards. In the event of a tie in suit and value, the two players show another card.

If two players attain a full suit in their hand simultaneously, the winner is determined by suit. However, if two players attain the same suit, which is highly unlikely, then the tie is resolved by the highest leftover card in the hand.