5 Alive Rules

5 Alive Rules

Players: 2–6
Ages: 8+

Goal

Stay at 21 or below and be the last player with at least one ALIVE card still face up.

Setup

  1. Give each player one set of five ALIVE cards and place them face up.
  2. Shuffle the game deck and deal 10 cards to each player.
  3. Place the remaining cards face down as the draw pile.
  4. The player who has been alive the longest goes first. Play begins clockwise.

Playing a Card

On your turn, play one card face up to the discard pile.

  • Number card: add its value to the running total and announce the new total.
  • Wild card: carry out the instruction printed on that card. Unless the card changes the total, it counts as 0.

If the only number cards you could play would make the total exceed 21, do not play one. Instead, flip one of your ALIVE cards face down. The running total resets to 0 and the next player starts a new count.

Wild Cards

  • Draw 1: every other player draws one card. The running total is unchanged.
  • Draw 2: every other player draws two cards. The running total is unchanged.
  • Pass Me By: play passes to the next player; the total is unchanged.
  • Reverse: reverse the direction of play. With only two players, treat it as a pass/skip effect.
  • Skip: the next player loses their turn. With only two players, the player who used Skip immediately gets another turn.
  • =21: set the running total to 21.
  • =10: set the running total to 10.
  • =0: set the running total to 0.
  • Re-Deal: collect every player's hand, shuffle those cards together, and redeal them beginning with the player to the left of the person who played Re-Deal. Do not include the draw pile or discard pile. Reset the total to 0.
  • Bomb: every other player must immediately discard a number 0 card. Anyone who cannot do so flips one ALIVE card. Reset the running total to 0. Wild cards that count as 0 cannot replace a number 0 for this purpose.

Ending a Hand

If you play the last card from your hand, the hand ends immediately. Every other player flips one ALIVE card. Shuffle the game cards and deal a new 10-card hand to each active player.

Elimination and Winning

Whenever all five of a player's ALIVE cards have been flipped, that player is eliminated. The last player with an ALIVE card still face up wins.

Sudden Death Variant

End the game as soon as one player loses all five lives. The player with the most face-up ALIVE cards wins. If tied, tied players total the number cards remaining in their hands; the lowest total wins.

Team Variant

For 4–6 players, divide into two teams with teammates seated alternately. Each player still receives 10 cards, but each team shares one set of five ALIVE cards. When a player empties their hand, the opposing team loses one life. The first team to lose all five lives loses.