The game uses a special deck of cards: each face is red, green, yellow, or blue, and is numbered from 1 to 10. Each player gets 40 cards (ten of each color) which have a distinctive design on the reverse unique to that player.

Before starting a game, the players shuffle their cards, and put ten cards into a "stack" face up on the table so that only the top card is visible. Three cards are laid out face up next to this stack; these are called the "row". The remaining cards are kept in the player's hand.

When the game starts, players simultaneously discard cards in the middle of the table, building colored piles in ascending numerical order according to color, and only starting new piles with a '1' card (placed anywhere near the middle of the table). New piles can be started anytime a '1' card becomes available to a player. Play is fast, and slow players will miss opportunities to place cards as faster players add to piles before others can react. Near-ties commonly occur among players discarding the same number card on a pile, but the person who was first is clearly the one whose card is underneath.

If players are unable to discard a card from the three "row" cards or from their "stack", they can look at every third card from the cards in their hand and play a card from the top of that pile if it goes on a pile on the table.

Once a player's hand has been completely passed through in this manner, it can be reshuffled by the player who then continues to play.

When one of the three "row" cards is placed in the middle, the space gets filled up with the top card from the "stack".

Play continues at a fast pace, with experienced players usually watching other players' rows and stacks as well as their own.

Once a player has discarded all cards from their "stack" pile, s/he calls out "Ligretto stop!" and ends the round.

To extend game to 8 or 12 players just order an extra box in a different colour to what you already have eg: You need a 7 player game and already have a blue set, all you need is to add a green or red set.  Your first set can be any of the 3 colours.

Handy Hint: Buy one colour for your children, then a different colour for the cousins or friends, when they get together they have a game for 4, 8 or 12 players.

Brand: Playroom