the button game

the button game is an easy and fun 4 player board game, loosely related to pachisi. i was introduced to it by way of the wonderful sites family.

requirements

the requirements of the game are as follows:

• 2 decks of 52 cards
• a game board: 19 squares on each side, with a 5 square start column above the 11th square and a 5 square home column above the 16th square (see below)
• 20 buttons - 4 sets of 5 colors

setup & objective

partners sit across from one another. each player is dealt 5 cards. place 5 buttons in the start column for each payer.

objective: players move their pieces around the board to eventually get all their pieces into the home column. the first team to get all pieces into their home column win.

card values

cards are played as follows:

• 1-10 - move a button worth the card's numerical value
• jack, queen, king (face cards) - move a button 10 spaces
• 7's - can be divided to move two buttons; e.g. move one 4 spaces and another 3 spaces. you may also not divide, and move a button 7 spaces
• 8's - move a button backwards exactly 8 spaces
• ace - move a button 1 or 11 spaces
• jokers - move a button to any space on the board that has a button on it - as long as its not your button. see landing on other buttons

note that *all* cards only move clockwise except:

• jokers can either direction, as long as they land on someone else's button
• 8's must only move backwards

rules

dealing & hands

• deal 5 cards to all players
• place the remainder face down in the center of the board
• play starts to the left of the dealer
• each player in turns lays down a card face up in front of them, makes their play, then draws until their hand equals 5 again. sometimes players forget to draw at the end of their turn; if so, they must wait until the end of their next turn to draw back to 5 cards. players may never have more than 5 cards in their hand.

moving buttons

• to get a button out of start to begin moving around the board, a player must play an ace or a face card - then move their button out of the start column into the space immediately outside it - one exception is using a joker, in which case you can move your button on top of someone else's button (which can be offensive, or defensive)
• you can avoid going around the entire board by playing an eight to go backwards, so that the following turn you will be able to go into the home column.
• no player can jump over their own button, fowards, or backwards, including buttons in the home column.

landing on buttons

• if you land on your partner's button: move it to space immediately outside of your partner's home column
• if you land on either of your opponent's buttons: move it to an open space in that player's start column

endgame

• if you have a card to play - you must play it unless its a joker - which you are allowed to hang on to
• if you cannot play when its your turn, you must discard and draw a new card and wait until your next turn to play
• once a player gets 5 buttons into their home column, they can play on their partner's buttons when it is their turn - however no coordination is allowed between the team members (e.g. gesturing, table talk, footsie shenanigans, etc.)
• on a player's final move (moving their last button into the home column), they can use a part of a 7 to move their own button and finish the 7 on their partner's, but all of the 7 must be used.
• on a player's final move (moving their last button into the home column), you cannot use only part of a 7 without using all of it.

strategy

• avoid going around the board by utilizing 8s
• watch out for corners - they're a hot spot!
• landing on buttons is key - you can help your partner or foil your foes
• be careful about getting your home column organized - remember you cannot jump your own buttons!