Cuttle

This article is about the card game. For the marine mollusc known as cuttle, see Cuttlefish.

Cuttle is a two player card game played with a standard deck of 52 playing cards and is the earliest example of a combat card game. The game's earliest confirmed appearance took place in the 1970s, though the exact date of its creation is unknown.

Objective

The objective of cuttle is to have 21 or more points in-play under one's control at any time. Points are acquired by playing any card which is not a face card to obtain the number of points represented by that card (with aces being worth one point, twos being worth two points, etc.) In order to reach 21 points before their opponent each player must attempt to use their turn most effectively.

Mechanics

These are the standard mechanics as proposed in the earliest surviving ruleset. Several variations on these mechanics exist.

Playing a card for points

When playing a card for points the player removes the card from their hand and places in front of them. Once a point card has been placed on the table it is considered in-play. Point cards which are in-play should be made distinctly separate from each player's layout and be visible to their opponent. Point cards which are removed from play in any way are placed in the universal discard pile.

Playing a card as a one-off

When playing a card as a one-off the player removes the card from their hand, alerts their opponent to the one-off ability of the card, and places it immediately into the universal discard pile. If there are no mitigating factors the effect of the card is then evaluated. The following table enumerates each of the cards which may be played as one-offs and their abilities:

Card	Ability
Ace	Forces both players to discard all of their currently in-play point cards
Two	Place any one card which is not a point card in the discard pile
Three	Allows the player to place any one card from the discard into their hand
Four	Causes the player's opponent to discard two cards of their choosing
Five	Allows the player to draw two cards into their hand
Six	Forces both players to place all cards except for point cards into the discard pile, ending their effects
Seven	Causes the player to draw a card and play it immediately in the manner of their choosing. In the event the drawn card can not be played it is discarded
Nine	Allows the player to return any one card from their opponents layout, or an eight, to its owner's hand

Adding a card to the layout

Each player maintains their own layout. These are cards which grant the controlling player a permanent gameplay effect until they are removed from play by another card. The following table enumerates each of the cards which may be added to the player's layout and their effects:

Card	Effect
Queen	While a Queen is part of your layout none of your other cards may be targeted by adverse effects which target a single card (Jacks and Twos). The Queen does not offer protection against scuttles
King	While a King is in play the number of points required for the controlling player to win is reduced. This reduction continues as more Kings are placed into play by the same player. One King reduces the number of points required to 14, two to 10, three to seven, and four Kings reduces the number of points required to win to 5

Exceptions

Several of the cards in cuttle behave differently from standard one-offs or layout cards. They operate as follows:

Card	Explanation
Two	As well as their use as a one-off as above, twos may also be played to counter a one-off played by the other player on their turn. In this case the countered card's effect is never evaluated and both the two and the countered card are discarded. Twos may be used to counter twos.
Eight	The eight functions similarly to a layout card, but is not owned by either player. Instead when an eight is played it is placed between the two players and forces the player who did not play the eight to play with his hand exposed to his opponent until the eight is removed from play.
Jack	A Jack is played as a one-off on a players turn but it is played on top of one of the opponents point cards, transferring the ownership of that point card to the player who owns the Jack for as long as that Jack remains in play. Jacks may be played on top of other Jacks. If a point card with a Jack (or Jacks) on top of it is discarded the Jack(s) are also discarded.

Scuttling

Scuttling is the act of using a card with a higher point value to force an opponent to discard one of their in-play point cards with a lower value than the card being used to scuttle. The card being used to scuttle is also discarded. In the event that two cards have the same point value the ability to scuttle another card is determined alphabetically by the name of the suit: Clubs - Diamonds - Hearts - Spades. If two cards have the same point value any card from a suit which before it in alphabetical order may be used to scuttle it.

Gameplay

A game of Cuttle begins with a deal and then consists of the two players taking alternating turns.

Dealing

At the beginning of the game a dealer is chosen randomly. The dealer deals five cards to their opponent and six to themself. These cards form the initial hands of both players. The remaining cards are placed face down between the players and become the draw pile.

Turns

Turns alternate between each of the players beginning with the player who did not deal. On their turn a player may choose to do one of the following:

• Draw a card from the draw pile and place it in their hand
• Place a numerical card from their hand onto the table in order to obtain the corresponding number of points
• Place a card which may be used as a one-off into the discard in order to utilize its ability
• Place a card which may be used as a layout card in front of them to begin benefitting from its effect
• Place a card which can scuttle one of the opponents point cards on top of it and then move both cards into the discard pile

After performing their desired action the players turn is over and their opponent's turn begins.

Winning

As soon as one player's score reaches 21 or more the game is over, with the player who has matched or exceeded 21 points being declared the winner. This can happen on either player's turn.

Variations

There are many variations on Cuttle. Several variants are listed below.

cuttle.cards Standard

Online play at cuttle.cards uses several minor changes to the rules written above, in order to fine-tune the game's balance for competitive play:

• The most important change is the addition of an 8-card hand limit. Players cannot draw when they have 8 cards in hand and playing a 5 when you have 8 cards already draws you just one card so you go up to 8.
• Seven one-offs: reveal the top two cards of the deck (instead of one), and the active player chooses one of the cards to play, and puts the other back on top of the deck.
• Nine one-offs: return target permanent to its controller's hand. It cannot be played next turn.
• Having 3 kings reduces a player's goal to 5 points (from 7), and having all 4 kings reduces a player's goal to 0 points (from 5) and causes that player to immediately win.

Cutthroat cuttle (1v1v1)

Cutthroat is a fast-paced 1v1v1 version of Cuttle. It is played with the same rules as the cuttle.cards Vanilla rules, with the following changes:

• The win condition is reduced. Players need 14 points to win by default, 9 points with one King in play, 5 points with two Kings in play, and having 3 Kings in play immediately wins (goal becomes zero).
• To start play, deal each player 5 cards and the player to the left of the dealer goes first. Which player is the dealer rotates clockwise each game.
• Shuffle two Jokers into the deck. Jokers count as Royals with the effect "Steal target Royal".
• The hand limit is reduced to 7 (from 8).
• When playing a glasses 8, instead of forcing players to play open handed, the player with the glasses may request to see either opponent's hand at any time

Team cuttle (2v2)

Team Cuttle is a 2v2 game where players sit across from their partner. A team wins if either of its players earns the required number of points, but players do not share cards in their hand or on their field (points are counted separately and your Royals do not directly affect your partner). Otherwise, the rules are the same as cuttle.cards Vanilla Cuttle, with the following changes:

• Each player is dealt 5 cards, play starts left of the dealer and proceeds clockwise from there.
• Shuffle two Jokers into the deck. Jokers count as Royals with the effect "Steal target Royal". Similar to Jacks, they may transfer control of a Royal from any player to any other player.
• The hand limit is reduced to 7 (from 8).
• Jacks may be played to transfer control of any point card to any other player. You may therefore "steal" points from yourself (or anyone else) in order to give them to your partner, potentially winning on your turn with their points (their goal is still determined by the count of their own Kings on the field).
• Nines can be played for an alternative, similar effect. Whenever an opponent plays a Royal, you may immediately play a Nine in response to return that card to its owner's hand immediately, preventing its effect from taking place. Doing so may be done out of turn and does not take your turn, but does not prevent the target's owner from playing the card again on their next turn. Alternatively, you may still play a Nine for its original one-off effect on your turn (taking your turn to do so) to return a card to its controller's hand and prevent them from playing that card on their next turn.

Competitive cuttle

The largest and longest-running competitive Cuttle league is hosted online at cuttle.cards. Players compete online in 1v1 matches that qualify them for Season Championship tournaments, and the top competitors in the Season Championships earn places in the annual Cuttle World Championship.

Competitive format

Competitive Cuttle divides the 52 weeks of the year into 4 seasons: Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades, spanning 13 weeks each (mirroring the composition of a standard deck of 52 playing cards. Play is generally structured around first-to-two-wins matches (like best 2/3, but where stalemates are ignored and play continues until one player reaches 2 wins) between two opponents. Every week, players earn points for the number of matches they win against unique opponents relative to other players, as follows:

Points for Weekly Ranked Play

Weekly Placement	Points
1st place (defeated most unique opponents)	5 points
2nd place	4 points
3rd place	3 points
At least one win without placing	2 points
At least one match with 0 wins	1 point

At the end of each 13-week season, the Top 8 Players earn places in that season's Championship tournament. Contestants in those tournaments earn points towards a place in the annual Cuttle World Championship as follows:

Season Championship Points

Place in Season Championship	Points
1st Place	21 points
2nd Place	14 points
3rd Place	10 points
4th Place	7 points
5th Place	5 points
6th Place	3 points
7th Place	2 points
8th Place	1 point

At the end of the year, points are calculated from the 4 Season Championships (Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades), and the Top 8 players with the most points earn places in the Cuttle World Championship.

History of competitive cuttle

Below is a record of the Cuttle tournaments that have taken place throughout the game's history.

Cuttle World Championship III

The 3rd Cuttle World Championship was conducted on February 10th, 2024 and it served as the culmination of the 2023 year of competitive Cuttle. Contestants earned their place in Cuttle World Championship III based on their performance across the four season championships for 2023: Clubs 2023, Diamonds 2023, Hearts 2023, and Spades 2024, as seen in the official Cuttle World Championship leaderboard for 2023. The format was a Double-elimination tournament with 8 competitors who placed as follows:

1. Avi
2. Launceleyn
3. aleph_one
4. SUBMARINO
5. ButterBothSides
6. Eorgosa
7. gman232
8. bbjme

Spades 2023

The Spades 2023 season of competitive Cuttle ran from 2023/10/04 - 2024/01/03. The Spades 2023 Season Championship tournament was a Double-elimination tournament with 8 competitors who placed as follows:

1. aleph_one
2. meichthys
3. SUBMARINO
4. gman232
5. bbjme
6. Avi
7. ButterBothSides
8. MonarchMan

Hearts 2023

The Hearts 2023 season of competitive Cuttle ran from 2023/07/05 - 2023/10/04. The Hearts 2023 Season Championship tournament was a Double-elimination tournament with 8 competitors who placed as follows:

1. Eorgosa
2. Avi
3. gman232
4. ButterBothSides
5. aleph_one
6. Pluka
7. SUBMARINO
8. bbjme

Diamonds 2023

The Diamonds 2023 season of competitive Cuttle ran from 2023/04/05 - 2023/07/05. The Diamonds 2023 Season Championship tournament was a Double-elimination tournament with 8 competitors who placed as follows:

1. Eorgosa
2. gman232
3. Avi
4. aleph_one
5. bbjme, ButterBothSides (tie)
6. ButterBothSides
7. akuden, SUBMARINO (tie)

Clubs 2023

The Clubs 2023 season of competitive Cuttle ran from 2023/01/04 - 2023/04/05. The Clubs 2023 Season Championship tournament was a Double-elimination tournament with 8 competitors who placed as follows:

1. SUBMARINO
2. lanceleyn
3. Eorgosa
4. aleph_one
5. gman232
6. ButterBothSides
7. dp
8. bbjme

Cuttle World Championship II

The Cuttle World Championship II was held on 2023/01/04. It was a Double-elimination tournament between 12 contestants, who placed as follows:

1. gman232
2. dp
3. hfromeo2
4. aleph_one
5. launceleyn & SUBMARINO (tie)
6. pfCuttle & DanMan422 (tie)
7. Eorgosa, Mxyon, byarmis, & dylanfryer (tie)

Spades 2022

The Spades 2022 season of competitive Cuttle ran from 2022/10/19 - 2023/01/04. The Spades 2022 Season Championship tournament was a Double-elimination tournament with 8 competitors who placed as follows:

1. hfromeo2
2. dylanfryer
3. dp
4. DanMan422
5. ollien, theneosloth (tie)
6. Rismient, bbjme (tie)
7. Parma2

Hearts 2022

The Hearts 2022 season of competitive Cuttle ran from 2022/07/20 - 2022/10/19. The Hearts 2022 Season Championship tournament was a Double-elimination tournament with 8 competitors who placed as follows:

1. aleph_one
2. gman232
3. SUBMARINO
4. launceleyn
5. Seriouslysean, Ben (tie)
6. pfcuttle, bbjme (tie)

Diamonds 2022

The Diamonds 2022 season of competitive Cuttle ran from 2022/04/20 - 2022/07/20. The Diamonds 2022 Season Championship tournament was a Double-elimination tournament with 4 competitors who placed as follows:

1. gman232
2. lanceleyn
3. aleph_one
4. Ben

Clubs 2022

The Clubs 2022 season of competitive Cuttle ran from 2023/01/19 - 2023/04/20. The Clubs 2022 Season Championship tournament was a Double-elimination tournament with 4 competitors who placed as follows:

1. gman232
2. aleph_one
3. TophYamato
4. SUBMARINO