Setting Up

Number of Players

Chez can be played with 2 or more players, but works best with 6 or fewer.
For 2-6 players, you will need one deck of cards, and one seven-set of dice.
For more than 6 players, you will need one additional deck of cards for every 6 players (for instance, for 7-12 players, you will need two decks of cards), however, games larger than 10 players are not recommended.
It is possible to play with up to 10 players using only one deck. Though possible, this too is not recommended.
Chez runs smoothest when each player has their own seven-set of dice. However, this is not necessary. It is possible to play even larger games with just one set.
All of the rules in this document assume that you are playing Chez with just one deck of cards. If you are playing with multiple decks of cards, the decks should be shuffled together, and there must only be one draw pile at a time. They are therefore treated effectively as a single deck.

To start, shuffle the deck and deal 5 cards to each player.
Place the remaining cards face-down to form the discard pile. If there are no remaining cards, then you have too many players.
Take the top card from the draw pile and place it face up next to the draw pile to form the draw pile.
This top card has no effect, so play onto it as if it were a normal card in the discard pile.
Play now commences clockwise from the player who lost the previous game, or the player on the dealer's left if there have been no games before to this one.

The draw pile is the main pile where face-down cards lie. This is where you draw cards from if you must pick up cards. If there is a secondary discard pile, it should lie in-between the primary and secondary.
The discard pile is the main, or primary, pile where face-up cards lie. When most cards are "played", this is to say, they are placed onto the top of the discard pile.
The secondary discard pile is the second pile where face-up cards lie. This is the place where burned castles, executed royal courts, and other similar combos go once their use is terminated. Each such combo will say where it should be placed, so check individual cards and combos for this information.