Games/Fugly's Mayhem Machine/Hack Your Deck/How To Play

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How To Play

Hack Your Deck

"The expansion your card games didn't ask for."

👥2+ players

⏱️Varies

🎂14+

The house default

Deal three hack cards to each player. Play your normal game. On your turn, before you do anything else, you may play one hack card. Do what it says, then draw back up to three.

That is the whole thing. Everything else on this page is negotiable, including that.

What's In The Box

54 hack cards

15 blank cards

Infinite chaos

4 Card Types: Wild, Sabotage, Power, Mayhem

The labels on the cards

WILD Changes a rule and keeps changing it. Only one Wild is ever active at a time. A new Wild replaces the one before it.

CLEAN SLATE PROTOCOL

At the start of each round (or draw phase), everyone discards their hand and redraws. No baggage, no mercy.

MAJORITY RULE

The table votes on a new house rule. The player who played this card gets two votes. Long live corruption.

THE TABLE WENCH

After each round, the loser becomes the Table Wench. Snacks, drinks, or light humiliation. Serve proudly.

COMMUNITY RECYCLING

At the start of each round, everyone tosses a card into the pot. You shuffle and redeal them. Sharing is caring.

SABOTAGE Points at someone else. A label, not a rule: the card text is the rule, every time.

OVERREACH!

Point to any player's Hack Your Deck card and make them play it right now. You're immune to the fallout. They're not.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE

Choose another player. The next time you're punished, they take it too. Misery loves company.

SHENANIGANS!

Call 'shenanigans' on any two players table-talking or teaming up. The table votes. If it passes, both lose a point. Let's see who the mob believes.

ART OF THE STEAL

Pick a player. Take one random card from their hand and swap it with yours. The art of the steal is alive and well.

POWER Points at you. A label, not a rule: the card text is the rule, every time.

SING FOR YOUR SUPPER

Sing your favorite song for the table. If they don't clap, that's on them - you still take 2 points.

NEPOTISM

Pick a partner. Peek at their hand, swap what you want. Unfair? Absolutely. That's the point.

MAYHEM Points at everyone. A label, not a rule: the card text is the rule, every time.

ONE IN THE GAME TWO IN THE SHAME

Draw a Hack Your Deck card face-up. Anyone who wants it touches it. Last finger on the card wins it. The main game keeps going the whole time.

PARTICIPATION TROPHY

Give this shiny trophy to any player. Until they win a round, they must start each one with a loud, self-praising statement. The table will let them know how inspiring they are.

BONUS Carries the Fugly Approved seal. Two come in every deck. More are available with Afterroar+.

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

Exhume any previously played Hack Your Deck card. Bring it back to life and unleash it on anyone you choose!

LOVE HURTS

Choose another player. Any Hack Your Deck card that affects either of you now affects both of you.

The blanks are titled HOUSE RULE (Fill in the blank). You own what you write on them. Do not be a jerk about it.

Setup

1
Choose which decks are in play
2
Shuffle the deck and place it face down within reach
3
The table decides when cards are drawn and played
4
Start your regular game as normal

Gameplay

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Draw cards per the table's rules
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Cards can be played anytime except when the card instructs otherwise
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WILD cards last until a new WILD replaces it or instructed by another card
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If a card cannot (or should not) be completed, chuck it and draw another one
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Whenever anything is confusing or in doubt, use table majority to decide

Winning

🏆

Win conditions remain the same as your base game. The cards just make getting there a lot more chaotic.

Pro Tips

💡

Party games work best, but most games work if you're willing to be clever in how you apply the cards

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Not every card will work perfectly. Let the table decide how to handle ambiguity or just draw another one

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Some games will require interpretation. The more you play, the more your squad develops house rules

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Have fun! If it's not fun, you're doing it wrong

Quick Reference

Shuffle the deck and place it face down. The table decides when cards are drawn and played: every turn, every round, or whenever feels right. Cards can be played anytime unless they say otherwise. WILD cards stay in effect until a new WILD replaces them.

← Back to Hack Your Deck Overview View All Fugly's Mayhem Machine Games

Your first night

You do not have to decide everything up front. Pick the closest one of these, play a night with it, then change whatever annoyed you.

If you are playing a fill-in-the-blank party game.

Deal three cards each. One hack per round, played before the answers are read. This is the easiest place to start, because the game is already chaos and nobody is precious about the rules.

If you are playing a shedding or matching card game.

Deal two cards each. One hack per turn, maximum. Wilds last one full lap of the table instead of until replaced, because these games move fast and a permanent rule change can end the game sideways.

If you are playing a trick-taking or rummy-style game.

Deal two cards each. One hack per hand, not per trick, or the hand never ends. This is the most fragile of the three, so start with the smallest dose.

Rules of thumb for all three.

Fewer cards than you think; three in hand is plenty. If the game has a judge, dealer or start player, that person breaks ties about what a card means. If a card would end the game early and nobody wants that, chuck it and draw another. That is a real rule, not a cop-out.

Stacking two or more decks

Every deck in the Mayhem Machine plays the same way, so they sit side by side or shuffle together. Both work.

Side by side, recommended for your first stacked night.

Each deck in its own pile, a hand from each, and a cap of one card per player per turn across all decks, or it stops being a game and becomes a card-reading contest.

Shuffled together.

One pile, one hand, one draw. Faster and more chaotic, and the mix is uneven, so expect stretches where one deck does all the talking.

When two cards fight, the newest one wins.

If that is still unclear, table majority. If the table is split, chuck both and draw again.

Pairs that work well.

Hack Your Deck plus Crime and Funishment: one breaks the rules, the other punishes whoever broke them. Any deck plus Dumbest Ways to Win, which only fires on ties and never competes for a turn. Splice Your Dice in any game with dice, alongside Hack Your Deck if the game uses both.

Questions

What if a card does not make sense in our game?

Chuck it and draw another one. Not every card fits every game, and hunting for a reading that works is the least fun way to spend a turn.

Can two Wilds be active at once?

No. A new Wild replaces the one before it.

One person keeps aiming everything at me.

That is what the one-card-per-turn cap is for. If it is still happening, it is not a rules problem.

Do we have to use all 54 cards?

No. Pull anything your group does not like before you start. Some tables run a deck of thirty they love.

What are the blank cards for?

Writing your own. The worst idea at your table is usually somebody's, not ours. Write it, add it to the deck, live with it.

Does this work with board games, not just card games?

Often, yes, if the game has turns and rules worth breaking. Party games take to it best. The more structured the game, the smaller the dose.

Is there a right way to play this?

No, and that is the design. The house default at the top of this page is a starting point, not a ruling.

Can we play with kids?

The deck is rated 14 and up.

Need Help?

Questions about the rules? Missing components? We've got you covered.

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