Gamehelpfinalchance

Setup

On the top part you can see (from left to right) the League card with all the teams joining the league, the Standings card with the current points of each team and the Player Overview card where each player will mark their predictions.

According to the mode chosen, the League deck of 14 cards is prepared:

- Fantasy mode: the 32 Team cards are shuffled and 14 random cards are taken to compose the League deck. Players will have an overview of the strengths in play during the set-up procedure.

- History mode: a number of Team cards for each team is taken according to the strenghts shown on the League card, to compose the League deck. After that, one random Team card is added, to keep the surprises always open.

Each player receives 4 Team cards in secret (see the player hand). These cards will be useful later during the game. All the remaining Team cards are placed back in the box, they will not be used during the current league.

Before to start, 40 points are assigned to the teams by drawing the first 10 cards from the League deck twice (first time 1 point per team is assigned, then second time, after re-shuffling the cards, 3 points per team). In this digital version the procedure is automatically performed by the system and you can watch it by clicking on the blue button on top of the page at the beginning of the game. This step will help players to have an almost complete idea of which Team cards are in the League deck while composing the standings, but be aware: not all cards are revealed, so surprises will be always possible later during the matches. After that, the points for each team are reported in the corrsponding spaces of the Player Overview card and the league winner quotations are automatically calculated as following:

- Team(s) with the most points: these teams get a quotation of 3 stars.

- All the other teams: the quotation for these teams to win the league is a number of stars equal to the points difference with the leading team(s), multiplied by 5.

- If a team has 9 or more points difference with the leading team(s), then a “/” is written in the yellow diamond of the corresponding team: that team can’t win the league.

Now 3 Matchday cards are randomly selected and displayed in the bottom part of the game area, you can freely watch them by clicking on the arrows. These are the last 3 matchdays of the season, players should watch them carefully.

Predicting the league winner

Each player now must predict which team will win the league by marking on their Player Overview card the circle corresponding to the chosen team. To do that, players have many information to take into account:

- The current points of each team in the Standings card.

- The frequency of each team in the League deck.

- The matches that will be played, shown on the 3 selected matchdays.

- The four cards in their hand. These cards are a good information of which Team cards are not in the League deck, and may be used later for adding more predictions or changing the match results.

- The quotations assigned: players will get the corresponding number of stars at the end of the game if the prediction will be correct, but more stars mean more risk.

Note: predictions are secret. The information about the Player Overview cards of the other players are not visible.

Playing matchday #1

Players make their predictions on the 4 current matches (A, B, C, D) by marking on the corresponding spaces of their Player Overview sheet: “H” for a home win, “:” for a draw, or “A” for an away win. Only one prediction per match is allowed, for a total of 4 marks. However, once per matchday, a player may add 2 extra marks on any rows by  discarding 1 Team card from their hand. The discarded card is secretly and permanently removed from the game.

Kick-off begins. The League deck is shuffled. Cards are revealed one at a time and goals are marked on the Goal cards for the corresponding teams. Regulation time ends after 10 cards have been drawn. In this digital adaptation it is possible to draw the 10 cards all at once or to draw them with suspence and live stadio effects. You can choose your preferred mode each matchday by clicking on the corresponding button on the top of the page. It's possible to disable stadio and goal audio effects from the options menu.

Stoppage time

All players have now a final chance to change the matches results. Players simultaneously decide whether to play 1 card from their hand or not. Each played card will assign a goal to the corresponding team. After all decisions are made, the played cards are shuffled and revealed as in the regulation time, assigning the extra goals. Played cards will be permanently added to the League deck, changing the balance of powers.

Stars are then awarded. Players who correctly predicted 4 results get the leftmost indicated stars (a circle is marked around it). Players who correctly predicted 3 results get the center indicated stars. Players who correctly predicted 2 results get the rightmost stars. No prize is awarded for 0 or 1 correct predictions.

The Standings card is then updated by adding 3 points (small dots) to winning teams and 1 point to teams that drew. In this digital adaptation it's possible to see the provvisory standing points during live games, in red color.

Matchday #2 and #3

Matchday #2 and #3 are played in the same way as Matchday #1. All the cards played by players during the stoppage time of the previous matchdays are added to the League deck. The League Deck may therefore contain more cards than the original 14; in this way fixture results will be less easy to predict, but prizes grow proportionally.

End of the game

After the stoppage time of the Matchday  #3, the league ends. If a player correctly predicted the league winner, they win the number of stars shown on their Player Overview card (a circle is marked around the corresponding quotation). In case of a tie in the standings, all the teams with the most points in the standings are considered league winners. Now all the stars obtained are summed up, then 1 star per each card still in the players’ hand is added.

The player with the highest total stars wins the game. In case of tie, there are more winners.

Solo mode

There are no rule changes playing a solitaire game of Final Chance. At the end of the game compare the number of stars obtained with the following table to know your level:

- Up to 9 stars: “Benchwarmer” level.

- 10 to 19 stars: “Prospect”  level.

- 20 to 29 stars: “First Teamer” level.

- 30 to 39 stars: “Superstar” level.

- 40+ stars: “Legend” level.