dnup
- Designer: Kei Kajino
- Publisher: asmodee
- Players: 2-5
- Age: 8+
- Time: 15-20 minutes
- Played with review copy provided by publisher
Your goal in DNUP is to empty your hand of cards.
Each player starts with eight or ten cards in hand, with each card having different numbers (from 1-10) at top and bottom, e.g. 1 and 7. Pick up all your cards at once; you can rearrange cards from left to right at any time, but you can’t revolve them. (Don’t worry, the indexing of the cards lets you know what number would show up if you were to revolve the card!)
On a turn, first discard any cards on the table in front of you, then you can:
- Play cards from your hand.
2. Add one card to the table.
3. Take cards from the table.
4. Revolve all cards in your hand.
When you play cards, you can play one or more cards of the same value — but if you play as many cards as another player has in front of them, your cards must be of higher value. If you overplay someone, e.g. playing two 5s when they have two 2s, they must revolve their cards, then return them to their hand. I always have to go over this rule with players who have played other climbing games – because dnup is a bit different in that there are actually multiple climbing tricks on the table at the same time. You only need to compare your play to other combinations of the same size. This distinction often catches some players up as it is not how these sorts of games commonly play out.
When you add one card, you add a card of the same value to someone else’s played cards — but if that player would now have the same number of cards as a third player, the third player’s cards must be a lower value, in which case they revolve them and return them to hand.
When you pick up cards, you choose all the cards from in front of another player, revolve them, then add them to your hand.
The final option is to simply revolve all the cards in your hand – hopefully getting better numbers to work with!
The first player to empty their hand scores 2 points, and cards don’t return to their hand, even if beaten. The second player to empty their hand scores 1 point. Play multiple rounds until someone has at least 4 points, then whoever has the most points wins. The version of the game that I have has two differently shaped scoring bits – one that can be either an “n” or a “u” and another shape that can be either a “d” or a “p”. Once you can spell the name of the game, you’re a winner!
My thoughts on the game
This game originally hit my radar early in 2025 when I played the original Japanese version of the game called Revolve! As with many such games, I liked it immediately, but also had the immediate issue of not really having a great way to get my hands on a copy. It did remind me a lot of a similar climbing game called Scout – but there was enough different here to interest me.
The goal of this climbing/shedding game is to empty your hand as quickly as possible. Timing is always key here – you want to be able to play off your combinations, and larger sets are usually better than smaller sets – as long as they “win”. If the set is beaten by another player, then you have to take those cards back AND revolve them – which means that their values won’t match up with each other any more.
You can, of course, play single cards and add on to other player’s combinations. While you can only rid yourself of one card each time, these cards have no chance of returning to your hand. While slow, this is a good way to rid yourself of low valued cards that would otherwise often boomerang back into your hand.
dnup is a very clever game that really makes you think as you play through each hand. Rarely is a direct brute force path of playing cards a winner. There are definitely times where you’ll choose to pick up cards from the table or only play a single onto someone else to get you where you want to be. While it feels very similar to other games, it certainly offers enough different to stand on its own. The full size version of this come is a box that is about tarot card size, but I’ve also seen convention promotional decks that come in a mini-package, much smaller than a regular deck of cards. You can also try it on Boardgamearena – it’s definitely worth a go.
Thoughts from other Opinionated Gamers
Larry: Like Dale, I’ve only played the original version, Revolve. It’s a good game, with an unusual feel, but it doesn’t quite stack up to Scout, from the same designer, which I feel is one of the best shedding games to come out recently. Revolve/dnup is still worth playing, though.
Alison Brennan: Shedding game where each winning combination (single, pair, triple, …) stays on the table until your next turn when you can go again … unless it’s beaten before it gets back to you, in which case it returns to your hand but revolved Scout-style, so lower numbers become higher numbers. Or you can just add a card to someone else’s combination to shed a little, or pick up a combination off the table to strengthen your hand. Lots of options to improve, and choosing between options is interesting. It’s simple, neat, fun.
Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers
- I love it! Dale Y, Steph
- I like it. Larry, John P, Alison
- Neutral.
- Not for me…
