Description

In Babel each player gets ten cards and trades cards with the other players in an attempt to form poker combinations. When a player has a good enough hand - two five-card combinations which are high enough, or a ten-card straight or flush - they go out. When a player reaches a certain target score the game ends.

With three to five players a single deck is used and players all sit at the same table. Trading is free-form and players may trade unequal numbers of cards. If trading bogs down and all players agree, they all draw one card from the deck but do not discard any (obviously not possible with five players). A player must have two combinations of flushes or better (or a ten-card set) to go out; when a player goes out the hand ends and all players score. Combinations lower than flush still score for the players not going out. If players drew extra cards only ten can be scored.

With more than five players multiple decks are used and the game is played as a party game with players circulating around the room. All trades must be equal since no extra cards can be drawn. When a player has two combinations of straight or better (or a ten-card set) they can take their hand to be scored and get a fresh hand. Pairs and triplets are not scored. This version is called Super-Babel in some editions.