Ukemi card game Rules

Fri Dec 14 2018By David Banks 3 min read

Ukemi card game

Like parkour, this game can be played any way you want. In fact, we encourage you to experiment and discover new play styles. To get you started however we have provided you with some guidelines and a default method of play – you can find these below. Be sure to send us a message and tag us on your social media, we love to see the cards and play styles you will come up with!

30 Movement Cards – These are the cards with the movements and tricks you perform.
20 Condition Cards – These are modifier cards that attach a condition to a movement.
20 Wild Cards – These cards are like condition cards but they are harder and more unusual.
12 Blank Cards – These are blank cards for you to write on.
2 Info Cards – These are for information, they do not play a part in the game.

Example Play Styles

Classic: Each card collected counts for a single point. First to 10 points wins.
Mega Match: Keep playing until all of the movement cards have been used, keeping score like in the classic style. At the end, the person with the most points wins.
Add On: Players must pick a card as a group then complete the movement. Each round a new card is produced and added on to create a chain. This continues until only one player can complete the chain. In the event that more than one player can’t get past a stage it is declared a draw.
Blind: Players must select all cards before flipping them. In the event where one of those cards is a combo card, the player must take an extra movement card.

Remember these styles can be adapted to suit your environment, you can completely remove the competitive element if you wish.

Order of Play

Players take turns at picking up cards from each deck; movement (yellow), condition (blue) and wildcard (orange). Coin toss to decide who goes first. Each player must choose a movement card. Players then have the option of, but aren’t limited to, drawing a condition card. Similarly, players then have the option to draw as many wildcards as they wish. The difficulty can be increased further by the selection of multiple wildcards.

Attempt Options

Players have a single attempt to land the challenge.
Players have the same amount of attempts as they have collected cards. Each time an unsuccessful attempt is made a point is deducted from the number of possible points the player can receive e.g. if they draw 3 cards and land it first try they get 3 points. If they fail once and landed it on their second, they get two. And if they land it on their last try then they only get 1.
Players must land the selection multiple times, equal to the number of cards selected e.g. if they have two cards they have to land it twice.

Scaling the game

To make the game more inclusive you can take one/all the following measures:

Exclusion: Remove cards that contain techniques that a player cannot complete or environment/conditions which they are unwilling to engage with.
Handicap: Similar to Golf, players can play with a handicap. A player with a handicap of 1 gets a point less than they normally would for each hand completed
Variable Play: The group can decide whether or not the selection is suitable for a players skill level. This allows the group to fairly decide on what is an acceptable level of difficulty for the player to receive the points. Allowing players of multiple skill levels to play the same cards with an equal challenge.
Non-Competitive Play: Ukemi does not have to be competitive and players unwilling to subscribe to a win/loss system can play the game without keeping track of who’s winning/won. The game is an excellent resource for warm-ups, spot exploration, choreography generation, coaching, and casual play as well as a competitive game

Blank Cards

Ukemi is currently on version 1 and will evolve each time we print a new run. We can’t think of everything so to make sure we didn’t miss out any of your favorite movements, conditions or wild cards, we have included blank cards in every pack.