How to Play

A modern memory card game in the Golf family: keep four face-down cards, peek, spy, and swap with powers on 7 to Queen, and call 'Cabo' when you think you hold the lowest total.

Cabo is a modern memory-and-bluff card game designed in 2010 by Melissa Limes and Mandy Henning. Each player keeps a private row of four face-down cards and tries to minimise the total value of those cards over several rounds. You only ever see two of your own cards directly, so sharp memory, disciplined card-counting, and good timing on the 'Cabo' call decide the game. Played here with a standard 52-card deck in the Golf and Cambio family; special powers on ranks 7 through Queen let you peek, spy, and swap your way to a lower total.

Players

Best for 2 to 4 players, and playable up to 6 with a second 52-card deck. Two players plays as a tight memory duel, four or five is the sweet spot, and six is faster but more forgetful because many turns pass between yours.

Card Deck

• Standard 52-card deck; no jokers in the base version.
• Card values for end-of-round scoring: Ace = 1, numerals 2 through 10 = face value, Jack = 11, Queen = 12, Black King (spades, clubs) = 13, Red King (hearts, diamonds) = -1.A♠K♠Q♠J♠
• Peek power: 7 and 8 let you look at one of your own face-down cards.7♠8♠
• Spy power: 9 and 10 let you look at one of an opponent's face-down cards.9♠10♠
• Swap power: Jack and Queen let you swap one of your cards with one of an opponent's cards (no peeking first).J♠Q♠

Objective

End each round with the lowest point total among your four face-down cards, and over several rounds avoid being the first player to reach the agreed losing total (commonly 100 points). The player with the lowest cumulative score when the match ends wins.

Setup and Deal

1. Pick a dealer by high-card draw. The deal rotates clockwise each round.
2. Deal four cards face down to each player in a single row in front of them.
3. Each player secretly looks at the two cards closest to them (the outer pair) and must remember them; the inner pair remains unknown.
4. Place the remaining cards face down as the draw pile. Turn the top card face up next to it to start the discard pile.
5. The player to the dealer's left takes the first turn.

Gameplay

1. Step 1 (draw): On your turn, either draw the top card of the draw pile (no one else sees it) or take the top card of the discard pile (everyone sees it).
2. Step 2 (place or use): If you drew from the discard pile, you must swap it with one of your four face-down cards (the displaced card goes on the discard pile). If you drew from the draw pile, you may either swap it with one of your face-down cards or discard it directly onto the discard pile without using it.
3. Step 3 (resolve powers): If the card you just discarded (from either source) is a 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, or Queen, you may trigger its power immediately: 7 or 8 lets you look secretly at one of your own cards, 9 or 10 lets you look secretly at one opponent's card, Jack or Queen lets you blind-swap one of your cards with one of an opponent's cards. Powers are optional; ignore them if you prefer.7♠8♠9♠10♠J♠
4. Step 4 (match discard): At any moment before the next player draws, any player may try to discard a card of the same rank as the top of the discard pile straight from their own face-down row (turn it up, show it matches, put it on top of the discard pile). Correct matches shrink your hand by one card and skip no turns. A wrong match (not the right rank) is a penalty: return the card face down and draw a penalty card from the draw pile, placing it face down in your row.
5. Step 5 (call Cabo): Instead of drawing, you may call 'Cabo' to end the round. You take no action that turn. Each other player gets exactly one more turn (including the option to match-discard), then the round ends and all cards are revealed.
6. Step 6 (shuffling): If the draw pile runs out before anyone calls Cabo, shuffle the discard pile (keeping the top card face up as the new top of discard) to form a fresh draw pile.

Scoring

• At the end of each round, reveal all remaining face-down cards.
• Each player adds up the values of their face-down cards using the scale in the Card Deck section. A smaller row (fewer cards left because of match-discards) is an advantage: fewer cards to total.
• The player who called Cabo scores 0 for that round if they truly had the strict lowest total; otherwise they add their raw total plus a 10-point penalty.
• All other players add their raw total to their cumulative match score.
• Record scores on paper and deal the next round.

Winning

Play rounds until one player's cumulative total reaches or exceeds the agreed match target (100 is standard, 50 for a short game). That player loses. The remaining player with the lowest cumulative score wins. If several players tie for lowest when someone busts, play one more round as a tiebreaker with only the tied players dealt fresh four-card rows.

Common Variations

• Kamikaze Cabo: A Cabo call that lands exactly 0 adds 50 points to every other player.
• Open peek setup: For a gentler game, let each player peek at all four of their starting cards before the first turn.
• Joker = 0 points: Add two jokers worth 0 each; jokers cannot trigger powers.
• No match-discard: Drop the simultaneous match-discard rule for a calmer memory game.
• Published Cabo deck: The Cabo-branded deck (first published 2010, current third edition 2025) uses custom cards numbered 0 to 13 with explicit 'Peek', 'Spy', and 'Swap' action cards; rules are otherwise identical.

Tips and Strategy

• Memorise your starting two cards exactly. Every time you swap, update the mental map immediately; a forgotten position costs far more than the single card you drew.
• Do not swap a card you already know is worth 3 or less unless the draw is a Red King. Keeping known low cards is safer than risking an unknown exchange.
• Use 7 and 8 to confirm a card you last saw long ago; use 9 and 10 to check whether an opponent's freshly swapped card is worth stealing.
• Save Jack or Queen until after a 9 or 10 reveals a low opponent card; then blind-swap your worst known card for their confirmed low one.
• Call Cabo the turn after you confirm all four of your cards are low (roughly 10 or less total). Waiting one more round usually lets an opponent trigger the call first.

Glossary

• Cabo: The round-ending call; costs 10 penalty points if another player ties or beats your total.
• Match-discard: A simultaneous play of a same-rank card from any player's row onto the discard pile, costing nothing if correct and a penalty draw if wrong.
• Red King: A King of hearts or diamonds; the most valuable card in the game (worth -1).K♥
• Peek, Spy, Swap: The three special-power families; 7-8 peek at your own card, 9-10 spy on an opponent's card, J-Q swap cards blindly.
• Round vs match: A round ends with a Cabo call; a match ends when one player crosses the agreed total.