PANJANDRUM
Panjandrum is a really cool card game that was created by this guy named George Parker. Instead of using a regular deck of cards, like the ones you might use for a game of poker, Panjandrum uses a special deck called a Rook deck. This deck has 56 cards, but it doesn’t have that one card with the picture of a bird on it, called the Rook card. You don’t really need that card for this game anyway.
In Panjandrum, the goal is to get rid of all the cards in your draw pile. You do this by playing cards to the center building piles or onto your opponent’s delay piles. It’s all about strategy and trying to outsmart your opponents.
Now, here’s the really fun part. You can play this game with 3 or 4 players, but it’s most exciting when you have a full group of 5 players. Trust me, you’ll have a blast!
THE CARDS & THE DEAL
Before you start playing, you need to shuffle the deck. Then deal out all the cards, one card at a time. Now, because the number of cards can be different for each player, some players might end up with more cards than others. But don’t worry, that’s part of the game and it’s perfectly okay.
Once everyone has their cards, it’s time to get serious. Without peeking at the cards or rearranging them in any way, each player puts their cards face down in a neat pile right in front of them. This way, no one knows what cards they have until they start playing.
THE PLAY
THE FIRST TURN
So, let’s get this game started, shall we? I’m the first player, and it’s my turn to draw a card from my pile. If it’s a 1, I’ll proudly play it and start a pile in that color right in the center of the table. Exciting, isn’t it? Okay, now I draw the next card from my pile. If it’s a 2 in the same color as the 1 I just played, I can add it to the pile and draw again. But if it’s a 1, we have a new pile! So, I keep going like this until I draw a card that I can’t play.
Oh no, what happens now? When I can’t play a card, I don’t just give up. I proudly place it face up in my delay pile, and that’s the end of my turn.
Now it’s the next player’s turn to shine. They follow the same rules as me. Draw a card, play it if they can, and keep the piles building. It’s all about strategy and making smart moves. How exciting! We take turns like this, one after the other, until someone draws a card they can’t play. That’s when things get really interesting!
Once you have a delay pile, you need to play from it first before playing from your draw pile. If you can, play your cards on the building piles in the center of the table. If that’s not possible, you can play on other players’ delay piles.
You can build up or down on other players’ delay piles without worrying about color.
If you can’t play a card from your delay pile, you have to draw a card from your draw pile. If you can’t play that card either, add it to your delay pile and end your turn.
When you’ve played all the cards from your draw pile, flip your delay pile over and start playing from it as your new draw pile.
PANJANDRUM
When you’re playing a game, sometimes mistakes happen. And when they do, your opponents have a special word they can use: “panjandrum.” If you make an error, like missing a possible move or drawing from the wrong pile, someone can call out “panjandrum.”
If you hear “panjandrum,” it means you made a mistake and now you have to take two cards from the person who called it and one card from everyone else’s pile. These cards go to the bottom of your draw pile.
But be careful! If you wrongly accuse someone of making a mistake by shouting “panjandrum,” you’ll end up getting penalty cards. Two from the person you falsely accused and one from everyone else.
WINNING
The goal of the game is to be the first player to get rid of all your cards. So keep playing, try to avoid mistakes, and have fun!