Pairs: Shallow Ones Deck by John Kovalic

World-famous game and comic artist John Kovalic brings us the Shallow Ones deck, a collection of adorable elder gods. This deck of sweet little world-killing Cthulhu-monsters also contains the apltly named variant game, Monster.

Pairs is a "New Classic Pub Game" featuring an unusual deck of cards. The deck has only the numbers 1 through 10, with a different number of each card: 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, and so on, up to 10x10.

In the basic game, points are bad, and you score points by getting a pair. So, if you have a 10, there are 9 other cards that could pair it up, and you'll get 10 penalty points if you do. Players take turns deciding whether to take another card, or fold, trying to avoid scoring points. When you fold, you have to take points, but only the smallest card in play.

Monster is a bluffing game somewhat like Draw Poker. Each player begins with six cards, and then may discard up to three of them into the "Monster Hand." The best hand wins in a showdown (highest card with no pair), but then must also beat the Monster.

Pairs was designed by veteran game inventors James Ernest and Paul Peterson, and released in October 2014. There are many different art decks to choose from, but they all work for the same game (and many variant games!)

Shallow Ones - Hip Pocket Games

"Juego de cartas de relleno absoluto cuya única gracia está en las divertidas y entrañables ilustraciones de John Kovalic (Munchkin, Dork Tower, etc.), se trata de un juego en el que iremos cogiendo cartas y forzando nuestra suerte para conseguir puntos sin obtener ninguna pareja, al más puro estilo Black Jack o Las siete y media, un tipo de juego que solo mola si hay apuestas por medio."

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