Sequence Hunt
Difficulty: Hard
Players: 1–6
Age: 12+
Time: About 30 minutes
Scoring: No
Style: Pattern spotting / sequence collecting
Please refer to TIC Card Principles to understand Monos, Duos and Tripos.
Objective
Be the first player to collect all nine different sequence sets listed below.
Players build a large face-up grid of cards and race to spot groups of 3, 4 or 5 cards that Mono, Duo or Tripo.
Each player needs to collect:
- 3 cards that Mono
- 3 cards that Duo
- 3 cards that Tripo
- 4 cards that Mono
- 4 cards that Duo
- 4 cards that Tripo
- 5 cards that Mono
- 5 cards that Duo
- 5 cards that Tripo
The first player to collect all nine sets wins.
Setup
Shuffle the entire TIC deck and divide the cards as evenly as possible among the players.
Each player keeps their stack face-down in front of them. Players may not look through or rearrange their stacks.
Leave plenty of open table space in the middle for the growing card grid.
Play
Players take turns placing the top card of their face-down stack face-up onto the table.
Place each new card beside the existing cards so that the table gradually forms a loose grid. The exact shape of the grid does not matter.
As soon as any player spots a valid sequence set they still need, they may call it out:
“Mono!”, “Duo!”, or “Tripo!”
The player then points out the cards in the set and arranges them in sequence order.
If the set is correct, they collect those cards and place them face-up in front of themselves as one of their completed sets.
Players may spot and call a set at any time, not only on their own turn.
The cards in a claimed sequence do not need to touch each other. They may be scattered anywhere throughout the face-up grid.
What Makes a Valid Set?
Every card in a claimed group must form one continuous sequence when arranged in the correct order.
Properties must advance or descend one step at a time.
Numbers sequence: 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5 or in reverse.
Shapes sequence: circle → crescent → triangle → square → star or in reverse.
Colours sequence: violet → cyan → yellow → orange → red or in reverse.
Different properties may sequence in different directions.
For example, number could ascend while shape descends.
Sequences do not wrap around from the highest value back to the lowest value, or vice versa.
Mono Set
In a Mono set, exactly one property sequences consecutively through all the cards.
The other two properties do not also form complete consecutive sequences.
For example, in a 5-card Mono, the numbers might run:
1 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 5
while the shapes and colours do not form complete sequences.
The order of the cards is determined by the property that sequences.
Duo Set
In a Duo set, exactly two properties sequence consecutively through all the cards.
Each of the two properties may ascend or descend independently.
For example:
- numbers could ascend from 1 to 5; while
- colours descend from red to violet.
The shapes would not also form a complete sequence.
If all three properties sequence, the set is a Tripo rather than a Duo.
Tripo Set
In a Tripo set, all three properties sequence consecutively through all the cards.
The number, shape and colour sequences may each ascend or descend independently.
For example:
- numbers may ascend;
- shapes may descend; and
- colours may ascend.
As long as all three properties move consecutively from card to card, the set is a Tripo.
A 5-card Tripo therefore uses all five values of number, all five shapes and all five colours, each arranged in its own ascending or descending sequence.
Sequence Length
A claimed set must contain exactly the number of cards required for that set.
For example:
- a 3-card Duo contains exactly 3 cards;
- a 4-card Tripo contains exactly 4 cards;
- a 5-card Mono contains exactly 5 cards.
The sequence may represent any consecutive portion of a property scale.
For example, a 3-card number sequence could be:
1 → 2 → 3
2 → 3 → 4
or
3 → 4 → 5
and any of these could also be reversed.
Simultaneous Calls
If two or more players call out sequence sets at nearly the same time, the group decides who called first.
That player claims their set first.
The next player may then attempt to claim their sequence from whatever cards remain, followed by any other players who also called out.
If removing the first player’s cards breaks another player’s proposed sequence, that later claim is no longer valid.
Keeping the Game Moving
Early in the game, shorter Monos and Duos may be relatively easy to spot.
Later, finding the remaining 4-card and especially 5-card Duos and Tripos can become much harder.
When it is your turn to add a card, you may either play immediately or spend some time studying the grid first.
However, after two minutes, any other player may call “Card!”, at which point you must add the top card from your stack.
For casual play, simply use the honour system.
For stricter play, use a stopwatch or two-minute sand timer.
Winning
The first player to complete all nine required sequence sets wins immediately.
Competitive Rule: Incorrect Calls
For a tougher and more competitive game, use a penalty for incorrect calls.
If a player calls Mono, Duo or Tripo but cannot show a valid sequence set, they must surrender one of the sets they have already collected.
The player must give up their largest available set:
- If they have a 5-card set, they must give up a 5-card set.
- If they have no 5-card sets but have a 4-card set, they must give up a 4-card set.
- They may give up a 3-card set only if they have no collected 4-card or 5-card sets.
If there is more than one set of the required size available, the penalized player may choose which one to surrender.
The surrendered cards are distributed as evenly as possible among the bottoms of the opponents’ face-down stacks.
If the player has not yet collected any sets, there is no additional penalty.
This rule discourages players from simply calling out possible sequences without first being reasonably sure they have found a valid set.
Variation: For Points
Instead of trying to complete all nine different sets, continue playing until the cards available for play are exhausted.
Players may collect as many valid sequence sets as they can.
Score each collected set as follows:
- 3-card set: 1 point
- 4-card set: 3 points
- 5-card set: 10 points
Extreme Card Bonus
Collected sets containing an Extreme TIC card earn an additional bonus:
- 1-circle-violet: +1 point
- 5-star-red: +2 points
Add the Extreme Card bonus to the normal value of the collected set.
Each Extreme Card bonus is scored once for the set containing it.
The player with the most points wins.
