How to play Sixes

Set up the table

For 2 to 4 players, use one standard deck plus two Jokers. For 5 to 8 players, combine two decks plus all four Jokers. Deal six cards face down to each player in three horizontal rows of two. Put the remaining cards in a draw pile and turn one card up beside it to start the discard pile.

Everyone turns over any two of their own cards. You may rearrange your face-down cards before your first turn starts, without looking at them. Face-up cards stay in place. The dealer takes the first turn; play continues to the left. The deal moves one seat left each round.

Choose one way to take your turn

1. Take the discard. Swap the face-up top discard with any one of your six cards. The new card stays face up. Put the replaced card face up on the discard pile.
2. Draw from the deck. Look at the drawn card privately. Swap it with one of your six cards, leaving it face up, or discard the drawn card. Discarding it ends your turn; you do not also flip another card.
3. Flip a card. Turn over one of your face-down cards. That is your whole turn.

You may replace a face-up or face-down card. Taking a discard commits you to swapping it; you cannot take it and put it straight back. In the online game, select a slot first, then confirm the move. If the draw pile runs out, keep the top discard and shuffle the rest into a new draw pile.

Score each horizontal pair

Number cards score their number. Jacks, Queens and Kings score 10 each. Two cards of the same positive rank cancel to zero. Different face cards do not cancel just because both are worth 10.

An Ace is −1 and a Joker is −2. A negative card cancels the positive card beside it and keeps its own negative value. Two negatives add together. Add the three pair scores for your hand total. The pair scorer and scoring examples cover every combination.

Knock when you think you are lowest

At the end of your turn, you may knock. Finish your chosen move as usual. Each other player gets exactly one last turn, then all remaining cards turn face up and everyone scores.

If your raw hand score is lowest, including a tie for lowest, your knock is safe. If someone has a lower raw score, add every other player’s raw hand score to your own. Negative scores are included in that sum. The online game applies this literal rule.

A knock does not give the knocker another turn. Nobody can knock again during the last turns, and a later player turning over their sixth card does not restart the last-turn sequence.

Turning up your sixth card also ends the round

If all six of your cards are face up after your move, everyone else gets one last turn. This ends the round without knock risk, even if you had armed a knock for that move. The player who went out has no knock penalty, even when another hand is lower.

Finish the game

The default game is six rounds. Add each scored round to your running total; the lowest total wins. Players tied for the lowest total share the win. The host can choose a three-round or nine-round game, and an optional practice round that does not affect the total.

Print the two-page table rules, try the interactive scorer, or read ten ways to make better decisions in Sixes.