SLABBERJAN
Hey there! Have you heard of Slabberjan? It’s a cool game that can be played by 2 to 42 people. Crazy, right? Anyway, the game revolves around these things called Slabberjan pieces, and the objective is to be the last player standing. How do you do that? Well, you’ve got to make sure your piece has a higher rank than someone else’s. Simple, right?
SETUP
Before we start, let’s talk setup. First things first, everyone gets the same number of chips or markers at the beginning. Fair is fair, you know? Oh, and the dealer? Yeah, they’re chosen randomly and change every round, shifting to the left each time.
Now it’s time to get the pieces in motion. The dealer shuffles them up real good, you feel me? Then, each player picks a piece from the bag without peeking. Sneaky, huh? Once you’ve got your piece, you can look at its value, but no showing off to the others!
Card Rank
We’ve got 42 cards in this deck. Woah! That’s a lot, right? Let me tell you how they’re ranked. Brace yourself! Here it comes:
In the game of cards, there are different ranks assigned to each player. From highest to lowest, they are knight, bird, cat, inn, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0. Additionally, there are some special designations like “white bread,” “chamber pot,” “scary face,” and “fool,” which are considered the lowest ranks.
How to Play
The round begins with the player on the left side of the dealer. The turn then continues clockwise around the table. On your turn, you must try to swap your card with the player sitting to your left. However, the dealer can choose to swap their card with the bag instead of another player. When swapping, the player to your left cannot refuse, unless they have one of the top 4 ranked cards, which are called the matadors. If a player has one of these matador cards, they don’t have to swap; instead, they simply state the type of card they hold.
In the case of the inn being declared, the player announces “go by the Inn”. Then, the player attempting to swap their card must now swap with the player sitting to the left of the player holding the inn.
When a cat is chosen, I say “meow”. If I’m the one who tried to make the swap, I have to put a marker into the center pile. But I don’t get to make the swap, and my turn is done. All previous swaps are canceled. Everyone to the right of the cat holder gets their original card back. Everyone to the left of the cat holder can keep swapping like normal.
When a bird is chosen, I say “stand still in front of the bird”. The round immediately ends, but the dealer can swap their piece with a random one from the bag if they want to.
When a knight is chosen, I say “cut short”. If I’m the one who tried to make the swap, I have to pay a chip into the center, and the round ends right away. The dealer doesn’t get to swap from the bag.
If two players exchange their cards and both end up with fools, they both say “fool over fool” and reveal their pieces. All the pieces are collected and the round starts again with the same dealer.
When the dealer’s turn comes, they can exchange with the top card of the deck, but they must follow the rules mentioned above if a card ranked 5 is revealed.
END OF ROUND
Once the dealer has made their swap or when a bird or a knight is declared, the round ends and players show their cards. The player with the lowest ranked card has to pay one chip to the center. If there is a tie, both players pay a chip to the center.
In the case of a fool, both the fool and the player with the next lowest card have to pay to the center. If there are two fools, both of them pay to the center, along with the two players with the next lowest cards.
A player is eliminated when they have to pay to the center but are unable to do so.
END OF GAME
The game ends when there is only one player left in the game. That player is the winner.