Chin Music Rules

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Chin Music rulebook title

Chin Music has had a significant revision between its first and second version. If you own the second edition of Chin Music (sold in a cardboard tuck box), please see the second edition rulebook instead.

BULLY!

Why, there’s a scrap gathering outside the speakeasy.

but there’s always a scrap gathering outside the speakeasy!

You and your fellow rowdies are trying to enjoy a drink in peace, but it seems that a hustle of ruffians out there wants a bit of the old Chin Music. But who’s going to go out there and deal with this problem?

Well, let’s see who boasts best!

Access

Chin Music is a game where players need to access a shared pile of cards, hold their hands so others can see their backs, and say things with the expectation that they’re clearly heard.

This game has some memory issues to it: players have to remember what they said, or what the other players have said. If you have a hard time hearing one another, or your ability to speak clearly is impaired, this game may not work well for you. If you can’t hold cards up for a length of time, this game may not work well for you. That’s okay!

And always: Remember to respect the players and their needs.

Components

In your copy of Chin Music, you should have the following:

  • 2 facing cards. These are just to make the game look nice
  • 36 Bout cards, showing a variety of words and fists

How To Play

Your Bout cards have two faces. The front face shows a text box with a word in it, and a number below. That number is the Boast value of a card –how firmly you project your convictions.

On the back of each card, there is a number of Ruffians, represented by a number of punch-ready fists looking to brawl, with a number set around the edge. You’re going to try and earn more Boast than the Ruffians you’ll face.

Setup

Shuffle the deck. Determine who’s going to be the first player, by a roll of a die or a coin flip or who has the longest middle name, or some other method that strikes your fancy. Once you’ve worked out the play order, deal each player a hand of four cards, face-up.

Players could bother trying to memorise what every player is holding, but it’s not going to help you with the game.

Once you have your hard of cards you lift them up and keep them to yourself—and other players can now see the backs of your cards. This means that whenever you play a card, you’re not sure how many Ruffians are on it, and don’t know how dangerous the crew outside are growing. You know what the other players are adding to that stack, but no yourself!

Play

Play is divided into bouts, and involves building a single pile of cards that represent your prowess at boasting, called the stack. Each turn, you have to:

  1. Play a card face-up on top of the stack, if you can. Then,
  2. Recite aloud, starting with the bottom card, all the cards in the stack, including the card you added to it

If another player thinks you made a mistake, they can can call you out!

If you’re called out…

Check the stack and see if you made a mistake.

  • If you didn’t make a mistake, that player has to fight (see below)
  • If you did, you have to fight (again, see below)

If you can’t agree or tell (and you’d best be honest, or what’s the point of the game?) the round ends and you start again, with both of you drawing an extra card.

Otherwise…

Once you have recited the cards correctly, choose one:

  • Pass the turn to the next player, who has to play their own card onto the stack.
  • If you’ve played at least two cards into the stack, or Some other player has no cards left in hand, you can choose to fight. Remember! You may be walking out into a fight your boast can’t match!

Fighting!

Count up the Boast total on the cards you correctly named in the correct order.
You get one extra point of Boast for every one of your own cards you put in the stack—so at least 2.

  • If you missed a card name, you don’t add that card’s Boast value
  • If you named the right cards in the wrong order, you don’t get any of those cards’ Boast value

Then, flip the whole stack over and count up the total number of ruffians that are waiting to fight.

  • If you have more Boast than the Ruffians have numbers you win this bout!
  • If there’s an equal number or more Ruffians than your Boast number, you lose the bout!

Aftermath

If you won the fight, from now on, at the start of each bout, you draw one fewer card. You’ve got less to prove now!

If you lost the fight, from now on, at the start of each bout, you draw one more card, up to a maximum of four. You’ve got more to prove!

Whoever fights, win or lose, the next player starts the next round.

Winning

The game ends when a player has only one card left in their hand at the start of a round. That player has ‘nothing more to prove.’

Faster Or Slower?

Here are some alternate rules to make CHIN MUSIC a little faster or slower, if you want:

  • If you want players to be careful with callouts, you can make a failed callout knock out the calling player for the bout.
  • If you want play for go faster, you can deal everyone fewer cards. If you want to go slower, you can deal more cards.

Credits

Game, Rulebook, Art: Talen Lee

Special Thanks:
To Casey, who inspired me at a bus stop
To Fox and Elli, who helped with math
To Æryn, who talked punchin’ with me

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