Pairs: Shallow Ones Deck

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.

• Theme: Cartoon Elder Gods
• Art by: John Kovalic
• Variant Game: Monster
• Download the Shallow Ones Rules (PDF, 1.0 Mb), including the rules for Monster
• 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.

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!)