Hydra is played using a standard deck of playing cards with two Jokers. Shuffle the 54 cards.
Deal out six columns of cards face up. Each column should end up with nine overlapping cards, with all 54 cards visible.
Suits do not matter in this game. The Jokers count as a 14th rank.
The top and bottom cards of each column are in play during the game. If two of these cards have the same rank, you can remove one of them (just the card, not the whole column) and group it with the other, preserving the overlapping column structure. So, the card which was moved becomes the new top or bottom card of the destination column.
If there are four consecutive cards of the same rank (or both Jokers) at the top or bottom of a column, they may be discarded.
If a column becomes empty, it remains empty and out-of-play for the remainder of the game.
Play continues until either all cards have been discarded (in which case you win), or you have no legal moves left (you lose).
If you have more than one card of the same rank that you want to move, go ahead and move them as a single unit. The order of the suits will be reversed (compared to moving them one at a time), but suits don't matter in this game.
For a much tougher game, if you have three Jokers you can play the same game with five columns of eleven cards. I call this variation "Hydra's Revenge". This game usually ends fairly quickly (you will probably spend most of your time shuffling). For a Hydra-like game harder than Hydra but easier than Hydra's Revenge, try five columns of ten cards with two Jokers, discarding a rank of your choice while you deal.
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Last modified September 19, 2021
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