AGITATOR Game Overview

AGITATOR is a poker-like where players score both their publicly visible play area and their private hand independently at the end of each round. Ending up in second place for either showdown earns you a heavy penalty, so players need to either go all out and win, or work their way to the weakest combination of cards possible! Below is a brief overview of the game. More detailed rules can be found in the rulebook.

Setup:
All players are dealt a hand of 5 numbered cards. Cards range from 1 to 7, with 7 per number. The deck is placed next to a market of 3 face-up, randomly revealed cards in the center of the table.

On Your Turn:
On your turn, you have 2 choices: take a card from the market, play it in your play area, and replenish the market, or play a card from your hand to your play area and replenish your hand from the deck.

Each player continues taking turns until everyone's play area has 5 cards. Then, the scores for the round are calculated.

Score Calculation:
Players calculate the score for their visible play area (scores are based roughly off of poker hands, just without suits) and receive the corresponding number of points. The player with the highest scoring play area receives a special boost tile that awards them extra points, while the player in second place receives a penalty tile. In this game, you want to be either the strongest or the weakest!

Players then score their privately visible hand, revealing it and receiving the correponding number of points. Just like with the play area showdown, the player with the highest score receives a boost tile, while the player in second place receives a penalty tile.

Adjusting your hand is much more challenging than adjusting your play area - since you can play cards from either the market or your hand into your play area, you always know what's going in - the catch is that everyone else knows too. For your hand, however, you need to play a card you don't need into your play area, then draw a new card from the deck - there is significant risk, but the payoff could be huge depending on what you draw.

End of the Game:
The game takes place over 3 rounds - each round, the number of boost/penalty points for 1st or 2nd place increases, meaning there's ample room for comeback victories! Control both your play area and hand well, avoid second place at all costs, and you might just end up on top!