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How to Play

About Cuttle

Cuttle is a two-player combat card game with unknown origins. There are many variations, this is ours.

Reasons to love Cuttle
  • It’s easy to pick up. Cuttle has a focused ruleset, so you can learn the game without constantly keeping up with new mechanics and card releases.
  • It’s ready to play with a standard deck of cards. There’s no special product line, collection, or deckbuilding homework before your first game.
  • There’s no booster-pack treadmill. You don’t have to buy packs for a chance at the card you want, chase rare pieces, or rebuild your deck whenever the card pool changes.

Special thanks to Richard Sipie, Pagat.com contributors, and the cuttle.cards community for keeping this game alive.

Quick Start

Goal: The first player to reach 21 points (or fewer with Kings) wins.

Setup: The game randomly chooses the first dealer; rematches and later games in a series alternate the dealer. It deals cards one at a time, starting with the dealer and alternating between players. The dealer receives 6 cards; the other player receives 5 and takes the first turn.

On your turn: Draw a card OR play a card from your hand as a point, scuttle, one-off, or permanent.

Hand limit: The normal hand limit is 8 cards. You cannot draw while holding 8 or more cards.

Empty deck: When the deck is empty, you may pass instead of drawing. Three consecutive passes shuffle the scrap pile back into the deck.

Card Types

Point Values

  • A ♥
    = 1 point
  • 2 ♣
    -
    10 ♦
    = Face value

Card Categories

Point Cards: A-10
Permanents: 8, J, Q, K
One-Offs: A, 2-7, 9

Actions on Your Turn

Choose one action per turn:

Draw

Draw the top card from the deck (if available).

Play for Points

Play an Ace through Ten in your point area. The first player to reach the required score wins.

Scuttle

Use a higher-value point card to send one of your opponent's point cards to the scrap pile.
5 ♥
can scuttle
4 ♣

Play One-Off

Play a one-off for its immediate effect, then send it to the scrap pile.

Play Permanent

Play an Eight, Jack, Queen, or King for a lasting effect.

One-Off Effects

Play a one-off for its immediate effect, then send it to the scrap pile.

A ♠

Ace

Send all point cards to the scrap pile.
This includes both your point cards and your opponent's point cards.
2 ♥

Two

As an action: Destroy one of your opponent's permanents. Send both cards to the scrap pile.
Targets:
8 ♣
J ♦
K ♠
Q ♥
A single Queen cannot protect itself, but 2 Queens protect each other.
As a counter: Counter the last one-off or Two played. When the counter chain resolves, send every card in the chain to the scrap pile.
A ♥
→
2 ♣
→
2 ♦
→ The original effect resolves!
A Queen you control blocks your opponent's counters.
3 ♣

Three

Take any card from the scrap pile and add it to your hand.
You cannot take the Three just played or any other Three from the scrap pile.
4 ♦

Four

Your opponent discards 2 cards of their choice.
If your opponent has 2 or fewer cards, they discard their entire hand.
5 ♠

Five

Draw 2 cards from the deck.
Draw 1 card if only 1 remains.
6 ♥

Six

Destroy all permanents controlled by either player.
Targets:
8 ♣
J ♦
Q ♥
K ♠
7 ♣

Seven

Draw 1 card and play it immediately, if possible.
This can force you to use an Ace on your own points or a Jack on your own point card.
9 ♦

Nine

Return a permanent to its controller's hand. That player cannot play the returned card on their next turn.
Targets:
8 ♣
J ♦
Q ♥
K ♠
Queens protect other cards from Nines. A lone Queen cannot protect itself, but 2 Queens protect each other. A Nine can increase an opponent's hand beyond the 8-card limit.

Permanent Effects

Permanents stay in play and provide ongoing effects until destroyed.

8 ♥

Eight

Place the Eight sideways to reveal your opponent's hand.
J ♠

Jack

Steal one of your opponent's point cards unless a Queen protects it. Control alternates as additional Jacks are attached.
Opponent controls
10 ♦
→ Play
J ♣
→ You control the point card
Q ♥

Queen

Protects your other cards from targeted effects (Twos, Nines, and Jacks).
✓ Blocks: Two, Nine, Jack | ✗ Does not block: Ace, Six, Scuttling
A single Queen cannot protect itself. Two or more Queens protect each other. Queens also block your opponent's counters.
K ♣

King

Reduces points needed to win (stacks with multiple Kings).
0 Kings: 21 pts
1 King: 14 pts
2 Kings: 10 pts
3 Kings: 7 pts
4 Kings: 5 pts

Scuttling

To scuttle, play a higher-value point card from your hand against one of your opponent's point cards. Send both cards to the scrap pile.

Rules

  • • Higher value beats lower value
  • • Same value: higher suit wins
  • • Queens do not protect against scuttling
  • • Any Jacks attached to the scuttled point card also go to the scrap pile

Suit Ranking

5 ♣
lowest
←
5 ♦
←
5 ♥
←
5 ♠
highest

✓ Valid Scuttles

8 ♥
scuttles
7 ♣
(8 > 7)
5 ♠
scuttles
5 ♥
(♠ > ♥)

✗ Invalid Scuttles

6 ♦
cannot scuttle
7 ♣
(6 < 7)
5 ♣
cannot scuttle
5 ♥
(♣ < ♥)

Strategy Considerations

Q ♥

Queens multiply in power

A single Queen protects your other cards but cannot protect itself. Two Queens protect each other and can be removed only by a Six.

2 ♠

Twos have high utility

Countering an Ace or destroying a key permanent often outweighs playing a Two for points. Consider which threats you may need to answer before playing it for points.

A ♦

Aces cut both ways

Playing an Ace as a one-off clears every point card. Consider using it to prevent your opponent from winning.

J ♠

Jacks steal momentum

Attaching a Jack to a Ten steals 10 points. Play a Queen first to prevent your opponent from countering with a Two or stealing the point card back.

8 ♥

One Eight is enough

Seeing your opponent's hand is valuable, but a second Eight provides no additional benefit. The extra Eight may be more valuable as points or for scuttling.

6 ♥

Six reclaims stolen cards

When Jacks are destroyed, stolen point cards return to their original owners. A Six can create a major swing if your opponent has stolen your high-value cards.

When your opponent is close to winning

A card in your hand may be more valuable as a scuttle threat than as points.

Tempo and initiative

When your opponent must answer your threats instead of executing their plan, you have the initiative. Use it to exhaust their cards and create an opening for a quick win.

Ratings

Player skill is tracked using a Glicko-2 rating system for matchmaking games between registered users. See our policies for fair play guidelines.

Rating

Your rating represents your skill level. You start at 1500. A ? after your rating means that you have not played enough games for an accurate estimate.

Rating Deviation (RD)

Rating deviation (RD) shows how certain the system is about your rating. You start at 350. As you play more games, your RD decreases. An RD below 100 indicates a well-established rating. Your RD slowly increases if you do not play for a while.

Win %

The percentage of completed games that you have won.

Leaderboard

To appear on the leaderboard, you must complete at least 10 rated games and have an RD below 100. These requirements ensure that rankings reflect established skill levels rather than provisional estimates.

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