Games Cards Shift 23 Cards game
Shift 23 A betting card game for up to five: get your hand close to +23 or −23 before a Shift changes every card you haven’t sheltered.
Status Play now
Players 1–5 players
Modes Against the computer, Pass and play, Online with friends
Computer players Yes About Shift 23 Shift 23 is a betting card game for up to five about getting close without going over. Your hand wins when its total sits nearest to +23 or −23 without passing either. Bet, draw and swap over several rounds, and shelter the cards you want to keep, because whenever the dice roll doubles, a Shift changes every card you have not sheltered. Play one to four computer opponents, seat friends around one device, or open a table online and send friends the link. The table is won when only one player can still ante. Chips are points for this table only: everyone starts each table with 10,000.
How to play Shift 23 Two to five seats play a table: against the computer you pick how many, and computer players fill a table of friends to five. Everyone antes 100 to the hand pot and 100 to the bonus pot, then gets two cards. When only one seat can still pay the antes, it wins the table. The deck has 76 cards: four suits (cogs, keys, springs and pendulums) of +1 to +15, and sixteen rusted parts worth 0 down to −17. Each round: bet (check, bet, match, raise, fold or go all-in), then draw a card, swap one, or stand. Before you draw you may shelter one card under a bell jar: no Shift can change it. After every round the dice roll. On doubles, a Shift turns every card that isn’t sheltered into a new random card. Then anyone may call the hand. The first call means one last roll of the dice, then every hand is revealed. The best total wins the hand pot: closest to +23 or −23, with positive beating negative at the same distance. 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