Spectrum
Difficulty: Medium
Players: 2–6
Age: 10+
Time: 1–10 minutes per round
Scoring: Yes
Style: Build the best hand
Before You Play
Spectrum is a sequence game.
Each TIC card has three properties:
- number
- shape
- colour
Each property has an ordered progression:
Numbers
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
Shapes
circle – crescent – triangle – square – star (each shape increases in its number of sides by one)
Colours
violet – cyan – yellow – orange – red (moves across the rainbow)
For more information about TIC sequences, refer to the TIC Card Principles page or the back of any TIC card.
In Spectrum, the goal is to collect all five different values of one or more properties and, when possible, arrange those properties into sequences.
Matching properties (Tics and Singles) do not earn points in this game.
Objective
Build the highest-scoring 5-card hand.
A Spectrum hand is judged in two ways:
- How many properties contain all five different values?
- How many of those properties can be arranged in sequence at the same time?
The more complete properties and simultaneous sequences you achieve, the more points your hand is worth.
Setup
Deal 5 cards to each player (rotate who deals on subsequent rounds).
Divide the remaining deck as evenly as possible into 4 face-down draw piles in the centre of the table.
Turn the top card of each pile face-up.
There should now be 4 face-up cards available to choose from.
How to Play
The player to the left of the dealer goes first. Play continues clockwise.
On your turn:
- Choose one face-up card from any pile in the centre.
- Add that card to your hand.
- Turn over the next card from that draw pile so that a new face-up card is available.
- You now have 6 cards.
- Decide which 5 cards give you the best possible Spectrum hand.
- Discard 1 card face-up into the centre.
That discarded card begins a fifth face-up pile, called the discard pile.
From then on, players may choose their card from any of the 5 face-up piles:
- the 4 draw piles, or
- the discard pile.
If a player takes the top card from the discard pile, the card underneath becomes the new face-up card on that pile.
Complete Properties
A property is complete when your 5-card hand contains all five different values of that property.
For example:
A complete number property contains:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
A complete shape property contains:
circle, crescent, triangle, square, star
A complete colour property contains:
violet, cyan, yellow, orange, red
A hand may contain:
- 1 complete property,
- 2 complete properties, or
- all 3 complete properties.
Sequences
Once a property is complete, the cards can be arranged to show that property in order.
A sequence may ascend or descend.
For example:
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5
or
5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1
The same applies to shapes and colours.
The important question is whether more than one property can sequence in the same card order.
Mono Sequence
A Mono occurs when one property sequences across the 5 cards.
Duo Sequence
A Duo occurs when two properties sequence at the same time in the same card order.
The two properties may sequence in the same direction or in opposite directions.
For example:
- numbers may ascend while shapes ascend, or
- numbers may ascend while shapes descend.
Tripo Sequence
A Tripo occurs when all three properties sequence at the same time in the same card order.
Again, each property may ascend or descend independently.
Scoring
There are 6 scoring hands in Spectrum.
| Complete Properties | Simultaneous Sequence | Points |
| 1 complete property | Mono | 2 points |
| 2 complete properties | Mono | 5 points |
| 2 complete properties | Duo | 10 points |
| 3 complete properties | Mono | 10 points |
| 3 complete properties | Duo | 15 points |
| 3 complete properties | Tripo | 25 points |
If your hand does not achieve any of these combinations, you score –5 points.
Understanding the Scoring Hands
1 Complete Property — Mono — 2 Points
One property contains all five different values.
For example, your hand contains the numbers:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
The shapes and colours do not both need to be different.
This hand is worth 2 points.
2 Complete Properties — Mono — 5 Points
Two properties contain all five different values, but only one of them can be shown in sequence in a particular card order.
For example:
- all five numbers are different, and
- all five shapes are different,
but when the cards are arranged so that the numbers sequence, the shapes do not sequence.
This hand is worth 5 points.
2 Complete Properties — Duo — 10 Points
Two properties contain all five different values, and both can be arranged in sequence at the same time.
For example:
- numbers sequence, and
- shapes sequence,
using the same card order.
This hand is worth 10 points.
3 Complete Properties — Mono — 10 Points
All three properties contain all five different values, but only one property can be shown in sequence in the chosen arrangement.
This hand is worth 10 points.
3 Complete Properties — Duo — 15 Points
All three properties contain all five different values, and two properties can be arranged in sequence at the same time.
The third property contains all five different values but does not sequence in that same arrangement.
This hand is worth 15 points.
3 Complete Properties — Tripo — 25 Points
All three properties contain all five different values, and all three properties can be arranged in sequence at the same time.
Each property may ascend or descend independently.
For example:
- numbers may ascend,
- shapes may descend,
- colours may descend.
This hand is worth 25 points.
Ending the Round
When you think your hand may be good enough to win, you may knock on the table instead of picking up a card.
Every other player then gets one final turn to improve their hand.
After those final turns, everyone reveals their cards and calculates their score.
The player with the highest score wins the round.
Winning the Game
Before starting, decide how many rounds you will play, such as 5 or 10.
Record each player’s score after every round.
At the end of the agreed number of rounds, add each player’s scores together.
The player with the highest total score wins.
Strategy Tip
Do not focus only on collecting five different values.
A hand with three complete properties is not necessarily worth more than a hand where two properties form a Duo sequence.
Also remember that several arrangements of the same 5 cards may be possible.
Try rearranging your hand in different ways before deciding which scoring combination is best.
Variation 1: Multiple Pickups
For a faster-moving game with a greater chance of building powerful sequences, players may pick up more than one face-up card on their turn.
On your turn, you may take 1 to 5 face-up cards from the centre.
For each card you take from one of the 4 draw piles, turn over the next card from that pile.
After taking the cards, add them to your hand and then discard the same number of cards to the discard pile so that you return to a 5-card hand.
This variation allows players to make larger changes to their hand in a single turn.
Variation 2: 10-Card Spectrum
Difficulty: Hard
Players: 2–4
Age: 12+
Time: Longer than the 5-card game
Deal 10 cards to each player.
All other rules remain the same, except each player is trying to build two separate 5-card Spectrum hands.
Each card may belong to only one of the two hands.
Score each 5-card hand separately using the standard Spectrum scoring table.
Add the scores of the two hands together to determine your total score for the round.
