1. Introduction

Logos 66 — New Testament is a biblical card game. Players form combinations with the 27 books of the NT, completing objectives in sequence, generally of increasing difficulty. Whoever completes the 5th objective of the chosen group wins (see section 9).

The game combines strategy, memorisation and fellowship — and teaches the Bible without you noticing.

2. Components

Cards — 90 cards

Interruption Cards — 4 cards (2 of each)

3. Categories of the NT Books

Every card belongs to one of five categories. Knowing them is essential to completing the objectives.

Run — A set of books in CONSECUTIVE BIBLICAL ORDER. Example: Matthew → Mark → Luke.

Group — A set of books from the SAME CATEGORY, in any order. Example: Galatians + Romans + Ephesians = a group of 3 Pauline Epistles.

For the 27 books in order, with abbreviation, category and chapters, see 27 Books.

4. Setting Up the Game

1. Decide among yourselves who plays first. The player to their right shuffles and deals the cards.
2. Shuffle all 90 cards: books, Wild Cards and Interruption Cards.
3. Deal 10 cards to each player. The rest forms the draw pile.
4. Turn the top card over to start the discard pile.

5. How to Play

The game unfolds in rounds. In each round, players take turns clockwise.

5.1 The Player's Turn

1. DRAW — Take 1 card from the draw pile.
2. ATTEMPT — Try to complete your current objective or, if you laid down on an earlier turn, add cards to the combinations on the table.
3. DISCARD — You must discard 1 card at the end of your turn.

Empty draw pile: if the draw pile runs out, shuffle the cards from the discard pile and use them to form a new draw pile.

First turn of the round: the starting player may, in the DRAW step, take the face-up card from the discard pile instead of drawing from the pile — except Persecution, which stays in the discard pile with its effect active (section 12). If the card is taken, the discard pile stays empty until the next discard. On all other turns, you always draw from the draw pile.

5.2 Completing the Objective (Laying Down)

1. Show the combination to the other players. If no one objects, the objective is complete.
2. Lay the cards on the table. From this moment on, the goal for the round becomes emptying your hand completely.

5.3 Expanding the Table after Laying Down

On the turn a player lays down their objective, they lay down the objective cards, discard one card onto the discard pile and pass, without playing any further card — the round carries on normally with the other players. Even if they hold cards that would fit combinations on the table — their own or an opponent’s — they may not play them on that turn.

From their next turn on, a player who has laid down may, in step 2 (ATTEMPT), add cards to combinations already on the table — their own or any opponent’s — as long as the card fits correctly (category, run or numeric criterion).

What each combination on the table accepts

In the category groups (Prison, Synoptics, Pastorals, Johannine) and in the chapter-count criteria, an added card may repeat a book already on the table. Only a run requires distinct books, in biblical order.

5.4 Going Out — Emptying Your Hand

The round ends immediately when a player runs out of cards in hand. That player has GONE OUT.

5.5 End of the Round

At the end of each round:

• Whoever laid down the objective in that round advances to the next objective of the group. Whoever did not lay down stays on the same objective.
• All cards — hands, table, discard pile and draw pile — are gathered and shuffled. 10 cards are dealt again to each player and a new round begins, as in Setting Up (section 4).
• The start passes to the next player, clockwise: whoever started the previous round shuffles and deals the cards, and the player to their left starts the new round — as in Rummy and other card games.

6. Special Cards

⭐ Wild Card

The Wild Card replaces any book card in any combination.

7. Interruption Cards

Interruption Cards are Active Events — they take up no place in combinations. When discarded, they interrupt the normal flow of play and change the situation for every player before the next turn. Discarding an Interruption Card counts as the mandatory discard of the turn (step 3) — so it can only be played on your own turn. An Interruption Card drawn in the DRAW step may be discarded and activated on the same turn.

📜 SOLA SCRIPTURA — A Chosen and Blind Swap

Activation: Discard this card. It may only be played against a player who has laid down the objective this round and still has cards in hand — the suspicion being that they are holding back a strategic card.

The Effect: The active player gives 1 card of their choice to the target player. The target then shows all their cards with the backs toward the active player, who takes 1 card blindly from the opponent’s hand, without knowing which one it is.

Note: The target player may not refuse the swap or hide how many cards they hold. If they have only 1 card in hand, the active player takes it with no choice. The active player may not back out of the swap after seeing the opponent’s cards.

Important: The active player chooses the card they give, but not the one they take — that is the risk of the card.

🔥 PERSECUTION — The Silence of the Wild Cards

Activation: Discard this card during your turn to begin a period of restriction.

Duration: The effect lasts one full cycle — it begins the moment the card is discarded and ends when the turn returns to the player who played it — or earlier, if the round ends.

Effect: While Persecution is active, no player may use Wild Cards in any way — neither to lay down objectives nor to add them to combinations on the table. Wild Cards become dead cards in hand.

Without Wilds: Players whose objective is complete using only real book cards (no Wilds) may lay down as usual — Persecution rewards no one: it merely suspends the advantage Wilds give over those who do not have them.

Wilds already on the table: Wild Cards laid down before Persecution stay where they are. The effect only prevents new Wild Cards from reaching the table.

8. Objectives

Each objective describes the combination the player must assemble from the cards in hand. The objectives are split into two groups (A and B), each with three levels of difficulty.

The objectives are split into two groups of 5 — Objectives A and Objectives B. The table picks one group before starting, and it is shared by all players. Each player advances through the list independently. The objectives are public — everyone knows everyone else’s progress. There are no physical objective cards: the list is printed in this manual and available online for reference on a phone. Whoever completes Objective 5 of the chosen group wins (see section 9). The colour indicates the difficulty: green = easy · yellow = medium · red = hard.

The full list is on the Objectives page.

9. Victory

When a player lays down Objective 5 of the chosen group, the round does not end there: it carries on normally until a player goes out. Meanwhile, other players may also complete Objective 5. At the end of that round:

• If only one player completed Objective 5, that player wins.
• If two or more players completed Objective 5, the winner is whoever has the fewest cards in hand when the round ended — if one of them went out, they have zero cards and win.
• If there is still a tie in the number of cards, whoever laid down Objective 5 first wins.

10. Learning Mode (Optional)

• When laying down, read each book's name aloud.
• For runs, state the number of chapters of each book.
• For groups, name the category that unites them.

11. Scoring Mode (Optional)

A variant for more competitive games. Points are recorded every round and serve as the tie-breaker at the end. Fewer points is better.

At the end of each round (when a player goes out by emptying their hand):

• The player who went out: 0 points.
• A player who laid down the objective of the round but still holds cards: 1 point per card left in hand.
• A player who did not lay down the objective: 10 points, regardless of how many cards they hold.

Wild Cards and Interruption Cards left in hand count as ordinary cards (1 point each). Each player keeps a running total on a separate sheet.

Victory in Scoring Mode — in the round where someone completes Objective 5:

1. If only one player completed Objective 5, that player wins — even if the player who went out is someone else (for example, a player still on Objective 4).
2. If two or more players completed Objective 5 in the same round, the winner is whoever went out.
3. If the player who went out was not on Objective 5, the winner is, among those who completed Objective 5, the one with the fewest accumulated points in the game.

12. Special Cases

• Sola Scriptura turned up at the start: it has no effect when turned up. The first player may take it (section 5.1) and use it later as usual.
• Persecution turned up at the start: it counts as played by no one and stays active until the end of the round — no one may use Wild Cards to lay down objectives or add them to the table.
• No play in the ATTEMPT step: if they cannot or do not want to lay down or add cards, the player goes straight to the discard.
• Lay down only with cards from your hand: the objective must be assembled only with cards from your own hand. Cards already on the table cannot be used to complete the objective.
• Wild Card with a declared book: when laying down a Wild Card, the player declares which book it represents. It counts as that book until the end of the round and cannot be reinterpreted. In a run, it takes that book’s position and may not repeat a book already in it; in combinations that allow repetition, it may; in pairs and sets of three, it represents the book of the pair or set.