Add Small Shelf Games: No Mercy post

20240705-ssg-nomercy/index.md

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+---
+title: "Small Shelf Games: No Mercy"
+date: 2024/07/05
+tags:
+	- small_shelf_games
+	- games
+---
+
+Welcome back to the Small Shelf Games series; a series of posts about games that
+can be played with generic game components that are small, easy to store, and
+don't need you to break the bank to play.
+
+Today, we're looking at No Mercy, also known as Hit!; a delightfully simple
+push-your-luck card game with only a couple of rules, but with all the
+electrifying tension of a full blackjack table of people egging you on to just
+keep drawing one more card.
+
+## No Mercy
+
+- _Players_: 2-5
+	- _Recommended_: 4
+- _Complexity_: Low
+- _Type_: Push Your Luck
+- _Required_:
+	- Three identical decks of 52 Standard Playing Cards.
+
+## Game Setup
+
+1. Take 11 Ace, Two, Three, Four, and Five cards from each deck and put them
+   into a separate pile. The pile should have 55 cards so far.
+2. Take 7 Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten cards from each deck and put them
+   into the pile. The pile should now have 90 cards.
+3. Discard the remaining cards from the decks.
+
+This central pile of 90 cards is now the deck for the game. Suits don't matter,
+only the rank of the cards.
+
+## Round Setup
+
+1. Shuffle the deck, and put it in the center of the table. This is the Draw
+   Pile.
+2. Decide which player will go first.
+
+> **Tip**: Not sure who should go first? Try the player with the largest hat!
+
+## Gameplay
+
+Each player acts in turn until the round ends. On each player's turn:
+
+1. Collect all the face-up cards in your tableau (the area in front of you) and
+   put them face-down into your Loot Pile. (For your first turn, you won't have
+   any face-up cards.)
+2. Decide whether to *Draw* or *Stop*.
+	- If you *Draw*, turn the top card over, and place it face-up in your
+	  tableau. Check the [Draw](#section-draw) section below. You can *Draw* as
+	  many times as you like, until you either decide to *Stop* or you *Bust*.
+	- If you *Stop*, your turn ends; it's now the next player's turn.
+
+<h3 id="section-draw">Draw</h3>
+
+So, you've just revealed a card from the Draw Pile; first or tenth, what
+happens next is the same:
+
+- If the card matches a card already in your tableau, you've *Bust*; put all
+  the cards in your tableau into the Discard Pile. Those cards are out of the
+  game, and your turn is over.
+	- **Important**: This only applies if you have *three or more* cards in
+	  your tableau when you draw a matching card. If you have two or fewer
+	  cards, you can add it to your tableau, and choose to *Draw* or *Stop*
+	  as normal.
+- If the card doesn't match any cards in your tableau, add it to a new column
+  in your tableau.
+- *Optionally*, you can choose to take any face-up cards that match the rank of
+  the card you just drew from all other players' tableaus and add them to your
+  own tableau.
+- You can now choose to *Draw* or *Stop* again, as above.
+
+### Tableau Layout
+
+When placing cards in your tableau, you should arrange them in columns, with
+duplicate ranks you've stolen from other players kept in the same column.
+Slightly offset each card in the column so that everyone can see how many cards
+are in each column.
+
+This is to ensure that everyone can easily see the contents of everyone else's
+tableaus when considering whether to steal cards or push their luck.
+
+## Ending the Round
+
+The instant the last card is drawn from the Draw Pile, the round ends. If the
+last card drawn causes a *Bust*, the player who drew it loses their current
+tableau as normal, otherwise everyone collects their tableau cards into their
+Loot Piles.
+
+Everyone now adds up the values of the cards in their Loot Piles; the player
+with the highest total wins the round.
+
+---
+
+And that's it! You can play for one round, track round wins, play to a set
+target score over multiple rounds, or whatever you like. The tension of
+having to keep your tableau out for anyone to steal from, and seeing everyone
+else with juicy cards you could steal, makes for a great game with only a few
+simple rules.
+
+## Glossary
+
+- **Draw Pile**: The face-down pile of cards in the center of the table where
+  cards are drawn into the *Tableau* from. Once this is empty, the round ends.
+- **Tableau**: The area where face-up cards that a player collects by *Stopping*
+  are placed. Cards can be *stolen* from the Tableau by other players when they
+  draw a card of the same rank. When it's your turn, all the cards in your
+  Tableau are placed face-down in your *Loot Pile*.
+- **Loot Pile**: The face-down pile of cards each player has in front of them.
+  Cards in the Loot Pile count as your score at the end of the round, and
+  cannot be stolen from.
+- **Draw**: The action of turning over the top card of the *Draw Pile* and
+  placing it in your *Tableau*. If the card matches a card already in your
+  Tableau, you *Bust*.
+- **Bust**: Revealing a card of a rank that's already in your *Tableau* when
+  you *Draw*. You lose all the cards in your Tableau to the *Discard Pile*,
+  and your turn ends.
+- **Discard Pile**: The face-down pile of cards from players' *Tableaus* that
+  have been *Busted*. Cards in the Discard Pile are out of the game, and don't
+  count towards anyone's score.