The deck consists of 49 cards numbered 1-7, in each of the seven rainbow colors. A 7 is always higher than a 6, but a Red 6 is higher than an Orange 6, and so on down the color spectrum (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet). When comparing two cards, compare value first, then color.

To begin a game of Red7, deal out a seven-card hand to each player, and then deal one more card face-up in front of each player to start their PALETTE.

Start the CANVAS (discard pile) with the 'You are Playing Red' card. The top card of the CANVAS pile determines what the rules are. The player with the highest card on their PALETTE is currently the best at Red, so the player to that player’s left goes first.

On your turn, you MUST take one of the following actions:

1. Play a card faceup from your hand to your Palette.
2. Discard a card from your hand to the Canvas to change the game to the rule of the discarded card’s color. You must be winning the new game after you do this.
3. Play a card from your hand to your Palette AND THEN discard a card to the Canvas. You must be winning the game after you do this.
4. Do nothing, and lose. You might want to do this intentionally when playing Advanced Red7 to limit the number of points an opponent will score. If your hand is empty, you must do this.

VERY IMPORTANT If you are not winning the game at the end of your turn, you lose and are out of the round. Place your hand cards and Palette cards facedown. If you are ever the last player in the game, you win the round!

If you have no cards in your hand at the start of your turn, YOU LOSE since you are unable to do anything to win by the end of your turn.

Who has the best Palette?

You win a game if you have more cards fulfilling the current rule on your palette than any other player. All other cards on your palette are not considered. If there is a tie, the player wins who has the highest card amongst those fulfilling the rule (compare numbers first, then colors). If you don't have a card fulfilling the rule (can happen for green or purple), you cannot win. You find examples for each rule further below.

Who's Winning?
1	Who has the most cards for the current rule?	>
⇓ Tied? ⇓
2	Who has the highest cards among those?	6 >   4
⇓ Still tied? ⇓
3	If two cards have the same number, the one closer to Red in the rainbow is highest?	4 >   4

Examples for each rule

Game	Canvas rule	Example
Red	Highest card	5 1 6 4 >   3 6 1 1
Orange	Cards of one number	2 2 2 1 >   7 7 1 2
Yellow	Cards of one color	2 6 1 5 >   6 4 1 4
Green	Even cards	4 2 6 3 >   3 1 6 1
Blue	Cards of all different colors	6 7 5 4 >   5 6 4 1
Indigo	Cards that form a run (i.e. 4 5 6)	4 5 7 6 >   2 3 4 5
Violet	Cards below 4	1 2 4 3 >   5 1 1 7

Once you’ve played Red7 a few times, you might be ready for some advanced rules, and scoring between rounds!

Advanced Red7 has two additional rules.

1. When you discard a card to the Canvas, if the number on that card is higher than the total number of cards in your Palette , you may draw an additional card from the Draw Deck (unless the Draw Deck is empty).
2. The winner of a round scores points:
   If you win a round, take all the cards from your Palette that meet the current rule and place them under your reference card. For example, if you won Blue by having the most differently colored cards on your Palette, take the highest card of each color from your Palette and place them under your reference card. The next hand is dealt without those cards, as they are now your score pile.
   Cards are worth their face value in points.

Basic Game

Basic Red7 consists of one round. The winner of the round is the winner of the game.

Advanced Red7

Advanced Red7 consists of several rounds where the winning player gets points as described above.

The game ends if one player reaches points as listed below, depending on number of players.

#players	Points to win the game
2 players	40 points
3 players	35 points
4 players	30 points

If there aren’t enough cards to deal out a new hand to each player, the game ends and the player with the highest score wins.

The four odd-numbered cards have icons in their corners. These represent an optional rule for actions, meant for experienced Red7 players. They can be mixed with either Basic or Advanced Red7. By these rules, when you play a 1, 3, 5, or 7 to your Palette, you MUST perform that card’s action if you can .

7		Choose a card from your Palette and either discard it to the Canvas or place it face down on top of the Draw Deck. Note: If playing with Advanced Red7, discarding via this action does not trigger the first additional rule, i.e. you do not draw a card for discarding a card with a number higher than the number of cards on your palette this way. You may not play a 7 if you cannot stay in the game at the end of your turn. But note that the 7's action does not prevent you from playing an additional card to the canvas as usual to stay in the game.
5		Play another card from your hand to your palette. Note: If your hand is empty, do nothing. If the card has an action, perform it.
3		Draw a card from the Draw Deck. Note: If the deck is empty, do nothing. You may play a 3 to try to draw a card you can discard as a rule to stay in the game.
1		Choose a card from another player’s Palette, and place it face down on top of the Draw Deck. Note: You may not choose a player with fewer Palette cards than you. You may not play a 1 if you cannot stay in the game at the end of your turn.