P : 2 to 6.

STARTING THE GAME: Separate the three types of cards.

Give each player their Deal cards face-up according to the
table below, and a pair of Take Sides cards. Shuffle the
Playing cards.
Deal cards Players 2-4 5 6
per player Cards 6 5 4

STARTING A ROUND: Give the dealer one face-down Playing card for each of their face-up Deal cards. Repeat
clockwise for remaining players. Dealer plays first and must bid, then play continues clockwise.
YOUR TURN: Do one of the following:
 BID: A bid is a guess (or bluff) that there is at least a certain number of cards of a given rank in play.
Example: a bid of T 5 means that there is a total of three or more 5s and stars between all hands.
Your bid must be higher than the last bid (unless it’s the first bid of the round.) A bid is higher if the number of
cards is higher, or the number of cards is the same but the rank is higher.
Example: if the last bid was T 4 , you could bid T 5 ,T 6 , or four or more of any rank (even
F 1 ), but you couldn't bid T 3 , or two or less of any rank.
 CHALLENGE: A call of CHALLENGE means that you think the last player’s bid was too high. For example,
challenging a bid of THREE 5S means you think there are less than three 5s and stars in total between all
hands. Unlike most other bid/challenge games, calling CHALLENGE does not end the bidding.
 DOUBLE: If you’re the high bidder and were challenged, you may call DOUBLE at your next turn, increasing the
stakes for losing the round from 1 to 2 cards. You must have at least 2 cards to call DOUBLE.
 TRIPLE: If your challenge was doubled, you may call TRIPLE at your next turn, further increasing the stakes for
losing the round to 3 cards. You must have at least 3 cards to call TRIPLE.
· PASS: If the high bid has been challenged, doubled, or tripled, you may PASS. Bidding ends if a player calls
C ,D , or T and every other player passes.
 SIDESTEP: Any bid cancels all earlier bids, challenges, doubles, and triples. However if your bid cancels your
own bid, challenge, or double, it’s a SIDESTEP and you must expose any one card from your hand leaving it
face-up on the table. The card remains in play. (If all of your cards are exposed, you can’t SIDESTEP.)
Example: if you bid THREE 5S, are challenged, and it’s your bid again, you could SIDESTEP by exposing a card
and bidding FOUR 4S.
 DRAW: You may try to improve your hand before bidding. Discard cards from your hand face up, then draw the
same number of cards from the deck, then make a higher bid. This all counts as one turn.
 You may not discard cards with the same rank as the current bid, cards with a S , or exposed cards.
 With 5-6 cards you may discard up to 3 cards, with 3-4 cards up to 2 cards, and with 1-2 cards just 1 card.
 You can’t DRAW if your bid would be a SIDESTEP.
Example: the previous player bid THREE 5S.You have five cards and so could draw three but choose to draw
just two. You discard two cards face up, neither of which contains a S or a 5. You then make a bid higher
than THREE 5S (for example FOUR 5S or THREE 6S) You can’t make any other play with a DRAW, you must bid.
T S : After the bidding ends, players other than the Bidder and
Challenger choose who they believe is right. Players who make the wrong
choice lose a card.
Place one of your two Take Sides cards face down in front of you. Once
everyone has made their choice, flip them face up. (If only you are taking
sides, you can place the card face up.)

 A player with only 1 card (” L C ”) does not take sides.

 When only 2 players remain, no one takes sides.
L C : When you have just 1 card left you are at L C , and two special rules apply:
 You don’t takes sides.
 If you win the round, you gain a card, and are no longer at L C .
Notes: if you lose a Double with 2 cards left, or a Triple with 3 cards left, you miss out on L C and are out
of the game. Having all but 1 card exposed is not L C , as exposed cards are still in play.
K O : If you lose all your cards, you’re out of the game. If you win a round in which a player is knocked out,
you gain a card.
RULES
CONTINUED
ON BACK
THE SHOWDOWN: After bidding ends and players have taken sides, if any, everyone shows their hand. Count the
number of cards of the rank bid across all hands including the number of Stars. If the total count is, or is higher
than the quantity bid, the Bidder wins the round and the Challenger loses. If the total is lower, the Challenger wins
and the Bidder loses. Remember:
 Only the total matters - it makes no difference who has which cards.
 Stars always take on the rank of the current bid.
Example: if the last bid was THREE 5S, and the count of 5s plus Stars is three or more, the Bidder wins the round. If
it’s two or less, the Challenger wins the round.
T . Some cards have two numbers, two Stars, or a number and a Star. Each is counted separately.
Example: if the bid is THREE 5S, a card with two 5s on it counts as two 5s, so does a card with a 5 and a Star or a
card with two Stars. A card with a 6 and a Star counts as one 5.
SHOWDOWN!: Calling SHOWDOWN! means that you think that the current bid is exactly right, and has special rules:
 Bidding ends immediately. Taking Sides is skipped, and you go to right to the Showdown.
 If the count matches the quantity bid exactly, the player calling SHOWDOWN! wins the round and gains a card
while every other player loses a card.
 If the count is higher or lower than the quantity bid, the Bidder wins the round and the player calling
SHOWDOWN! loses a card.
You can call SHOWDOWN! anytime after the first Bid - unless you are the current Bidder or Challenger. Calling
SHOWDOWN! cancels any previous Challenge, Double, or Triple.
Example: if the bidding proceeds like this - THREE 5S... CHALLENGE... PASS... you could call SHOWDOWN!, (unless
you’re the Bidder or Challenger,) ending the bidding immediately.
LOSING CARDS: If you lose a round as the Bidder or Challenger, you lose a card, unless the bid was Doubled or
Tripled, in which case you lose 2 or 3 cards. If you Take Sides with the losing player, you lose just one card, even if
the bid was Doubled or Tripled. Turn a Deal card face down for each card you lose.

GAINING CARDS: You can gain back cards in one of three ways:
 Win a round with a call of S !
 Win a round in which a player is knocked out of the game.
 Win a round at L C .
You can gain only 1 card per round, even if 2 or more of these occur together.
Turn one Deal card face up each time you gain a card. You can’t gain cards if
all of your Deal cards are already face-up.
BETWEEN ROUNDS: At the end of each round, all players discard their cards. Don’t shuffle. The winner of each
round becomes the dealer and bids first in the next round.
SHUFFLING: Shuffle the cards at the start of each game, but not between rounds. If the last card of the deck is dealt
or drawn, shuffle all of the discards to form a new deck and continue. (You can pause to shuffle in the middle of a
deal or draw.)
BLUFFING: You may make any legal play regardless of the cards in your hand - even a bid or challenge that you
know would fail. Bluffing to mislead your opponents is part of this game. However, peeking at your
opponents' cards, hiding cards, intentionally counting incorrectly, and so on, are considered cheating.
WINNING THE GAME: If you're the last player with face-up Deal cards, you're the winner!

SHOWNDOWN! was invented by Andy Daniel. Graphics by Susan Daniel, Shayna Daniel, & Patrick Carlson. Package physical design by Veigh
Andrews. Photography by Elliot Daniel. Editing by Shayna Daniel & Alice Langholt. Solid modeling by Alexander Ivanov. Originally published
as “Bid It”. Entire contents © 2003, 2022 Enginuity LLC.

Q R
IF... THEN...
Anyone just dealt the cards Dealer must make any bid
Anyone Challenged, Doubled, or Tripled, Take Sides if needed,
and every other player Passed then everyone shows their cards
Anyone called Showdown Everyone shows their cards
Otherwise, if the last player who DID NOT PASS did this… then you must do one of these…
Bid, Draw, or Sidestep Bid, Draw, Challenge, or Showdown
Challenged YOUR bid Pass, Sidestep, or Double
Doubled YOUR Challenge Pass, Sidestep, or Triple
Tripled YOUR Double Pass or Sidestep
Challenged, Doubled, or Tripled a DIFFERENT player Pass, Bid, Draw, or Showdown