Jekyll & Hyde

A psychological tug-of-war for control of one man's mind.

One player is Jekyll — ordered, civil, playing Hearts and Diamonds. The other is Hyde — impulsive, corrupted, playing Clubs and Spades. Every round, both of you secretly build the best three-card hand you can, then reveal at the same time. Whomever's hand is stronger pulls a shared marker toward their side of the track. Pull it all the way to your end — or hold the favorable side when both decks run dry — and you win the duel for Henry Jekyll's soul.

All you need is a deck of cards.

Not a custom deck, not printed cards — an ordinary 52-card deck plus its two Jokers, split in half by color. That's the whole game. Built for the Toner Saver Showdown, Jekyll & Hyde asks nothing of your printer except, if you want it, a single sheet of rules with a printed track on the side.

How a round works

1. Both players draw a hand of 5 and secretly choose 3 cards to play.
2. Reveal together. Rank your 3 cards as a Straight, a Pair, a Parity run (all even or all odd), or just a High Card.
3. The stronger formation pulls the marker toward you — the bigger the gap between formations, the further it moves. Tie, and nothing happens.
4. Discard, redraw, and pass the lead. Nine rounds later, every card in both decks has been played — and somebody's grip has won out.

Two ways to win

Force the marker off the far end of the track for an immediate win, or have it sitting on your side when the last cards are played. Dead center after nine rounds is a tie — best of luck settling that in a rematch.

Rules included as a print-friendly PDF (US Letter and A4), with the 9-space track built right into the sheet — sized so a coin or a 25mm miniature sits comfortably on each space.