These are the official rules in use at all official WCL games.
Official Rules, v0.4 of the Wasteland Caravan League
BUILDING A DECK
Caravan decks consist of at least 30 and at most 54 cards from one or more traditional playing card sets. The deck may have a maximum of two of each card in a configuration that suits a player’s strategy. For example, a K♠ from Set A and a K♠ from Set B is acceptable, but adding a third K♠ from Set C would be illegal.
A referee will inspect each player’s deck immediately prior to any tournament game, and will return it shuffled to the player. Each player in a tournament must, upon request, immediately surrender their deck for inspection to a referee.
RULES
Caravan is played with two players building three opposing piles (or “Caravans“) of numbered cards (A through 10). The goal is to outbid your opponent’s Caravan with the highest value of numbered cards without being too light (under 21) or overburdened (over 26).
Before the game begins, the players may place bets on their own performance. The highest bid must either be matched or met with an all-in challenge. The winner of the game takes the entire pot, minus the remainder of any all-in challenges.
The game begins with each player taking eight cards from their deck and placing one numbered card (A through 10) on each Caravan. Players may not discard during this initial round, unless they have less than three numbered cards on hand, as verified by a referee.
Once both players have started their three Caravans, each player may do one of the following on their turn:
- Play one card and draw a new card from his or her deck to their hand.
- Discard one card from their hand into their discard pile and draw a new card from his or her deck.
- Disband one of their three Caravans by removing all cards from that pile and placing them on the discard pile.
When a player’s deck is depleted, that player’s discard pile may be shuffled once to becomes the new deck. If that player’s deck is depleted again, the player must forfeit the game.
Caravans have a direction, either ascending or descending numerically, and a suit. The initial suit is determined with the first card placed on a caravan, the direction by the second. All subsequent cards must continue the numerical direction or match the suit of the previous card. Cards of the same numerical value cannot be played in sequence, regardless of suit. If a card is played which matches suit but does not follow the numerical direction, the direction of that Caravan is now considered changed.
Face cards can be attached to numerical cards in any caravan in play, regardless of owner, and will affect them in various ways.
CARD VALUES
JOKER – Played against numbered cards (A through 10), but its effects change based on whether it is an Ace or 2-10. Multiple Jokers may be played on the same card.
ACE – Value of 1. Jokers played on Aces remove all other non-face cards of the Ace’s suit which are currently in play. E.g. a Joker played on an A♠ removes all Spades (except face cards and that specific A♠) which are currently in play.
2-10 – Listed value. Jokers played on these cards remove all other cards of this value from the table. E.g. a Joker played on a 4♠ removes all other 4s, other than that specific card, which are currently in play.
JACK – Played against numbered cards (A through 10). Removes that card, along with any face cards attached to it.
QUEEN – Played against numbered cards (A through 10). Reverses the current direction and changes the suit of the Caravan. Multiple Queens may be played on the same card.
KING – Played against numbered cards (A through 10). Doubles the value of the card it is played on. E.g. a King played on a 9 doubles the value of that card to 18. Multiple Kings may be played on the same card, which will again double the value. E.g. 3 + K = 6, 3 + K + K = 12.
WINNING
A player’s Caravan is considered “sold” when the value of its cards is over 20 and under 27. The other player may still outbid by increasing the value of their opposing Caravan while still staying within the 21-26 inclusive range. When each of the three competing Caravans has sold, the game is over. In the event that one or more of the three Caravan values are tied between players, the game continues until all three Caravans have sold. The player with two or more sales wins the pot.
Changelog: 0.4 Added rule about reshuffling discards into new deck to avoid intentionally drawn out games.
Changelog: 0.3 Added language about necessary discards during start, and direction changes through same suit numericals.
Changelog: 0.2 Added language about deck inspections by referees, discard piles and all-in pots.