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The rules

How to play SEVN

SEVN is a game of happy greed. Every card you draw makes your pile worth more — until you draw a number you already have, and it all goes poof. Collect seven different numbers in one round and you hit SEVN: the round ends on the spot and you pocket a shiny +15. First to 200 points wins.

The deck

One big shared deck of 94 cards. Here's the twist with the numbers: each value appears as many times as the value itself. Twelve 12s, seven 7s, two 2s… and exactly one 0. So high cards are worth more and more dangerous to double up on. The 0 is worth nothing, but it still counts as one of your seven numbers — a little hero.

×1
×1
×2
×3
×4
×5
×6
×7
×8
×9
×10
×11
×12
Thirteen values, and each appears as many times as its value.

Your turn

Play goes around the table. When it's your turn, pick one:

Draw

Take the top card, face up, for everyone to see. Live a little!

Stay

Tuck your cards away and sit out the rest of the round. Everything you've collected is safe and will score.

Your number cards line up in front of you, sorted, in full view. Bonus cards sit in their own row above.

Bust!

Draw a number you already have and you bust: you're out of the round and score zero for it, bonus cards included. That's the whole tension of the game — every Draw is a little dare.

Duplicate = bust

Unless… you have a Second Chance ready. Then the duplicate and the Second Chance are both discarded, and you play on like nothing happened. (This happens automatically — it's not optional.)

SEVN!

The moment you hold seven different numbers, confetti: that's SEVN. The round ends immediately for everyone, all players who didn't bust score their cards, and you add +15 on top. Yes, the 0 counts as one of the seven.

SEVN!
+15

Seven different numbers in one round: play stops on the spot, everyone still standing scores — and you pocket the bonus.

The action cards

Drawing an action card means resolving it right away — action cards never stay in your row and never score.

Freeze

Pick any player still in the round (yourself included; if you're the last one standing, it has to be you). They're out of the round instantly. Not cruel, exactly: they keep their points, just like staying. But their round is over. A Second Chance won't stop a Freeze.

Second Chance

Place it in front of you; it's armed until used. It cancels one duplicate. You can only hold one: draw a second and you must hand the new one to another player who's still in and doesn't have one yet — you pick who gets lucky. Nobody eligible? It's discarded. All Second Chances are discarded when the round ends, used or not.

Triple Draw

Pick any player still in the round (again: yourself included). They're dealt up to three cards, one at a time. Fortune or catastrophe — the dealing stops early only if they bust or hit SEVN. A Second Chance drawn along the way arms immediately; a Freeze or another Triple Draw waits politely until all three cards are dealt, then goes off.

Bonus cards

Bonus cards can never hurt you: they don't count as numbers, can't cause a bust, and don't count toward your seven. They just make your pile worth more.

Scoring a round

When the round ends (everyone is out, or someone hits SEVN), each player who didn't bust scores, in this order: add up your number cards; double the sum if you hold ×2; add your + cards (never doubled); add +15 if you hit SEVN (never doubled either). Busted players score 0, no matter what they held.

3+5+7+10+1136
×272
+1082
0
round score

A finished row: five different numbers, plus two bonus cards.

Then the cards go to the discard pile, the deck passes one seat to the left, and a new round begins. When the deck runs dry, the discard pile is shuffled into a fresh one.

Winning

Finish a round with someone at 200 or more and the game ends — highest total wins. Tied at the top? Play on until one player stands alone.

Quick strategy nudges