Fizz Buzz

Version Française

Number of players : 2 to 6

Age: from 9 years

Equipment: A deck of 54 cards (with 2 jokers) is best, but it can be played with a deck of 40 cards if there are 4 or less players.

Summary: A game of calculation and concentration. Players turn over cards while announcing a number that increases at each turn, taking care to replace certain numbers with "Fizz" or "Buzz". Certain specific cards and certain combinations between a card and the number announced have an effect, either on the sense of the round, or on the next number to be announced. The first player to make a mistake picks up 10 cards on the table and adds them to his pack, the goal being to be the first to discard all his cards.

Origin: this card game derives from the french game of the same name, which is played in schools and summer camps to help learn the multiplying table, but it is also played by young adults as a drinking game. The original game is also played in spanish speaking countries (known as “7 pum”) and english speaking countries (known as “7’s game” or “Buzz”). 

Preparation

All the cards are dealt to the players, face down, one at a time, in a clockwise direction. The players do not look at their cards, but rather stack them face down. The person to the left of the dealer starts playing and play continues clockwise.

How the game works

Announcements

The player who starts the game announces the number 1 and reveals the first card of his pile, face up, on the table. The next players in turn reveal the first card in their pile on the table and announce a number equal to the number announced by the previous player plus 1.

If the number to be announced is a multiple of 3 or ends in 3 (examples: 3, 6, 9, 12, 13, 15), the player must announce "Fizz" instead of the number.

If the number to be announced is a multiple of 7 or ends in 7 (examples: 7, 14, 17), the player must announce "Buzz" instead of the number.

If the number to be announced complies with both of the above rules at the same time (examples: 21, 27, 63), the player must announce "Fizz Buzz" instead of the number.

Example of sequence: 1 - 2 - Fizz - 4 - 5 - Fizz - Buzz - 8 - Fizz - 10 - 11 - Fizz - Fizz - Buzz - Fizz - 16 - Buzz - Fizz - 19 - 20 - Fizz Buzz

Cards played

Jacks (J) and Queens (Q) played on the table skip a turn. The next player in line is not the one next to the player who has just played. With 2 players, the person who placed a Jack or Queen must play again.

Kings (K) and Jokers placed on the table reverse the direction of the number sequence. If it was ascending, it becomes descending, and vice versa. When the number 0 is reached, the sequence starts again upwards. Example: 1 - 2 - Fizz - 4 - 5 (with Joker or King) - 4 - Fizz - 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 2 - Fizz - 4 - 5...

When the value of the card placed on the table ends with the same number as the units of the number announced (example: "Ace" card with a number 1, 11 or 21 - the latter announced as "Fizz-Buzz"-, or 10 card with a 10, 20 or 30 - the latter announced as "Fizz"-):

Mistakes

When a player breaks one of the rules and someone points it out, the player who made the mistake picks up 10 cards from the table (or all the cards if there are less than 10 cards) and puts them at the end of his pile, then starts the sequence again from number 1. The game continues in the same direction as when the interruption was made.

End of game

The game ends when a player discards all his cards.

Each player then gets as many penalty points as they have cards in their hand.

The penalty points are then cumulated with those from the previous rounds.

The player with the fewest points after 5 rounds wins the game.

Variants

The number of rounds to be played can be different from 5, you just need to agree it at the start of the game. In particular, if there is no scoreboard to record the results of each round, it is advisable to stop the game after one round.

Several simplifications are possible for beginners: