Live Wire

Rules Overview

Players: 3–4 | Ages: 10+ | Time: 30–45 minutes

Live Wire is a trick-taking game of hidden goals and circuit manipulation. Players compete over a shared grid of Hot and Cold tokens while secretly pursuing different Goals. After four rounds, the player with the most points wins.

Components

• 40 playing cards: A–10 in Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, and Spades
• 25 double-sided Hot/Cold tokens
• 25 Goal cards
• 1 Live Wire board with a 5×5 grid
• 1 Live Wire Scoretracker
• 1 Round marker
• 4 player scoring discs, one per color

The Circuit

The board contains 25 spaces arranged in a 5×5 grid. Each space holds one double-sided token showing either Hot (red) or Cold (black).

The grid contains ten Wires:

• Wires 1–5 are the five rows, from top to bottom.
• Wires 6–10 are the five columns, from left to right.

Card ranks correspond directly to these Wires. Ace counts as 1.

Goal Cards

There are 25 Goal cards:

• 5 Row Goals in Hot and Cold
• 5 Column Goals in Hot and Cold
• 2 Diagonal Goals in Hot and Cold
• 1 Overload Goal

Each standard Goal has two scoring conditions:

• Condition A: 4 of the 5 indicated tokens match the Goal state — 4 points.
• Condition B: All 5 indicated tokens match the Goal state — 7 points.

Score only the highest condition achieved. If neither condition is achieved, score 0 points.

The Overload Goal scores 7 points if you personally cause an Overload during the round. Otherwise, it scores 0 points.

Setup

• Place the board in the center of the table.
• Place the Round marker on the first-round space.
• Set all 25 tokens to the starting pattern shown for the round. The spaces alternate Hot/Cold, beginning with the state indicated for that round.
• Each player places their scoring disc on the 0 space. Stack discs if needed.
• Choose the first dealer. The last player to receive an electrical shock is the first dealer. If nobody qualifies or the group prefers, choose randomly.
• Shuffle the playing deck.
• Deal: 4 players: 10 cards to each player.
• 3 players: 13 cards to each player. Set the remaining card aside face down without revealing it.
• Shuffle the Goal deck and deal 3 Goal cards face down to each player.
• Each player examines their hand, the current circuit, and their three Goals. Secretly choose 1 Goal to keep for the round and discard the other 2 face down.
• The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick.

Keep selected Goals secret until the round ends.

Playing a Trick

The lead player may play any card.

In clockwise order, each other player plays one card. Players must follow the led suit if able. If unable to follow suit, they may play any card.

The highest-ranked card of the led suit wins the trick. Ace is low.

The trick winner resolves the circuit, then leads the next trick.

There is no trump.

Resolving the Circuit

After winning a trick:

• Choose any card of the led suit played in that trick, including your own winning card.
• The chosen card's rank determines which Wire you affect: A–5: Wires 1–5, the rows.
• 6–10: Wires 6–10, the columns.
• Use the color of the led suit to determine which token state can be flipped: Hearts or Diamonds: choose a Hot token in that Wire and flip it to Cold.
• Clubs or Spades: choose a Cold token in that Wire and flip it to Hot.
• If multiple matching tokens are available in that Wire, choose any one of them.

Only cards of the led suit provide Wire choices. Off-suit cards played to the trick cannot be selected during circuit resolution.

Example

Hearts are led. The trick contains 2♥, 4♥, 7♥, and 9♣. The 7♥ wins the trick.

The winner may select the 2♥, 4♥, or 7♥:

• 2♥ affects Wire 2, the second row.
• 4♥ affects Wire 4, the fourth row.
• 7♥ affects Wire 7, the second column.

Because Hearts are red, the winner must flip one Hot token in the selected Wire to Cold.

The 9♣ is ignored during circuit resolution because it did not follow the led suit.

Overload

If the Wire selected by the trick winner contains no token matching the led suit's required state, the circuit Overloads.

The round ends immediately.

A player may deliberately select a Wire that causes an Overload, even if another card of the led suit played to that trick would provide a Wire with a legal flip.

Example

Hearts are led and the winner may select either Wire 3 or Wire 8. Wire 3 contains Hot tokens, but Wire 8 contains none. The winner may select Wire 8 and cause an Overload.

End of the Round

A round ends in either of two ways:

• Normal End: All cards in every player's hand have been played.
• Overload: A player selects a Wire containing no token of the required state. The round ends immediately.

The final trick is resolved normally. If its resolution causes an Overload, the round ends by Overload.

Scoring

When the round ends:

• Leave all tokens exactly where they are.
• Reveal all selected Goal cards.
• Evaluate the final circuit state.
• Score each Goal: Condition A achieved: 4 points.
• Condition B achieved: 7 points.
• Neither achieved: 0 points.
• Overload Goal: 7 points if its owner personally caused the Overload; otherwise 0 points.
• Move each player's scoring disc forward by the points scored.

Condition A and Condition B are not cumulative. A player satisfying Condition B scores 7 points, not 11.

Preparing the Next Round

After scoring:

• Collect all Goal cards, including the face-down discarded Goals.
• Collect all playing cards, including the unused card in a 3-player game.
• Shuffle the Goal deck and playing deck separately.
• Advance the Round marker.
• Reset the circuit using the starting state shown for the new round.
• Pass the dealer position clockwise.
• Deal new hands and Goal cards and begin the next round.

End of the Game

After Round 4, the player furthest along the Score Track wins.

If tied, the tied players share the victory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions and clarifications