The official rules of the people's card game
- 2–5 comrades
- 52 commonly held cards
- No Jokers in the committee
Lopti in sixty productive seconds
- 1
Distribute nine
Three cards face-down, three face-up above them, and three in each hand. Every comrade may exchange one hand card with one face-up card.
- 2
Advance upward
Play one or more cards of one rank. Play higher—or match the rank with a larger delegation than the previous play.
- 3
Draw once
After the first play of your turn, draw one card if the common draw pile remains and your hand holds fewer than three.
- 4
Accept the pile
If you cannot—or elect not to—play, take the entire play pile. Your turn concludes.
- 5
Clear the pile; play again.
Every clear grants its responsible comrade a bonus play, unless that comrade has just gone out.
- 6
Reach cardlessness
Empty your hand, then your face-up cards, then your blind cards. The first out authors a rule.
4 → 4 4 → 4Four of one rank clears the means of play.
Cards of special function
Two and seven remain among the people. Three and ten leave circulation.
2Reset conditions
Play on anything except an active duty from 3. The next play may be any rank.
The 2 remains in the pile. On another 2, follow ‘match with more’ or complete all four.3Pass the duty
Play on anything. If a pile exists, the next comrade must take it or play at least one 3 to pass the pickup duty onward.
Every 3 leaves circulation immediately and is never picked up. Display chained 3s beside the common pile until a non-3 is played or the pile is taken or cleared. Four chained 3s clear the underlying pile. On an empty table, a 3 creates no duty.7Direct downward
Play on anything except an active duty from 3. The next play must rank 7 or lower.
A 10 cannot follow a 7. Each new play of 7s renews the downward directive. Four 7s clear the pile.10Collective clear
Play on anything except a 7 or an active duty from 3. It clears the pile immediately.
The 10 leaves circulation with the cleared cards. The comrade makes a bonus play on the empty table.How a round develops
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Organization
Use one standard 52-card deck without Jokers. Suits possess no special privilege. Aces are high; cards of special function override ordinary rank hierarchy.
- Distribute three face-down cards to each comrade. Private inspection is not permitted.
- Place three cards face-up, one above each face-down card.
- Distribute three cards into each hand. The remainder forms the face-down common draw pile.
- Each comrade may make one optional exchange between a hand card and a face-up card.
- Responsibility for dealing rotates clockwise. The dealer leads the session's first round; the previous winner leads later rounds.
Completing a turn
Play proceeds clockwise in solidarity. On an empty table, lead with one or more cards of any single rank. Otherwise, make one legal play or voluntarily take the nonempty play pile. No self-criticism is required for a voluntary pickup. Any pickup concludes your turn.
After your turn's first legal play, draw exactly one card if the common draw pile remains and you hold fewer than three. Playing several cards still earns one draw; holding three or more earns none.
A clear grants a bonus play, not a new turn. Bonus plays never earn another draw. Repeated clears can produce repeated bonus plays.
Clearing the common pile
A clear removes the play pile from the round, cancels every pending 3 or 7 effect, and immediately grants the comrade who caused it a bonus play.
Clear with a legal 10, four cards of one rank, a chain of all four 3s, all four 7s, or fulfillment of a valid custom clear motion.
Cleared cards remain outside the round unless a custom rule restores them to circulation. No custom motion may prevent a clear or the clearer’s bonus play.
Public and unknown cards
After your draw opportunity has passed, if your hand is empty, immediately take all three face-up cards as your new hand. This may happen during bonus plays while others still draw from common supply.
When that hand is empty, play one face-down card without looking whenever you have a play. Reveal it to the assembly. If legal, resolve it normally. If illegal, add it to the play pile, take the entire pile into your hand, and end your turn.
Under an active 3 duty, only a blind 3 is legal. Every other blind card joins the pile you must take.
Victory
You win the moment your final face-down card is played legally. Its social function still resolves: a final 3 may pass the duty and a final 7 may impose downward play.
If your final card clears, you are already out and cannot use the bonus play. The next active comrade leads onto the empty table. The collective may continue for later places, but only the first out wins and authors a rule.
Common committee rulings
- What occurs when a 3 is played on an empty pile?
- The 3 leaves circulation, but there are no cards to take, so no comrade loses a turn. The next player leads normally.
- May one card join three matching cards?
- Yes. Completing all four cards of a legal rank is a legal match and clears the common pile.
- Can four higher cards overturn a 7?
- No. The rank must first be legal. On a 7, four 6s may clear; four 8s may not.
- Do several 3s pass duty across several comrades?
- No. One play of one or more 3s passes one pickup duty to the next comrade. Every 3 still counts toward the chain of four.
- Who interprets an edge case in retained policy?
- The author when present. If absent, the table uses a majority. If no interpretation wins, use the one that changes base Lopti least.
The winner submits a motion.
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- Declare it before the deadlineState the entire rule before the next deal is complete. It then remains policy for the session.
- Add; do not abolishA custom motion may add actions before or after a base event, but it cannot prevent that event.
- Preserve playable conditionsNo motion may block victory or voting, create an endless loop, operate retroactively, or require unsafe, illegal, discriminatory, destructive, or non-consensual conduct.
- Target conditions, not comradesGame roles, changing conditions, and mini-game results are legitimate. Names, fixed personal traits, and disguised personal targets are not.
- The author interprets ambiguityThe motion's author decides an edge case but cannot substantially rewrite it after the round begins.
The Rule Vote assembly
When dealing begins, the table receives one Rule Vote for that round. It may remove or amend a custom motion, or make a session-only amendment to base law. Everyone in the session may vote, including comrades already out. A majority requires affirmative votes from more than half of all comrades in the session.
- The winner’s new motion does not consume the vote.
- An author may withdraw their own rule at any time without a vote. A meaningful amendment needs the vote; withdrawal grants no replacement.
- A failed or tied vote consumes the round's one attempt.
- Before voting, declare whether the amendment begins immediately or next round. Never reverse completed card actions; an unfinished custom action may be stopped.
- A withdrawn rule cannot return during that session without a later Rule Vote.
- The democratic voting and Roshambo procedure itself is constitutionally unchangeable.
A deadlocked assembly invokes Roshambo.
The comrade proposing change faces the rule's author. If the author is absent, supporters select an advocate. If nobody defends the rule, the motion passes. For a proposed amendment to base law, the proposer faces the first comrade to enter formal opposition.
Play exactly 30 decisive rock-paper-scissors throws; tied throws do not count toward the plan. At 15–15, the next decisive throw wins. If one side cannot select a representative, hold a single-elimination bracket with one decisive throw per match.
Every session begins without inherited privilege.
A session is the continuous period agreed by the collective. Specific old rules return only with majority approval during setup; those votes do not consume the first round's Rule Vote. If an absent author's rule needs interpretation, the table decides by majority; without one, use the reading that changes base Lopti least.