Cambio

Players and equipment

2 to 6 players and a standard 52-card deck, no jokers. Play with one hand only, at all times — the other stays off the table, so nobody can turn a card over unseen.

The deal

Four cards face down to each player, laid out in a 2x2 grid. The rest of the deck goes in the middle as the draw pile, and its top card is turned over to start the discard pile. Before play begins each player may look at their bottom two cards once, then turn them back. The top two stay unknown, and from here on your own square is memory.

Play

On your turn, draw one card: the top of the draw pile or the top of the discard pile.

From the discard pile

You must swap it with one card in your grid, placing it face down and discarding the old card face up

From the draw pile

Swap it with any card in your grid, discard it straight away, or discard it to use its power

A card from the discard pile has been seen by everybody, so you take it only when you know which of your own cards it beats. Whatever you put on the discard pile is the card the next player may take.

Magic card powers

A power works only when the card is drawn from the draw pile and discarded immediately.

7 and 8

Look at one card in an opponent's grid, then turn it back

9 and 10

Look at one card in your own grid, then turn it back

Jack

Blind swap one of your cards with one of an opponent's, without looking at either

Queen

Look at one card in any grid, yours or an opponent's, then choose whether to swap it with another card

The same card taken from the discard pile is just a number. A 7 spent on a look is a 7 that never joined your square.

Snapping

Matching out of turn

When a card lands on the discard pile, anyone holding a card of the same rank may snap it onto the pile before the next draw

Snapping an opponent's card

If you know an opponent holds a match, you may snap their card onto the pile and hand them one of your face-down cards in its place

No self-snap

You cannot snap from your own grid onto a card you drew or discarded yourself on your own turn

Wrong snap

Put the card back face down and draw one penalty card, face down, into your grid

Clearing your grid

Snapping away your last card wins the round on the spot, for 0 points

Snapping is the fast way down: a snapped card leaves your square for good, with nothing drawn to replace it.

Scoring

Red Kings, hearts and diamonds

0

The cards to keep

Aces

1

Low

2 through 10

Face value

Pip count

Jacks and Queens

10

Court cards

Black Kings, spades and clubs

13

The cards to get rid of

Add up the cards left in your square at the end of the round. The red kings are the best cards in the deck to sit on, and the black kings the card everybody is trying to hand you.

A worked round

Alice, Ben, Cara and Dev. Alice says Cambio instead of drawing; the other three take one final turn, and every square is turned face up.

Alice, the caller

6

Red king, ace, 2 and 3

Ben

22

Red king, 5, 7 and jack

Cara

25

2, 6, 8 and 9

Dev

31

3, 5, queen and black king

Alice's six is strictly the lowest, so the call succeeds: she scores 0 and everybody else scores their hand — Ben 22, Cara 25, Dev 31. Had Ben's jack been the other red king, Ben would have had 6 too, and a tie is not good enough: the call would have failed and Alice would have scored the highest hand plus ten, which is 41.

Totals carry from round to round. Dev, on 31, is nearest the finish line of 100, and the score table shows him 69 from it.

Ending

Call "Cambio" (or "Cabo") at the start of your turn instead of drawing. Everyone else takes one final turn, then all cards are turned over and counted.

Successful call

Caller scores 0, everyone else their hand

The caller has the strictly lowest total

Failed call

Caller scores the highest hand at the table plus 10

Somebody ties or beats the caller

Winning

Finish line

100

Deal again until somebody's total reaches it, then the match ends

Winner

Lowest total

Totals only go up, so the lowest is ahead

The score table counts down from the finish line: the number under each name is how far that player is from reaching it, so the biggest number there is the player in the lead.

What to remember

Your two bottom cards, and every card you have swapped in since, in their places. Say them over to yourself each turn; the moment you lose track of one, treat it as a ten until you can afford a 9 to look. Remember what you have seen in other people's squares too, and where, because that is what a snap or a jack needs later.

Taking from the discard pile

Only take a card from the discard pile when it beats a card you know. A 2 or an ace on the pile is a gift, but everybody sees you take it and where you put it, so from then on they know one of your cards. A red king on the pile is worth taking whatever you swap out for it.

The special cards

The 7 and 8 look at an opponent's card: use them on the player nearest to calling, and keep what you saw in mind for a snap. The 9 and 10 look at your own: aim them at your top two, which you have never seen. The jack's blind swap is a gamble, so give away a card you know is high for one you have reason to think is low. The queen is the strongest card in the game: look first, then swap only if it helps.

Snapping risks

A wrong snap costs a penalty card, face down: a card you know nothing about in a square you are trying to shrink. Snap only what you are sure of — a card of your own you have kept track of, or an opponent's you looked at and they have not touched since. When you snap an opponent's card, hand them the highest card you know, so the exchange costs them twice.

When to call Cambio

A call has to be strictly the lowest, so you want to know all four of your cards and be well under everybody else. Two red kings and two low cards is a call; a square you have not fully seen is not. Call as soon as you are sure, because every turn you wait is a turn in which somebody may snap a card away or find a red king — and a player who has stopped swapping is usually about to call.

Cabo

The boxed version of the same idea, with a deck numbered 0 to 13 and the powers printed on the cards: 7s and 8s peek at one of your own, 9s and 10s spy on an opponent's, 11s and 12s swap. One rule of its own: a caller holding both 12s and both 13s scores nothing and everybody else takes fifty.

Golf

The cousin with its own page. Four-card golf is the same square and the same one look at two cards, but a hole ends when a player knocks, there are no snaps and no powers, and a pair in a column cancels to nothing. It is the gentler game to learn first.

Card powers that differ by table

Some tables reverse the two looks, so the 7 and 8 look at your own card and the 9 and 10 at an opponent's. Some let the jack look before it swaps, and some give the black kings a power of their own, to soften the thirteen. Agree the powers out loud before the first deal.

The penalty for a wrong snap

One penalty card here. Stricter tables deal two, and some also have the wrongly snapped card put back face up for the whole table to see.

No finish line

Some tables play a fixed number of rounds — one with each player as dealer is common — or simply stop when they feel like it, and the lowest total wins. On SquareScores the host sets the finish line at launch and can move it during play, so a table with no line in mind can set one far off.

What do the special cards do in Cambio?

Drawn from the draw pile and discarded at once: a 7 or 8 looks at one of an opponent's cards, a 9 or 10 at one of your own, a jack swaps one of your cards for one of an opponent's without looking, and a queen looks at any card and then decides whether to swap it. A card taken from the discard pile has no power.

What happens if you snap the wrong card in Cambio?

The card goes back face down where it was and you draw a penalty card from the draw pile, face down, into your square: a fifth card you know nothing about, which usually costs far more than the card you were trying to lose.

When can you call Cambio?

At the start of your turn, instead of drawing. Everybody else then takes one last turn, and all the squares are turned face up and added. You cannot call during somebody else's turn or after you have drawn.

What happens if you call Cambio and lose?

If anybody ties or beats your total, your call has failed. You score the highest hand at the table plus 10, and everybody else scores their own hand as usual. A tie counts as a failed call, so you have to be strictly the lowest.

Is Cambio the same as Cabo?

The same game in shape: four face-down cards, one look at two of them, powers on some cards, snapping, and a call that ends the round. Cabo is the boxed version with its own numbered deck and slightly different powers; Cambio is played with an ordinary pack.

What are kings worth in Cambio?

The two red kings, hearts and diamonds, are worth 0, the best cards in the deck. The two black kings, spades and clubs, are worth 13, the worst. Jacks and queens are 10, aces 1, and the number cards their face value.