Ultima Rules

Ultima is played by matching and then discarding the cards in your hand until you run out.

Setup: This game is for 2-6 players, but can be played with more by playing with multiple decks or by shuffling the discard pile more frequently. Each player is dealt 7 cards face down, the rest of the cards being placed face down in the Draw Pile. The top card should be flipped over and placed adjacent to the Draw Pile, forming the first card in the Discard Pile.

Play: The game starts at the first player dealt to (usually the left of the dealer, but can rotate between hands) and gameplay follows beginning in a clockwise direction. Each player views their cards and tries to match a card to the top card in the Discard Pile.

A valid Match is either a complementary interval (adds exactly to an octave) or a card of the same color. Optionally, the Tritone (TT) can be treated as wild and played on any other card.

If a match is found, the player may play it face-up on the discard pile, ending their turn. Note: Only one card may be played per turn.

If the player has no matches or chooses not to play a card, they must end their turn by drawing a card. If the drawn card is a valid match, that card may be played. Optionally, players must play a card to end their turn. If no matches are held, the player must continue to draw cards until they draw and play a valid card.

When a Tritone (TT) is played, on of three actions may be performed:

• Reverse - the direction of play reverses. (When playing with 2 players, this skips the next persons turn, but is generally seen as undesirable to play)

• Draw 2 - the next player draws 2 cards and his/her turn is skipped.

• Wild - the player declares what color the card will be treated as in proceeding play.

If the first card in the Discard Pile, played during Setup, is a Tritone (TT), the first player receives the Draw 2 penalty. 

Optionally, if a player is caused to draw cards from a Tritone, including the first card in the Discard Pile, they may instead play another Tritone, passing the penalty to the next player and choosing a new action. Note: In the event that the new action is "Reverse", the reversal happens before the penalty applies to the next player, effectively returning the draw penalty to its sender.

When a player has only one card remaining in their hand, they must shout "Ultima!" If a player is caught not saying Ultima before the next player takes their turn, that player must draw two cards as a penalty. In the case that a player with one card remaining in their hand is caused to draw a card and then plays that card, they must restate "Ultima!" or will be subject to the two card penalty if caught.

Play continues until a player has no cards remaining, at which point points are scored and the next hand begins.

Scoring and Winning: Cards have a point value based on how many semitones they span, the Perfect Unison (P1) having 0 points and the Perfect Octave (P8) having 12. Tritones (TT) are the exception and are worth 24 points.

Option A (Standard) - The player who wins a hand receives the points in the hands of all remaining players. The game may be won by a race to a total number of points, or by whomever has the most points when the players mutually decide the game has ended . This number should be decided upon before the first hand (recommended: 150).

Option B (Elimination) - When a hand ends, each player records how many points are remaining in their hand and adds it to their running total. When a player reaches a threshold (recommended: 100) they are eliminated from play. The last player remaining wins the game.

Option C (Simple) - Like Option A, but the player who wins a hand receives 1 point. The target number of points should be much lower (recommended: 5).