Cabo (game)

Cabo is a memory and card shedding game for 2-4 players (though variants exist for larger groups) using a standard 52-card deck. The primary goal is to have the lowest score at the end of each round, with the overall goal being to be the player with the lowest total score after a pre-determined number of rounds, or when a player exceeds a target score (often 100 points).

Gameplay Overview:

At the start of each round, each player is dealt four cards face down. Players are initially allowed to secretly view two of their own cards. The remaining cards form the draw pile, and the top card is turned face-up to start the discard pile.

On their turn, a player must choose one of the following actions:

• Draw a card from the draw pile: The player looks at the drawn card and must then either exchange it with one of their face-down cards, or discard it.
• Draw a card from the discard pile: The player takes the top card of the discard pile and must exchange it with one of their face-down cards.
• Call "Cabo": The player believes they have the lowest score among all players.

Card Values and Special Actions:

The cards have the following point values:

• 2-9: Face value
• 10: 10 points
• Jack: 11 points
• Queen: 12 points
• King: 13 points
• Ace: 1 point

Some cards have special actions when drawn from the draw pile:

• Spy (7 or 8): Allows the player to secretly look at one of their own cards or one of another player's cards.
• Peek (7 or 8): Same as Spy; allows the player to secretly look at one of their own cards or one of another player's cards.
• Swap (9 or 10): Allows the player to secretly swap one of their own cards with one of another player's cards.

Ending a Round:

If a player calls "Cabo", each other player gets one more turn. After the last player has taken their turn, all players reveal their cards. Each player's score for the round is the sum of the point values of their cards.

Scoring and Winning:

The player who called "Cabo" scores the sum of their cards only if it is the lowest score. If another player has a lower score, the player who called "Cabo" receives a penalty of +10 points added to their score. If there is a tie for the lowest score including the caller then the caller still does not get the 10 point penalty.

If a player has two or more cards of the same rank, they can discard them all simultaneously when it is their turn. This reduces their hand value significantly.

The game continues until one player reaches a pre-determined score (e.g., 100 points), or after a specific number of rounds. The player with the lowest overall score wins the game.

Variations:

Many variations of Cabo exist, often involving slight modifications to the special actions, scoring, or gameplay.