How to Play Sequence (Setup, Jacks and Cards to Deal)
How to play Sequence: on your turn, play one card, put a chip on a matching space on the board, and draw a new card. Make a row of five chips to score a sequence. Two players or two teams need two sequences to win; three players or three teams need one.
That is the whole game. The rest of this page covers the details people look up most: how many cards to deal, what the two kinds of jack do, and the dead-card and lost-draw rules nobody reads.
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Don’t own it yet? We scored Sequence 5/5 Bamboo and 4/5 Pandas in our Sequence review. It is 2–12 players, ages 7+, and the rules below are the ones in the current box. The game grew out of a homemade American folk game called One-Eyed Jack, played on a board glued together from cut-up cards, and Jax published the boxed version in 1982.
What’s in the Box
| Part | What it is |
|---|---|
| Board | A 10 by 10 grid of playing-card spaces with a free space in each corner |
| Cards | 104 cards: two standard 52-card decks, no jokers |
| Chips | 50 green, 50 blue and 35 red |
Every card except the jacks appears twice on the board, as you can see on Sequence’s BoardGameGeek page. That is 48 cards times two spaces, plus the four corners, for the full 100 spaces. The jacks have no space of their own, which is what makes them special.
How Many Cards to Deal
Deal by the number of people playing. More than three players must split into two or three teams, and every team must be the same size.
| Players | How you play | Cards each | Sequences to win |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | One against one | 7 | 2 |
| 3 | Each for themselves | 6 | 1 |
| 4 | Two teams of two | 6 | 2 |
| 6 | Two teams of three, or three teams of two | 5 | 2 or 1 |
| 8 | Two teams of four | 4 | 2 |
| 9 | Three teams of three | 4 | 1 |
| 10 | Two teams of five | 3 | 2 |
| 12 | Two teams of six, or three teams of four | 3 | 2 or 1 |
Five, seven and eleven are missing on purpose: none of them splits into two or three equal teams, so the rules as written do not cover them. Teammates sit alternately around the table, so no two players on the same team take turns back to back.
Setting Up
- Give each player or team one color of chips.
- Shuffle the 104 cards together and deal by the table above.
- Put the rest of the deck face down within reach. Each player keeps their own discard pile face up in front of them.
- Choose who goes first. Turns then go around the table in order.
How a Turn Works
Every turn has the same three steps, in this order.
- Play a card. Choose a card from your hand and lay it face up on your discard pile.
- Place a chip. Put one of your chips on either board space that shows the same card. If one space is already taken, use the other.
- Draw. Take a card from the deck to bring your hand back to full.
Then it is the next player’s turn. Teammates may not tell each other what to play or hint at what they hold.
The Jacks
The eight jacks are the only cards with no space on the board. They come in two kinds, and the number of eyes on the card face tells you which.
| Jack | Which ones | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Two-eyed | Diamonds and clubs | Wild. Place your chip on any open space |
| One-eyed | Hearts and spades | Remove one opponent’s chip from the board |
A one-eyed jack can never remove a chip that is already part of a completed sequence, and you cannot use it to take a space for yourself on the same turn: the space stays open. Our Sequence jacks guide covers when to spend each kind.
Check the card face: in a standard deck the jack of hearts and the jack of spades are drawn in profile with one eye showing, and the jacks of diamonds and clubs face forward with two.
That split is the standard one for English-pattern cards, and it is listed in Wikipedia’s playing-card nicknames as well as the Sequence entry, which covers the jack rules.
The Fine-Print Rules
Corners are free for everyone. Each corner space counts as a chip of every color, so a sequence through a corner needs only four of your own chips.
Dead cards. If both spaces for a card in your hand are covered, it is a dead card. On your turn, before you play, lay it on your discard pile, say so, and draw a replacement. You may do this only once per turn, and then you take your normal turn.
The lost draw. If you forget to draw and the next player has started their turn, you have lost that draw. You play the rest of the game one card short.
Sharing a chip. When you need two sequences, your second may use one chip from your first, and no more than one.
How to Win
A sequence is five of your chips in a row, up, down, across or diagonally. In a game with two players or two teams, the first to make two sequences wins. With three players or three teams, one sequence wins.
That is why three-way games are fast and tense: one row ends it, so every player blocks every other.
Rules at a Glance by Player Count
Two and three players are the only counts with no teammates and no table talk to police. Our Sequence 2-player guide covers what changes when the team play goes away. At four or six, sit partners across from each other and the turn order takes care of itself.
Once you know the rules, our Sequence strategy guide covers which board zones are worth fighting over. Sequence is also a pick on our best board games for families, our best board games under $30 and our best Christmas board games, where it is the grandparents’ game.
Check Sequence price on Amazon →
Frequently Asked Questions
How many cards do you deal in Sequence?
Deal 7 cards each for 2 players, 6 for 3 or 4 players, 5 for 6 players, 4 for 8 or 9 players, and 3 for 10 or 12 players. The hand size shrinks as the table grows so the deck lasts the game.
Can 5 people play Sequence?
Not under the rules as written. Players beyond three must form two or three teams of equal size, and five, seven and eleven cannot be split that way. The usual fix is for one person to sit out or to rotate in after each game.
What is the difference between a one-eyed and a two-eyed jack in Sequence?
A two-eyed jack is wild: you place your chip on any open space. A one-eyed jack removes one opponent’s chip from the board, but never a chip that is part of a completed sequence. The jacks of diamonds and clubs have two eyes, and the jacks of hearts and spades have one.
How many sequences do you need to win Sequence?
Two sequences in a game with two players or two teams, and one sequence in a game with three players or three teams. When you need two, the second sequence may reuse one chip from the first.
What happens if you forget to draw a card in Sequence?
Once the next player has started their turn, you lose that draw and play the rest of the game with one card fewer. Nobody can make it up for you later.
Do corners count in Sequence?
Yes. All four corners are free spaces that count as every player’s color, so a sequence that runs through a corner needs only four of your own chips.