How to Play Demon Game? Quick start, example, detailed rules and what to do in special situations.

Box Contents

7x1 Token Cards (crowned character on one side, character in a star like design on the other side)
7x1 Demon Cards (Demon on face side)
7x3 = 21 Character Face Cards. (Demon and Character cards have the same design on their backs)
1 Guidebook

Each player takes 5 cards of a character and places their “token” card down.
On their turn everyone puts one “character” or “demon” card (from four cards in their hand) face-down above their token.
Now, on every turn, a player can either add a card to their token, or start a bid. The “bid” is to open maximum cards without turning a Demon.
Player with highest bid starts by flipping their own cards – top down.
After this they can flip any other player’s card – one at a time – until they open as many cards as their bid.
If they turn any Demon, they lose the bet and one of their own cards. If not, they score a point.
Player who scores two points first, wins the game.

Cat starts the game. Places a card on her token. Unicorn, Rabbit and Monkey each place a card on their tokens as well.
Cat's turn again – she plays another card down. Unicorn too adds a card to his stack.
Rabbit decides to challenge, and bets to flip 3 cards without turning a demon. There are 6 cards on the table at this stage.

Monkey raises the bid to 4, everyone else passes. He flips his own card first – it's a Monkey. Good!
Monkey successfully flips Rabbit's card, then Unicorn's top most card.
He's just one card away to victory, and flips Cat's top most card. But oh... it’s a Demon!

Monkey loses his bet. Cat discards one card from Monkey's set – he now has three cards left.
Everyone takes their cards back from the table and Monkey starts a new round.
This time Rabbit makes the highest bid and wins his bet of five cards! He flips his token card so everyone knows he's just one point away from winning the game – and getting the crown!
Game continues until one person wins two bets.

You can place only one card from your hand on your turn – atop your existing cards.
Bidding challenge can start only after everyone has placed at least one card on the table. Also, it’s not compulsory to start a bid. You can add another card to your pile on your turn.
But once someone starts a bid, others can either raise the bid or pass. They can’t add cards.
Bid is raised clockwise or by “shout-aloud auction”. Decide bidding style before starting a game.
Cards are always flipped in order, starting from top of the pile, one at a time.
Challenger (person with highest bid) starts by opening their own cards first. Flip other’s cards only after that – if needed. You can flip one card from one player & next from another if you wish.
Card flipping stops either when a Demon is turned or when number of open cards equals bid number.
On their turn, if a player does not have any cards in hand, they must start a bidding challenge.
Being the first player is very advantageous. It's worth the trouble of taking risks to get that position, even if it means losing a card.
Don't hesitate to bluff by issuing a challenge or increasing the bet when you’ve placed a Demon. It's the best way to reassure the future challenger and have them choose your cards – only to fail.

Stop flipping. Challenger has lost the bet. All players take their cards back into their hands.
The opponent whose cards revealed a demon randomly picks one of challenger’s cards to discard. Discarded cards are kept face down in the center of table (and not revealed to anyone).
If challenger turned his/her own demon, they discard any one card from their hand.
If the challenger loses their last card, they are eliminated from the game.

If no Demon is revealed, and challenger is able to flip character cards equal to their bid number, they win the bet, and get one point.
Flipping stops on winning a bet. Remaining cards are not revealed. A player can, however, reveal their own cards if they want.
On winning, the challenger flips their game token card to the “crown” side.
When a player wins their second bet, they win the game.

If last round's Challenger is still in the game – irrespective of winning or losing their bet, they play first in next round.
If challenger was eliminated, the player whose demon card eliminated the challenger becomes the first player.
If eliminated challenger revealed their own demon card, they choose first player for the next round.

Playing with kids? Alone? Two players?