Wednesday The Card Game: Rules for How to Play

Setup

Separate the Playing Cards from the Rules Cards.
Depending on the number of players, you may not use all of the Round Cards.
- 3 or 6 Players – Use all Round Cards
- 5 Players – Use 5 Round Cards
- 4 Players – Use 4 Round Cards
If you aren’t using all of the Round Cards, set aside the First and Final Round Cards. Then shuffle the rest of the Round Cards. Select a number of cards until you get to the number of Round Cards that you will use in the game (the First and Final Round Cards count towards the total). For example if you are playing with four players, you will choose two of the cards to go with the First and Final Round Cards. With four players you won’t use the other two cards.
Shuffle all of the middle Round Cards (not the First or Final Round cards) and place them inbetween the First and Final Round Card. The First Round card should be on top of the stack of cards.
Shuffle all of the Playing Cards (both Dark and Color). Deal three cards to each player. Players can look at their own cards, but shouldn’t show them to the other players. Place the rest of the cards in a facedown draw pile to the left of the Round Cards.
The player with the “darkest despair” starts the game as Wednesday. They will take the Wednesday Card to indicate that they are the first player.

How to Play Wednesday The Card Game

You will play Wednesday The Card Game over a number of rounds which depends on the number of players. Each player will get to play as Wednesday during one of the rounds. In three player games, each player gets to play as Wednesday twice.

Each round begins with the Wednesday player taking the top card from the Draw Pile and flipping it over.

Flip over the top card from Draw Pile — The Wednesday player flipped over the top card from the Draw Pile. It is a Dark two.

Next all of the players besides the Wednesday player picks one card from their hand. Players can play either a Dark or Color Card. They will play the card face up on the table. The players can play their card in any order they choose. After you play a card, set aside the other two cards in your hand as you won’t use them until the next round.

Players choosing a card to play — The three players other than the Wednesday player have played a card. The player on the left played a Dark two. The top player played a Color one. The player on the right played a Dark one.

In Wednesday The Card Game, Dark Cards are worth positive points. Color Cards are worth negative points.

Remembering the Cards

After all of the players besides the Wednesday player have played a card, all of the players will take some time to try and remember what cards were played. Players need to try and remember the numerical order of the played cards as well as whether they are Dark Cards or Color Cards.

Trying to remember the played cards — The players will try to remember the played cards. There is a Dark one, a Color one, and two Dark two cards.

Once all of the players have had some time to try and remember the cards, the Wednesday player takes all of the played cards (including the card flipped over from the Draw Pile).

Ordering the Cards

Once the Wednesday player has collected all of the cards, they will choose one card from their own hand to add to the cards played by the other players. They will not show this card to the other players.

The Wednesday player chooses a card from their hand to play — After picking up all of the other cards that were played, the Wednesday player chooses to play a Color two card from their hand.

The Wednesday player then has to order all of the cards that were played this round. They will organize them from the lowest number to the highest number. Dark and Color Cards are sorted together. They will do this in a way so the other players can’t see the cards. If there are multiple cards of the same number, they get to pick which of the tied cards they will place first. Once all of the cards are ordered, they will place the cards facedown in a line with the lowest card on the left and the highest card on the right.

Ordering the Cards — The Wednesday player has ordered the cards. They place the cards as follows: Color one, Dark one, Dark two, Color two, Dark two. For illustrative purposes the cards are face up. The Wednesday player would put the cards facedown as they are placing them in order.

Choosing a Card

The player to the left of the Wednesday player starts. They will choose one card from the line of cards that they want to take. The Wednesday player is the only one that knows the true order of the cards. Players should try to use what they remember of the played cards to make a good guess on what card they should take. Players want to try and take Dark Cards and avoid Color Cards.

Normally players will be picking their own card, but each round has a unique Round Card that is in play. The current Round Card could have players pick cards for other players.

When the player has picked their card, they will usually reveal it to the other players. In some rounds (due to a Round Card) you will keep your chosen card secret.

Choosing a card in Wednesday The Card Game — The first player chose one of the cards to take. It turns out that they picked the Color two card. They will take the cards and score it at the end of the game.

All of the players will take a turn choosing one of the cards. The Wednesday player chooses the last card in the round. There should be one card left after all of the players have taken a card. Place the remaining card on the bottom of the Draw Pile with none of the players looking at it.

Each player keeps their chosen card in front of them for the rest of the game. These cards will be used for scoring at the end of the game.

Starting the Next Round

Once everyone has chosen a card, the next round will begin. The Wednesday Card is passed one player to the left. That player gets to be Wednesday in the next round.

Each player draws a new card from the Draw Pile to add to their hand.

Flip over the next Round card in order to see what unique rule will impact the next round.

New Round card — For the next round all of the players will choose the card that the player on their left has to take.

You will keep playing rounds until all of the Round Cards have been used. Each player gets to play as Wednesday once. In three player games, each player gets to play the role twice.

Winning Wednesday The Card Game

At the end of the game, the players will tally up the points they scored during the game. All cards left in players’ hands at the end of the game are discarded. You do not score points from these cards.

All of the players will count up how many Dark Cards they acquired in the game with a value of one. Each of these cards should have a picture of Thing (a hand) on them. The player that has the most cards with the Thing symbol on them, gets a bonus three points. If multiple players tie for the most Thing cards, each tied player receives one bonus point.

Determining who receives the Thing bonus — At the end of the game the players collected these Dark one cards. The player on the left collected the most (2), so they will get the three bonus points.

All of the players then add up the value of all of the Dark cards they collected in the game. Each card is worth the value printed on the top of the card. Then you will subtract the value of each Color Card from your total. Add any Thing bonus you acquired to your total. This becomes your total score for the game.

The player that scores the most points, wins Wednesday The Card Game. If there is a tie, all tied players count up how many Color Cards they acquired during the game. The tied player with the least Color Cards, wins the game. If there is still a tie, the tied players share the victory.

Winning Wednesday The Card Game — At the end of the game these are the four cards each player collected. The players score the following points: top left – 5 points (3 + 2 + 1 – 1), top right scored – 4 points (3 + 2 + 1 – 2), bottom left – 4 points (2 + 1 + 1 + 3 (bonus) – 3), bottom right – 1 point (3 + 3 – 3 – 2). The player in the top left scored the most points, so they win the game.

Components

63 Playing Cards
- 39 Dark Cards
- 24 Color Cards
6 Round Cards
Wednesday Card
Instructions

Year: 2024 | Publisher: Spin Master | Designer: Erica Bouyouris | Artist: Kyle Hussa-Lietz

Genres: Bluffing, Card, Family, Memory

Ages: 10+ | Number of Players: 3-6 | Length of Game: 20-30 minutes

Difficulty: Light | Strategy: Light | Luck: Moderate-High

For more board and card game rules/how to plays, check out our complete alphabetical list of card and board game rules posts.

Written By:

Eric Mortensen

Eric Mortensen is an owner and head writer on Geeky Hobbies since 2014. He is an avid board game player and collector with over 3,000 board and card games in his collection. Since 2014 he has written more than 1,100 board game how to play guides.