5 Alive
BGG rank
BGG #14,116
BGG rating
5.8

5 Alive

1990

Rules assistance for 5 Alive

Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

  • 2–6 players
  • 30 min
  • 7+
  • Complexity 1.2/5

For 2 players

Rules assistant for 5 Alive

What would you like to know?

Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.

5 Alive is a board game released in 1990 for 2–6 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 7 and up. It was designed by Eàmon Bloomfield and its main mechanics are Hand Management and Player Elimination.

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About the game

Theme 5 Alive is an abstract card-playing game. Goal Each player starts with 5 lives. The winner is the last player to have any lives left. Gameplay Each player in turn plays a card from their hand. 'Normal' cards have a face value, and the aim is not to play a card that takes the running total above 21. If you do, you lose a life. If you manage to play the last card from your hand without taking the total above 21, then every other player loses a life. As well as 'normal' cards, there is also a variety of 'wild' cards that perform special actions, like resetting the running total, skipping the next player, reversing the direction of play or causing other players to draw extra cards. Components 108 cards & instructions Re-implemented by: Boom-O

Categories

Publishers

  • Parker Brothers
  • Schmidt Spiele
  • Hasbro
  • Waddingtons
  • Kod Kod
  • Mattel, Inc.
  • International Games
  • Crown & Andrews Ltd.

Questions and answers

5 Alive supports 2–6 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.