HOW TO PLAY
Learn
GRIVOT
Four private cards. Nine on the Grid. One lane decides the hand.
GRIVOT is a game of construction under pressure. You will spend every hand repairing what you were dealt while reading what everyone else is building.
Chance determines the cards you receive. Skill determines what you build.
2–7 players. Best with 4–6.
GAME OBJECTIVE
Build the hand.
Claim the Stake. Take them all.
Everyone starts equal. The Notes are distributed so that every player begins with the same value. The bundles differ in mix, never in worth. Whatever remains opens the Stake in the center.
During each hand, you build a seven-card hand and compete for the Stake. The complete game is won when one player holds all 68 GRIVOT Notes.
THE HAND
All four suits. 3-2-1-1.
No matching ranks.
You hold four private cards. Nine additional cards are dealt face-down into a three-by-three Grid and then revealed to the entire table.
Eight lanes run through the Grid: three rows, three columns, and two diagonals.
Your hand consists of all four of your private cards plus the three cards from exactly one lane. The resulting seven-card hand is valid only when all three conditions are satisfied:
All four suits must appear. No exceptions.
The suit distribution must be exactly 3-2-1-1: one suit appearing three times, one appearing twice, and each of the remaining two appearing once.
No two cards may share the same rank. One matching pair makes the entire hand invalid, regardless of its suits.
Most starting hands cannot satisfy all three conditions. Repairing the hand is the heart of GRIVOT.
Lanes are shared. Any number of players may use the same lane. Position 5, the center card, appears in four of the eight lanes, making it the most influential card on the Grid.
Deal four private cards face-down to each player.
Players may check, stake, call, raise, or fold before the Grid is revealed.
Reveal all nine Grid cards at once. The Grid remains visible to every player for the rest of the hand.
The public Grid now gives every player the information needed to begin constructing a valid hand.
Exchange up to three private cards.
Discards go face-down into the Vault, where no player may view or count them. If the live deck runs out, reshuffle the Vault to create a fresh live deck. Cards held by players and cards on the Grid are never disturbed.
After the first draw, players may check, stake, call, raise, or fold as they reassess their hand against the Grid.
Exchange up to two private cards.
After the second draw, players may check, stake, call, raise, or fold before the final exchange.
Exchange up to one private card. This is your final opportunity to repair the hand.
With all draws complete, players may check, stake, call, raise, or fold before the remaining hands are revealed at the Settlement.
The remaining players reveal their private cards. The table determines each player’s best valid lane, and the best valid hand under the selected game mode claims the Stake.
The Low Game is the standard form of GRIVOT.
The valid hand with the lowest high card wins. A hand topped by a 7 defeats a hand topped by a 9. High cards are dangerous, and the Ace is always worth one.
The perfect Low hand is A-2-3-4-5-6-7, using all four suits in the exact 3-2-1-1 structure with no matching ranks. This is the Bureau Wheel. Nothing defeats it.
The High Game reverses the direction.
The valid hand with the highest low card wins. Small cards become dangerous, while the court cards become powerful.
The perfect High hand is K-Q-J-10-9-8-7, using all four suits in the exact 3-2-1-1 structure with no matching ranks. This is the Royal Run.
Tables may also alternate between Low and High on a fixed schedule, requiring players to master both directions during one session.
Finding the best lane is the table’s responsibility.
GRIVOT resolves every hand openly. When private cards are revealed, anyone at the table may propose a lane for any hand. This includes players who have folded and includes lanes that may help an opponent.
The table checks each proposed hand against the three requirements:
The dealer confirms the final lane assignment.
No player is penalized for proposing an incorrect lane. Proposing, checking, and verifying hands openly are fundamental parts of GRIVOT.
Every complete game of GRIVOT has one true ending: one player holding all 68 Notes.
If none of the revealed hands is valid, no player claims the Stake. The entire Stake carries over to the next hand and combines with its new stakes. It continues growing until a valid hand claims it.
A player with no Notes remaining after a carryover is still involved. Because that player has Notes in the carried Stake, the player remains as an all-in participant until that Stake is won.
If a table must stop early, the players may agree to end the session with the player holding the most Notes taking the night.
The true GRIVOT victory is taking them all.
The center card appears in four of the eight lanes. Its suit and rank affect half of the available lanes, making it the most important position on the Grid.
A three-card exchange often signals a broken hand. Standing pat may indicate a completed hand—or someone who wants you to believe it does.
The 3-2-1-1 structure must be solved before the hand can compete. Establish the correct suit structure first, then improve the strength of the ranks.
In the Low Game, the Ace is the strongest card in the deck. In the High Game, it is the weakest.
When the Vault is reshuffled into a fresh live deck, discarded cards become available again. A card that appeared to be gone can return later in the hand.
Every player may use the same Grid lane. When the strongest lane is available to everyone, your advantage comes from the four private cards that only you can see.
FAQ
GRIVOT is designed for 2 to 7 players, making every game a different strategic challenge.
A typical game can vary depending on the number of players and the decisions made throughout the game.
Luck may influence the cards you receive, but GRIVOT is built around strategy, observation, psychology, and decision-making.
Yes. The premium GRIVOT Rulebook is included with the Founder Edition and provides the complete setup instructions and official rules.
NEWSLETTER
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Reserve your Founder Edition and discover why GRIVOT is unlike any premium strategic card and board game you've ever played.
Overall, I think you’ve done an excellent job with the design. These revisions are simply to make sure the content accurately reflects the final version of GRIVOT before we move into Shopify development.
Thank you!