Pairs: Pirate Deck

Who doesn't love Pirates? We teamed up with talented illustrator Brett Bean to bring you this deck of pirates, scalawags, and ne'er-do-wells. The Pirate Pairs Deck contains the basic rules and two bonus games, Port and Starboard, as well as the "Pieces of Eight" alternate rule for the basic game.

• Theme: Pirates
• Art by: Brett Bean
• Variant Games: Pieces of Eight, Port and Starboard
• Download the Pirate Deck Rules (PDF, 1.1 Mb), including the rules for Port and Starboard
• Download the Pairs Companion Rulebook (PDF, 5.6 Mb)

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.

In the Pieces of Eight variant, you can discard an eight to draw two cards.

In Port, players take turns drawing cards or locking their stacks. The player(s) who lock with the most points win the hand, but catching a pair knocks you out.

In Starboard, the play is similar to Port, but players are all using the same central stack of cards. For this one, you need chips to keep score.

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!)