Difficulty: Medium–Hard
Players: 2, 4, or 6
Age: 12+
Time: 30–90 minutes
Scoring: Yes
Style: Team strategy, set building, and shedding
Before You Play
Team TIC is based on Commonness between TIC cards.
For this game, you need to understand:
Tic: Cards have two properties in common.
A Tic group contains 3, 4, or 5 cards that all share the same two properties.
For example, a Tic group might contain cards that all have the same number and shape, while the colours differ.
Because there are only five possible values for the third property, a Tic group can contain a maximum of 5 cards.
Refer to the TIC Card Principles page or the back of the TIC card box for more examples.
Objective
Score the most points by:
- laying down 3-, 4-, and 5-card Tic groups,
- extending your team’s Tic groups,
- shedding cards from your hand,
- and, if possible, being the first player or team to go out.
Cards remaining in hand at the end of the round count against your score.
Players and Teams
2 Players
Play head-to-head.
Each player scores separately.
4 Players
Create 2 teams of 2 players.
Teammates sit across from each other so that turns alternate between teams.
6 Players
Create 3 teams of 2 players.
Arrange the seating so that a player from each team gets a turn before any team receives its second turn.
Team members combine their scores at the end of the round.
Setup
Deal:
- 12 cards each in a 2-player game,
- 8 cards each in a team game.
Place the remaining deck face-down in the centre of the table.
Flip the top card face-up beside the deck to begin the discard chain.
Unlike a normal discard pile, cards in the discard chain are placed beside each other in a slightly overlapping line so that every discarded card remains visible.
As the game continues, the chain grows longer.
How to Play
Determine who plays first by any agreed method. Play continues clockwise.
At the beginning of your turn, choose one of two ways to pick up:
- draw the top card from the face-down deck, or
- make a legal pickup from the discard chain.
After drawing or picking up, you may lay down Tic groups or add cards to existing groups.
Your turn normally ends by discarding 1 card to the end of the discard chain.
Drawing from the Deck
If you draw from the face-down deck, add the card to your hand.
During that turn, you may lay down any valid 3-, 4-, or 5-card Tic groups from your hand.
You do not have to lay down a Tic group immediately just because you have one.
You may keep it in your hand for a later turn if you wish.
Picking Up from the Discard Chain
You may pick up from the discard chain only if the pickup allows you to immediately lay down a new 3-, 4-, or 5-card Tic group.
Choose a visible card in the chain that you need for the Tic group.
You must pick up:
- that card, and
- every card discarded after it.
The chosen card must immediately be used in the new Tic group.
Any other cards collected from the chain are added to your hand.
Example
Suppose the discard chain contains:
A – B – C – D – E
with E being the most recently discarded card.
If card C is the card you need to complete a valid Tic group, you must pick up:
C, D, and E
Card C must immediately be used in the Tic group.
Cards D and E are added to your hand.
You must have at least one card in your hand that contributes to the Tic group you are laying down.
You must create a new Tic card group if you pick up from the discard chain.
You may not pick up from the discard chain because you spot one or two cards that match an existing Tic card group you already laid down on the table.
You may not pick up from the discard chain simply because you want one of the cards. The pickup must immediately create a valid new Tic group.
Laying Down Tic groups
A new scoring Tic group must contain:
- 3 cards,
- 4 cards,
- or 5 cards
that all share the same two properties.
Once laid down, keep each team’s Tic groups together so ownership is clear. The team or player who originally lays down the Tic group owns that group for scoring purposes.
Extending Your Own or Your Team’s Tic groups
During your turn, you may add cards to any 3- or 4-card Tic group that you or your teammate previously laid down.
Any added card must share the same two common properties as the rest of that group.
You may add enough valid cards to increase the group up to a maximum of 5 cards.
For example:
- a 3-card Tic may become a 4-card Tic,
- a 3-card Tic may become a 5-card Tic,
- or a 4-card Tic may become a 5-card Tic.
A 5-card Tic is complete and cannot be extended further.
At scoring, the group is worth points based on its final size.
A group is not scored once as a 3-card Tic and then again after becoming a 4- or 5-card Tic.
Adding Cards to an Opponent’s Tic group
You may also add cards to an opponent’s existing 3- or 4-card Tic group.
You may add up to 2 cards during your turn this way.
The cards must legitimately continue the same Tic relationship as the existing group.
Cards added to an opponent’s group do not earn points for you or your team.
The original owner of the Tic group continues to own it and scores the group according to its final size.
This creates a trade-off: you may help an opponent increase the value of one of their Tic groups, but doing so may help you get rid of unwanted cards and reduce your end-of-round penalty.
Going Out
You may go out at any point during your turn by getting rid of all the cards in your hand through any combination of:
- laying down your own Tic groups,
- adding cards to your own or your teammate’s Tic groups,
- adding cards to opponents’ Tic groups,
- and discarding your final card.
As soon as one player has no cards remaining, the round ends.
In a team game, only one member of the team needs to go out to end the round.
That team earns the going-out bonus.
If the Draw Deck Is Exhausted
If no player has gone out when the face-down draw deck is exhausted, continue playing using the discard chain.
Players may still make legal discard-chain pickups and discard cards as usual.
The round continues until every player, in succession, is unable to make a legal pickup from the discard chain.
When the full table reaches that no-play condition, the round ends and scores are tallied.
Scoring
At the end of the round, each player or team calculates their score.
Tic groups
3-card Tic: 3 points
4-card Tic: 8 points
5-card Tic: 20 points
Each Tic group is scored according to its final size.
Going Out Bonus
The player or team that goes out first earns:
+10 points
Extreme Card Bonus
The two Extreme TIC cards earn bonus points when they are part of a scoring Tic group:
- 1-circle-violet: +5 points
- 5-star-red: +10 points
Add the Extreme Card bonus once to the final value of the Tic group containing that card.
Cards Remaining in Hand
Every card still held at the end of the round counts against the player or team.
Each remaining card is worth:
–2 points
If an Extreme Card remains in a player’s hand at the end of the round, it receives the normal remaining-card penalty. There is no additional penalty for holding an Extreme Card.
In a team game, count all cards remaining in both teammates’ hands.
Subtract the total penalty from the points earned from Tic groups and any going-out bonus.
Example
Suppose a team has:
- 2 five-card Tics = 40 points
- 1 four-card Tic = 8 points
- going-out bonus = 10 points
Their subtotal is:
58 points
If the team still holds 4 cards between both players:
4 × –2 = –8 points
Their final score is:
50 points
Extreme Card Bonus
The two Extreme TIC cards earn bonus points when they are part of a scoring group:
- 1-circle-violet: +5 points
- 5-star-red: +10 points
Add the Extreme Card bonus once to the final value of the group containing that card.
If an Extreme Card remains in a player’s hand at the end of the round, it receives the normal remaining-card penalty, -2 points. There is no additional penalty for holding an Extreme Card.
Winning
You may play:
- one round, or
- a predetermined number of rounds.
For a multi-round game, record each player’s or team’s score after every round.
At the end of the agreed number of rounds, add the scores together.
The player or team with the highest total score wins.
Strategy Tips
Watch What You Discard
Because the entire discard chain remains visible, a discarded card may later help an opponent create a new Tic group. Be careful about giving away cards another player appears to need.
Watch the Entire Discard Chain
Do not look only at the most recently discarded card.
A useful card may be several places back in the chain.
Decide whether taking the additional cards required to reach it is worth the cost.
Decide When to Lay Down
Laying down a 3-card Tic secures a scoring group and gives you a place to add future cards.
However, it also reveals exactly which two properties your team is collecting.
Sometimes keeping a Tic hidden for another turn may make it easier to grow into a more valuable 4- or 5-card group.
Watch Opponents’ Groups
Playing cards onto an opponent’s Tic group can help you shed difficult cards, but it may also increase the value of their group.
Sometimes the reduction in your hand penalty will be worth helping them.
Sometimes it will not.
Variation: Team TIC Sequences
Instead of building Tic groups, play using Duo sequences.
Tripo sequences are also allowed, although they will occur less frequently.
Where the standard Team TIC rules refer to a Tic group, use a qualifying Duo or Tripo sequence group instead.
All other rules remain the same.
Duo Sequence
Two properties must change by one increment from card to card.
Each sequencing property must continue in the same direction throughout the group — either increasing or decreasing.
The two properties may move independently. For example, one may increase while the other decreases.
Tripo Sequence
All three properties must change by one increment from card to card.
Each property must continue in the same direction throughout the group — either increasing or decreasing.
The three properties may move independently.
Extending Sequence Groups
A sequence group may contain 3, 4, or 5 cards, just like a Tic group.
To extend an existing sequence, the new card must continue the established Duo or Tripo progression.
If any required sequencing property reaches the lowest or highest value and cannot continue another increment in the same direction, that sequence cannot be extended any further.
Endpoint reversal is not allowed in Team TIC Sequences.
This means some sequence groups may naturally stop at 3 or 4 cards even though they have not reached 5 cards.
Sequence groups score according to their final size:
- 3-card sequence: 3 points
- 4-card sequence: 8 points
- 5-card sequence: 20 points
