Allegra

In Allegra, based on the public card game Golf, you aim to keep your score as low as possible, but to achieve this you must sometimes help your neighbours along the way.

The deck consists of cards numbered -1 to 11. In each of the three rounds, every player starts with twelve cards placed face down in a grid of four columns and three rows. Your rightmost column is also considered to belong to your right-hand neighbour, and likewise, your area includes the rightmost column of your left-hand neighbour. Each player reveals any two cards in their area, then the round begins.

On a turn, you either draw the top card of the deck and reveal it, or draw the top card of the discard pile. If you draw from the discard pile, you swap that card with any card in your area, then discard the replaced card. If you draw from the deck, you can discard that card (turning any card in your area face up) or swap that card with any card in your area.

If you draw from the deck, any other player can knock on the table to signal their desire for the card. You can choose to ignore the knock, or you can give them the card. If you give them the card, they replace one card in their area with this new card, taking the old card into their hand. You then take any one card from their area and exchange it with a card in your area, discarding the replaced card. The other player then places the card in their hand into the space you left when you took one of their cards.

Any time you have three identical cards in a row or column—even a row that includes a card in your left neighbour's rightmost column—you discard those cards from play.

Whenever one player has all their cards face up, each other player takes one more turn. Then, players sum the value of the cards in their area, which includes any cards remaining in their neighbour's rightmost column. If the player who triggered the end of the round doesn't have the lowest sum, their sum is doubled. The player with the lowest total score after three rounds wins.