unbreakable

contributed by dylan (dylanbeatles88@cs.com)

players:

2

cards:

normal deck of 52 cards, no jokers.

dealing:

the dealer deals him/herself, and his/her opponent 5 cards. this is called the match hand. it is used later in the game and now should be put aside. the dealer now takes the top card off the deck and places it face up somewhere so both players can see it. this is called the chooser, and will be explained later. the dealer now deals both of them 3 cards (important: these must be kept separate from your match hand!) this is called your weapon hand. now you should begin play on the chooser.

play on the chooser:

there is only 1 chooser per game however later there are several attackers which are similar to a chooser.(see: play on an attacker.) to play on the chooser each player looks at their weapon hand (3 cards.) and discards 1 card from it leaving it at 2 cards. players base which card they wish to discard by the chooser.

they want to make their remaing cards, over or under, to be as close to the chooser as they can get. ex: the chooser is 7, after players discard their 1 card each, player 1 has a 1 and a 3, s/he has 4 which is 3 numbers away from 7. player 2 has a 3 and a 5, s/he has 8 which is 1 number away from 7 thus player 2 would win that.

note: zero does count. ex: if the chooser were 2. player one had 2 face cards which is zero, and player 2 has 2, and 3 which is 5, player 1 would win because 0 is closer to 2 than 5 is. whoever gets closest wins the chooser round and gets to go first. the chooser is simply discarded unless a knockout occurs. a knockout is when a player's remaining 2 cards matches the chooser exactly. ex: the chooser is 5. player one has a 4 and a 1 which is 5 which is the same as the chooser thus player 1 executed a knockout.

when a player executes a knockout during play on a chooser then the chooser goes into the hand of the player who lost the chooser round. (because the object of the game is to get rid of your entire match hand). thus a knockout is good if you execute 1 then your opponent puts it in his/her hand, not yours. if you execute a knockout during play on an attacker it is slightly different. (see: play on an attacker.) also if a player executes a knockout during play on a chooser s/he gets to go first, just as if they'd simply won the round. if both players come up with the same hand or the same amount of numbers away from the chooser then the chooser is discarded and the dealer draws a new one thus beginning again - s/he'd have to deal new weapon hands as the old ones are discarded after used.

card value:

ace=1; 2-10=face value; any face card in a weapon hand=zero; any face card as a chooser or an attacker=100 ( note: it is impossible to execute a knockout if chooser or attacker is a face card because you can hold only as high as 20 at a time. when a face card is the chooser or attacker then simply the highest weapon hand wins that round.

taking a turn:

the player who won the chooser round by knockout or not now takes his/her turn. s/he simply takes a card from his/her match hand and lays it face up where the chooser was. this the attacker. old weapon hands should be discarded at the very beginning of each turn, because now after the attacker is selected the dealer deals a new 3 card weapon hand to both players.

play on an attacker:

much like play on a chooser with a few exeptions. players once again discard 1 of the 3 weapon cards trying to get as close to the attacker as they can. if a player does not execute a knockout but still is closest than instead of discarding it, it is placed in the loser of that rounds match hand. if a player does execute a knockout than that card goes in the losers match hand plus the loser must draw another card from the deck and place that in his/her match hand as well. if both players get the same number or are the same amount of numbers away from the attacker, knockout or not, this is called a deflector and the card is discarded. the player's turn ends if:

1. a player wins by being closest to the attacker,
2. a player wins by executing a knockout, or
3. a deflector occurs. now the next player takes his/her turn in the same manner and back and forth etc. until one player is able to discard his/her entire match hand. this player is declared "unbreakable", or the winner.

note:

if at any time during gameplay the deck runs dry simply reshuffle the discard pile and voila a new deck.
enjoy!