Sequence – A "must have" family game
Sequence is easily the most played game in our family board game collection.
So I guess it almost goes without saying that it’s also one of our most highly rated family games.
Can the whole family enjoy Sequence?
Absolutely! It’s perfect for family game time.
Here are just a few reasons why we love Sequence:
- Simple and easy for everyone to play
- Playing in teams heightens the anticipation and fun
- Plenty of luck makes it great for all ages to join in
- Scales fantastically and plays equally well with a wide number of players
- Can still keep you on your toes
- The end is always close
- Easy to chat with others while playing
Is there really strategy involved in Sequence?
Some may say that there isn’t any strategy in Sequence. But we disagree. Sure you can’t control what cards you draw. But the trick is making the most of the cards you do have. And with two spaces on the board for each card, you do need to choose your position wisely.
Now that doesn’t mean that we haven’t been beaten by a youngster just randomly throwing down cards. But that’s very rare. Of course, it’s also very funny when it happens. Their eyes light up like crazy as if they planned it that way the whole time.
How many people can play Sequence?
While the game rules say it can be played with 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, or 12 we haven’t held back from playing with even more. As long as the number of players is divisible by 2 or 3, you can split into even teams. And it’s the whole team aspect that makes it such a fun game.
Since you already have to deal with the luck of the draw on what cards you get, adding a teammate heightens the luck and anticipation of what’s to come even more. As the game progresses, the anticipation continues to build as well. While hoping to get just the right card to complete a sequence you’re also nervously hoping that your opponents don’t block you, or worse, remove one of your pieces.
And the more players there are, the longer you sit anticipating that nothing bad happens before your next turn. But that’s what makes it so fun.
How does Sequence score on the “Let’s Play Again” meter?
Sequence scores super high on our “Let’s Play Again” meter. Once we get started playing a game of Sequence, we’ll always play multiple games. It may be just a simple game, but that’s why it’s so accessible for everyone to play.
We’ve played for hours on end for a few reasons. The first is that inevitably when a game ends, the non-winning team/s are close to winning as well. And who can sit still and not call out for a rematch? The second reason is that Sequence lends itself well to visiting while playing. So it’s perfect for family gatherings when you’re just sitting around the table taking it easy.
Sequence is also a game that people can leave or join throughout the night. If someone wants to join in or someone has had enough, it’s easy enough to rearrange the teams for the next game and keep rolling right along.
We highly recommend you get a game of Sequence going and enjoy the company.
| The Board Game Family Game Ratings | |
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Caleb |
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Brooke |
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Jaden |
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Trevor |
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Mom |
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Dad |
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Average |
The question is what if you make a sequence down one side of the board between the 2 wildcards and then finish filling it the blanks until all spots are filled between the 2 wild cards. Does this count as 2 sequences?
Ricky – Yes, that would count as 2 sequences.
A sequence is made, on the outside, next to the corner, not using the corner. 5 numbers, without the corner. I contend the corner can not be used in the sequence and only the five placed on the board, without the corner, are used as a sequence. Others contend that a choice can be made and the corner be used as one of the five. What are the rules on this?
A corner counts as one of the 5 in a sequence. So when connecting to the corner spot, a team only needs 4 markers of their color in a line from the corner. Here is the statement from the rules: “There are printed chips in the four corners of the game board. All players must use them as though their color marker chip is in the corner. When using a corner, only four of your marker chips are needed to complete a Sequence. More than one player/team may use the same corner as part of a Sequence.”
Does anyone know if there is an “online” version of Sequence? I’ve searched and have had no luck. We don’t always have room to pack our board games.
Thanks!!!
yes its called Jacks GoneWild
Does a sixth marker chip continuing a fixed sequence become “locked” into that fixed sequence?
Samantha – No, a 6th chip doesn’t become locked as part of the 5-chip completed sequence. Only 1 chip in a finished sequence can be used for a subsequent sequence.
Can a person play off his team’s “crowned” sequence? If so, can he play off any of the 5?
Matlock – Yes, you can play off of a completed sequence. However, you can only count 1 of those discs/markers in the new sequence. So the most natural is that the 2 sequences cross each other. If they were to continue in a straight line, it would have to be a very long line to only share 1 marker in each sequence.
For 8 players is that 2 teams of 4?
Phyllis – yes, you are correct. For 8 players, go with 2 teams of 4.
If one player gets a sequence but doesn’t realize it, does it count no matter what? Or do they have to recognize the sequence for it to count? I got a winning sequence right after the other team “won” but they didn’t realize they had won.
Add – I guess that all depends on how you like to play your games. No matter the game, do you consider the person that meets the game’s win conditions to be the winner? In my view, if someone gets the winning five-in-a-row before me, then I can’t imagine that I’ve really beaten them. Whether I’d get a sequence on my next turn or might do it 3 turns from now, I’ve still lost because they met the win condition before me. Whether they notice or not is irrelevant to me. I haven’t won.
Question for you. We got this for Xmas and have been playing with three people and have encountered a couple times when we’ve run out of cards from the ‘draw’ deck before any of us had got a sequence. Do you re-shuffle or just call it a draw? Thanks
Nik – That’s quite the game to get that far and not have a single sequence. Yes, in that case I’d reshuffle the discards and keep going. Remember, if you have a card in your hand that has both spots on the board for that card covered, you can discard it and draw a new card.
Does the sequence have to be all of the same suit?
Larry – No. The only thing that matters in a sequence is the color tokens in a row. Those tokens can be sitting on any suit.
What happens when the board is full and no sequence reached? Do you still draw cards?
B – With the hundreds of times we’ve played Sequence, that has never occurred. Since there are wild Jacks that remove tokens and wild Jacks that let you place wherever you want, it always works out.
Sorry should have been clearer so what happened to us while playing is we got down to only one open spot on the game board. So obviously we can trade dead card but what happens then if you can’t play it just keeps going to the next person for one pull and if they can’t play it keeps going to the next? Thanks a ton!
Bernardo – Did you take a photo of that board? I’d love to see it! I would think that if you only have one open spot, then you’d have a whole hand full of dead cards, in which case you’d discard and draw another card. But if that is also dead, then you’d repeat and do the same. Eventually you’ll pull a 1-eyed Jack card and be able to remove any piece on the board. Thus, there will now be 2 open space on the board and most likely open up an spot that will let you make a needed connection for a win.
Sequence game – Diagonally a sequence is build and declared.
can i create new sequence by adding 2 at one end and 3 at another end of the existing sequence, to create 2 sequences? This basically changes the first declared sequence. Can we do that?
RK – No. You can only reuse one token of a sequence for a subsequent sequence. Once a sequence is played, it can’t be changed. If you add 4 at one end of a completed sequence, then it could work because the last token in the first sequence would be the only token shared to form the second sequence.
Do we use all 104 cards, or one deck, as these are packed separately, and no where does it tell me to use one or the two packs
Maureen – You use all the cards provided. Shuffle them all together to begin.
How to play with 8 player, what are the rules?
Villa – The rules don’t change at all with 8 players. Simply split into 2 teams of 4 each. The first team to get 2 sequences wins.
If there are chips of only three colours then how can there be four teams? ????
Aadi – There can’t be 4 teams. There can only be 2 or 3 teams. If you have 4 players, you split into two teams of 2. If you have 10 people, you split into two teams of 5.
If I replace my dead card and play, I lose one card. And if I do it again, I will lose another card in my hand.
Is this correct?
So – No, that’s not correct. Let’s say you have 5 cards in hand. One of them is a “dead card” because both spaces on the board for that card are covered with a chip. What you do is replace that card with another from the deck. So on your turn, you place the dead card in the discard pile and draw another card. Thus, you’ve still got 5 cards in hand. Then you proceed to play a card and place a chip. Then, just like normal play, you draw a card to end your turn again with 5 cards.
We have 5 people. Can we make that work?
Ginny – Unfortunately, 5 people won’t be able to play at the same time. The teams need to be divisible by 2 or 3.
Adding 1 chip completes 2 sequences simultaneously. Rare, but does happen. Does only one of those count as being complete (4 players)?
Larry – If you can play one chip that is at the intersection of 2 sequences, you successfully complete both and win.
How can 3 players come to a stale mate in sequence? Thank you
Brook – We’ve never seen a stale mate in Sequence at any player count. Since the 1-eyed Jacks let you remove pieces from the board, the game will continue forward with options to play on. If you’ve seen otherwise, we’d love to hear about it.
If you make a sequence (5 chips) in a row can you just add four more chips to the end for a double sequence? Meaning only nine chips instead of the rent nedded? Came across this the other night with an opponent saying you can count the end as two with only nine chips instead of ten. Is thereta pkace where one can print tge rules as a friend had this games so we made one. Thanks for your help.
Chrusti – You can find the rules online from the publisher here: https://www.jaxgames.com/sequence-game-rules/
Yes, you could have a double-sequence of one long row with 9 chips. That’s because one chip of a sequence can be shared in making another sequence. It’s typically crossing, but there isn’t anything that stops it from being straight off the end.
Hi,
I first discarded 10 Diamond card and placed chip on 10 Diamond, I removed my hand from the chip and within fraction of seconds I changed it another 10 diamond position. Is the move valid ?
I was not satisfied with my original 10 diamond location and I changed it before the next players turn . Thanks
Bharath – the rules don’t state anything about changing your mind before the next player takes a turn. So, it’s up to those who you’re playing with to determine if it’s okay or not.
Is sequence of six considered valid sequence or is it must to have only five?
GujjuBoardGameGang – A sequence of 6 still works because it has 5 within it.
While playing this with 3 players, we often come in a situation where none of the players made the sequence. And the card deck has no more card left to draw a new card. (at that time the board has 4-5 open places which lead none of the players in successful sequence.)
Now if we shuffle the discarded cards and continue playing most of the newly drawered card will be the dead card.
What should we do if a player has more than one dead card, and what if the replaced card of the dead card is also the dead card?
what should be the rules here, how we can continue the game?
vivekshah07 – That’s interesting to hear this situation occurs often. We’ve played hundreds of games with 3 players (or 3 teams) and have only gone through the deck once like this. In that case, we’ve shuffled and continued. What really breaks the stalemate are the Jacks. Discarding a “dead card” isn’t always a good strategy. You can hold onto a “dead card” that’s a good position for you. When you play a Jack to remove a token, remove that one. Then on your next turn, play that card to place your token and win!
@Trent
Thanks for the reply. Yes, we often comes in that situations where we are out of card from the deck. (Maybe we have played so many times in a family that we are knowing each other’s stretargy, which helps us to stop opponent to make sequence.)
But yes, replacing unwanted dead card, holding wanted dead card and wait for the jack will be a good option to win.
Thanks again. 🙂
We’ve had several 3-hand games recently that filled the board (or very nearly) and we reshuffled the discards for a new draw deck. It’s previously been suggested that a player keep discarding dead cards until a one-eyed jack is drawn to remove a played chip. But the rules seem to say that only a single dead card can be traded in one turn. If a player still has no valid card to play, he/she would have to “pass” that turn, but the rules don’t seem to allow for “passing”. Any additional suggestions on how this rules conflict should be resolved? Note that using the play-or-pass method (which we’ve tried) results in a lot of replacing one dead card per turn to eventually reach a one-eyed jack needed to open a desired spot on the board. Then one more turn is still required to play the winning card (assuming it’s in the player’s hand and no opponent reblocks the spot). Also, the one-eyed jacks can become exhausted again and the deck has to be shuffled again.
Jeff – You are correct in that the rules state that only 1 Dead Card may be exchanged per turn. What I’d recommend is that you don’t let your hands get to the stage of filling with Dead Cards. I may keep one dead card in my hand that’s in a strategic position – so that when it’s removed by a Jack, I can play it to get a Sequence. However, if it comes to having a second Dead Card in my hand that isn’t in a good position, I’ll always immediately exchange it out and then take my turn. That way, I’m drawing 2 cards a turn (one on exchange and one at the end of my turn) – thus increasing my odds of drawing an advantageous card. If on those draws, one is another dead card, on my next turn I’ll again exchange a dead card and take my turn. Just try not to let dead cards build up in your hand at the outset, or you may get to the “stuck” stage.
If someone has a Sequence but doesn’t realize it, aren’t those chips considered live?
Sharon B – It sounds like you’re playing cut-throat. There’s nothing in the rules that says a completed Sequence has to be “claimed” or acknowledged in order to count. If it’s a sequence, it’s a sequence.
What is the required number of sequences to win? Can it be any number agreed upon?
Jim – With 2 players (or teams) it’s 3 sequences. With 3 players (or teams) it’s just 2 sequences.