Trio Rules: How to Play

Trio

3–6 players

15 min

7.4

nana, which was later reprinted as Trio, is a card game in which players are looking for three of a kind. The deck consists of 36 cards, numbered 1-12 three times. Players receive some cards in hand, which they are required to sort from low to high, and the remaining cards are placed face down on the table. On your turn, choose any single card to reveal, either the low or high card from a player's hand (including your own) or any face-down card from the table. Then, do this again. If the two cards show the same number, continue your turn; if they do not, return the cards to where they came from and end your turn. If you reveal three cards showing the same number, take these cards as a set in front of you. If you are the first player to collect three sets, you win — except that a player wins immediately if they collect the set of 7s or two sets that add or subtract to 7, e.g., 4s and 11s. Note that nana and Trio contain identical components, but nana is labeled for 2-5 players, while Trio is labeled for 3-6 players. Trio has slight changes to the rules, with players using all cards no matter the player count. Additionally, you play in normal mode — winning with three sets or the 7s — or "spicy" mode, winning with two linked sets or the 7s. Finally, Trio includes rules for playing in teams with four or six players.

How to play

Setup, how a turn works and how the game ends, summarised from the rulebook by Eko, Meepzy's rules assistant.

Here is a general overview of how to play based on the rules.

Setup Shuffle and deal cards face down to each player based on the player count, and place the remaining cards face down in the middle of the table (p. 2). Players pick up their cards and sort them into numerical order from lowest to highest without showing anyone (p. 2). Finally, decide whether you are playing simple or spicy mode, and the player who ate avocado most recently goes first (p. 2).

How a Turn Works Players take turns clockwise (p. 2). On your turn, you reveal numbered cards one by one, and you must stop as soon as 2 numbers are different, or continue until 3 identical numbers are revealed to complete a trio (p. 2). For each card you choose to reveal, you can pick from the following options:

Reveal any card you like from the middle of the table (p. 2).
Reveal a player's lowest or highest number (either from your own hand or by asking an opponent) (p. 2).

Your turn ends in one of two ways: either you complete a trio and seal the deal by taking the 3 cards face up in front of you, or a revealed number is different from the previous one, meaning all revealed numbers are put back in place face down in the middle and/or returned to their owners (p. 2).

How the Game Ends A player claims victory as soon as they have won 3 trios or 2 connected trios (depending on whether you are playing simple or spicy mode), or the 7 trio, which triumphs over everything else (p. 3).

This summary was written by Eko from the game's own rulebook. It covers the essentials, not every edge case. For a specific rule, ask Eko and get the page it came from, or open the manual in the Archive.