ZOOM and ZORCH: THE CARDGAME ---------------------------- A Harmless bit of diversion for four or more people. INTRODUCTION Zoom and Zorch (Z2) is a simple nonsense game played with cards. Four or MORE people can play, and the more the merrier. The designer does not advocate cultivating a culture of alchoholism, but our crack playtesting team has determined that playing Z2 in a more relaxed atmosphere, say, in a pub, has led to very enjoyable (nay, hilarious) results. Z2 started life as a "drinking game" played with words, not cards, back in the mid-1970s, and its historical antecedents are recognizable after a few beers or so. These rules basically cover how to convert a verbal drinking game into a card game. I make no claim over the source material. HOW TO ASSEMBLE THE GAME COMPONENTS Print the card files (zooms.jpg, zorches.jpg, mafigs.jpg, zotz_etc.jpg, backs.jpg) on a color printer. Dot matrix is okay, but remember that certain inks are water soluable and may not hold up well to repeated handling. A quick spritzing with a spray on sealant (available in craft stores), or lamination will solve the problem. Color printing is recommended, as the cards are color coded. The game can be played in Black & White or greyscale, but cards aren't as easily recognizable that way. You may wish to add card backs (BACKS.JPG) to the existing cards (this is not required). Print the card back page once for every sheet of card fronts you print. If your printer can handle card stock, this is the primo solution. If not, you may need to glue the cards to card stock. The Cards provided in the graphic files are optimal for 4-5 players. If you wish to accomodate more players, print more cards. For larger games, it is best to deal out 7 cards (see below). COMPONENTS There are 24 ZOOM! Cards, 18 ZORCH! Cards, 12 MAFIGLIANO... Cards, 9 ZOTZ! Cards, 6 BLAAT! Cards, 3 ICK! Cards and 3 BOINK! Cards in this basic deck. The symbols on the cards indicate the ACTION that needs to be taken with the card. The Green Number is an arbitrary, worthless number used for scoring that we call the Card Value. Also included is this rules document, and nothing else is needed to play. Really. Okay, maybe a piece of paper and a pencil to keep score with would be helpful, but if you can't follow along in your head it's time to visit remedial arithmetic again... HOW TO WIN Each Player generates DISCARDS during rounds. The player with the most discards wins the round. The first player to win five rounds wins the Game. HOW TO PLAY THE GAME Shuffle the deck, and everyone grabs a card. The player that draws the card with the highest value number (the green number) is the first DEALER. If you get a tie, repeat the process until you don't have a tie. Reshuffle. The DEALER deals out five cards to each player, Face DOWN. The Remainder of the cards are placed Face DOWN in a neat pile in the center of the table called a DRAW DECK. ROUNDS The First Round Begins. The Player to the Dealer's LEFT plays a card. Cards are played Face Up (you may wish to cover the card with your hand until it is revealed... for the drama). A card is considered "played" once the card action (AND RESPONSE, if there is one) has been conducted. Once a card has been played, it is discarded, in a neat little pile to the player's right. Here is a list of the cards and what they do: ZOOM! This is the basic card play. Action: The card is played by point the arrow on the card to ANY opposing player (if that player is not engaged), and saying "Zoom!" in a loud, clear voice. A ZOOM! *must* be responded to, by a card play of some sort. ZOOMS are worth 1 point. ZORCH! Action: This is the basic response to a ZOOM! Playing a ZORCH! brings the play back to the ZOOM! Player, who continues her play. A ZORCH! can *only* respond to a ZOOM! and is worth 1 point. A ZOOM!, followed by a ZORCH!, is discarded. MAFIGLIANO... Action: This is a redirect... it can Redirect a ZOOM! to another player, or an ICK! or ZOTZ! or even another MAFIGLIANO... To play, point the MAFIGLIANO... Card in direction of the player you wish to redirect to. Once a Redirect is accomplished, the player discards the MAFIGLIANO... card. MAFIGLIANO... cards are worth 3 points. ZOTZ! is a capture card. Action: This card is NOT played in response to another card, but at the beginning of a round. To play, point at an opponent's hand, which she must place face down on the tabletop. Randomly select a card and place it in your discard pile. ZOTZs may be countered by MAFIGLIANO... cards or the BOINK! Interrupt, but not ZOOM!s, ZORCH!s, or ICK!s. ZOTZ! Cards are worth 3 points. ICK! is also a capture card, but it can only be played as a response, and cannot be countered. ICK!s can be played on ZOOM!s or MAFIGLIANO...s. Action: When the ICK! is played, the ZOOM! or MAFIGLIANO... card is placed in the ICK! Player's discard player (not the player who played the ZOOM! or MAFIGLIANO... card). Only a BOINK! Interrupt can counter the ICK! ICK! Cards are worth 3 points. BLAAT! is a spoiler card. Action: ALL players discard cards from their current hands. Action: The BLAAT! is played at any time during a round, by any player who holds it. The BLAAT! player then selects two cards randomly from the opposing player's hand (in the same fashion as a ZOTZ!), and places them in a discard pile. BOINK! This is an Interrupt card, the only one in the game and the card that ends the Round. Action: The BOINK! Can be played at any time during a round that the player initiated. The effects of BOINK! supercede any other card, and ends the Round. A Player may continue to play ALL cards in her hand as she sees fit, or may PASS to the player on her left. When a Player Passes, no cards are discarded and she must draw UP TO five cards (but not to exceed that number) when the dealer resumes the deal. ROUNDS continues around the table until five Rounds have been played, or all players have had a chance to play a round, whichever comes first. The Dealer shuffles the Draw Deck and deals out new cards to the players between Rounds. The Player with the Most Points from Discards at the end of Five Rounds (or more if more players) wins the game! Zoom and Zorch: The Card Game is copyright 2000 Walter O'Hara