Your aim: turn ordinary cards into gold plates, then earn nine locks. Winning chips keeps you at the table. Winning an ordinary pair builds your board. A lock needs a special victory.
00
YOUR FIRST LIVE TABLE
Choose. Remember. Play.
01
Open the left guest rail.
Press C or click the vertical GUESTS bar to open the full-screen guest list. Choose a left or right seat. Drag or scroll horizontally through two rows of portraits, or filter by class: 10 Guard, 10 Veteran, 8 Super and 4 Emperor. Click a portrait to inspect their style and strength bars; choose the seat button to invite them. Arrow keys browse and Enter invites. Every guest is available from the start. During a table, select a new guest to open the handoff dialog. Keep the existing free-credit stack, or bring 200 free credits at the next hand boundary. Cards and committed wagers remain with the seat.
02
Take a seat.
Your own nine cards appear for thirty seconds. Click two slots to swap them during this opening window. Later replacement windows show only new cards and do not permit rearrangement.
03
Use the action panel.
Ante and deal, select an available slot, then commit your incoming card. Check, call, fold or raise when offered. The whole-credit Raise to amount includes your ante and earlier contribution.
04
Read each reveal.
Reveal and settlement wait for your Continue click. The small cards icon in either guest’s green nameplate opens a shallow row of that public board. It never uncovers private cards.
Pause without losing your place. Ctrl+Space pauses or resumes. Opening the guide, opening the guest list or leaving the window covers private cards and pauses memory time. Resume explicitly from the top-left button. Closing the game saves the exact table, pending wagers and each guest’s retained memory.
Side challenges appear in their required table order. Use Offer, Match or Decline in the action panel. At the Trip, select any plates you wish to exchange and confirm; Keep all plates is also available. The title bar keeps a short summary of the last main-pot win or tie. The table menu contains sound, reduced motion, save-and-lounge, and a separate explicit abandonment action. Ambience rests during memory study and pause. Press M to mute or restore sound.
C GuestsR CareerCtrlSpace Pause / resumeF1 GuideF Focus tableM SoundF8 Table menu
00
COMPANY AT THE NINTH EMBER
Thirty-two guests. Different minds.
ASTRA · EMPEROR
Astra, the patient logician.
Co-Creator of Staqtapp-TDS MC
Translucent white ceramic over black precision mechanics. Kind company with disciplined logic and recall. Astra runs a dedicated Ting program and samples 4,096 possible outcomes. She learns from public bet sizes, check-then-raise patterns, revealed pairs and apparent missed public matches. Evidence is smoothed and uncertain; an unseen hand proves nothing. Pauses, reading time and wall-clock hesitation are never tells.
Guard offers the gentlest styles. Veteran adds pressure and experience. Super rewards careful observation. Emperor uses the deepest sampling and most consistent reasoning.
Class
Guests
Character of play
Guard · 10
Nilo Renn · Brin Ossa · Tavi Quell · Rook Danner · Senn Oru · Pip Kest · Dara Nex · Mox Tal · Unit LARK · Eris Tonn
Gentle styles, cautious recall and lively risks
Veteran · 10
Korr Vahl · Mara Voss · Rhea Sol · Hask Vorr · Odel Rune · Vesha Korr · Tomas Rill · Nyra Ish · Bram Cale · Ayo Meridian
Experience, patience and varied pressure
Super · 8
Veyra Sile · Ilex Rune · Gus Perrin · Thessa Quill · Talren Voss · Nacre Nine · Selene Dray · Orris Vel
Disciplined prices, misdirection and strong recall
Emperor · 4
Astra · Orun Vale · Varek Sorn · Eshara Nul
Deep sampling and adaptive probability
Profile bars show configured Logic, Recall, Patience and Pressure. They describe behavior, not measured win rates. Decisions vary with remembered cards, public actions, stack sizes and uncertainty. Every guest follows the same legal actions and information limits; none sees another player’s concealed cards or the future deck.
01
THE RHYTHM
One round, eight moments.
01
Remember
You receive nine ordinary cards in a fixed 3 × 3 board. Study them during the opening 30-second private memory period.
02
Ante & place
Pay the 1-chip ante. Privately inspect your new card, then place it face down on a playable slot. Commit placements together.
03
Bet
Check, call, raise or fold as allowed. At most three raises. Live wagers must have equal cover; return any uncalled excess.
04
Reserve & challenge
Set aside possible extra draft cover. Offer and accept any side challenges, in table order, before reveals.
05
Stay or Reveal
Commit choices together. Ordinary plays reveal. Only an eligible new play on open gold may Stay.
06
Compare
Reveal current cards; resolve any qualifying tie claims. If all three new cards Stay, use the dealer’s draft instead.
07
Settle & clear
Pay main and side wagers; preserve unresolved escrows. Award ordinary gold, clear exposed tops, then apply a valid lock.
08
Continue
Check for Plate9. After round eight, resolve the Trip. Rotate the action marker. If a seat cannot fund the next ante, the session ends.
The 30-second clock belongs to memory viewing. Standard offline decisions have no turn timer. After committing, you cannot peek again at a concealed ordinary base or held top.
02
THE PIECES
Every state has its own shape.
Ordinary card
Ordinary card
Concealed base. Remember its rank. An unoccupied ordinary slot can accept a card.
Open gold
Open gold
Its rank and suit are public. It can accept a new top card if unoccupied.
Locked gold
Locked gold
A completed lock. Nothing can be placed over it; it cannot form a match.
Rank makes the match. Suits never break a tie. Ace is high. An awarded gold plate keeps its original slot base’s rank and suit.
03
BUILD YOUR BOARD
A pair earns gold. Even when you lose.
EXAMPLE A · ORDINARY MATCH1 / 3
Remembered slot base+Your new card
Put your 7 on the remembered 7.
During play the base stays concealed until the legal reveal. Here, both faces are shown to teach the example.
Slot baseTop cardPAIR OF SEVENS
The ranks match when revealed.
Another player can beat you with Kings. Even a losing or folded ordinary pair earns its plate.
Your new open gold 7♠
Keep the gold; clear both regular cards.
The new plate is face up. It does not lock in the round it is awarded.
A missed match: discard the top card. Return the ordinary base face down and mark it as publicly seen. You may remember what was revealed.
No matching pairs: compare eligible top-card ranks. Equal high cards split the main pot. A high-card result earns no plate or lock.
04
HOLD YOUR NERVE
A Stay protects a card—and uses a slot.
Open Queen plate
Concealed top · STAY
All four conditions must hold.
The new top is on an unoccupied open gold plate.
Another slot remains available for the next deal.
All three players remain in the main contest.
You have reserved your full possible extra draft payment.
Commit the new Stay face down. It stays on that exact plate across rounds and Trips. You cannot move, replace, peek at or exchange it. Multiple Stays are allowed, but every one occupies a slot.
A hidden hand is not a pot claim.
Holding the current card usually gives up this round’s main claim. An eligible tie takeover or draft can still supply a revealed hand. Old wagers never buy entry to new pots.
Only two live reveal routes.
An old Stay can reveal in a qualifying tie window or the all-stayed draft. A fold, pause, Trip or impatience creates no extra reveal route.
Eight locks + one open plate? Your next card must Reveal. You cannot Stay on the final playable slot.
05
THE ORDINARY TIE WINDOW
Beat their tied pairs. Earn your lock.
KORR
Slot baseTop cardPAIR OF EIGHTS
VEYRA
Slot baseTop cardPAIR OF EIGHTS
YOU
Gold baseTop cardQUEENS TAKE OVER
Both opponents must still contest the pot and reveal equal-ranked matching pairs. You may claim one of your Stays—or decline. Your claimed pair must be strictly higher than their tied pair. A current revealed gold pair can qualify the same way.
Snapshot first. Eligibility comes from the first current reveals. Eligible owners commit claims together. Animation order never creates a new tie window. Keep the better of your current hand and a qualifying claim.
One sole winner. Your selected hand must be on previously open gold and win alone. Split pots, high cards and a routine gold pair against unequal opponents do not lock. This takeover has no x2 payment.
LOCKLOCKLOCKLOCKLOCKLOCKSTAYSTAYK
Chips won. Capacity protected.
With six locks, two old Stays and one open King, a qualifying current King victory pays the pot but leaves the King open. Locking it would block the next deal. There is no deferred lock.
Clear all legally exposed tops before checking capacity. Nine locks is the allowed terminal exception.
Equal current hand and equal qualifying claim
The v1.0 rulebook says to keep the better hand, but does not choose a slot when these two hands are equal. That rare lock-selection detail remains under review; the live game and test runner provisionally retain the current hand. Draft ties have an explicit selection rule below.
06
WHEN ALL THREE NEW CARDS STAY
The dealer turns one gold draft card.
External draft · King
ALL STAYS NOW REVEAL
Triple beats pair. Pair beats high card.
Every held top on every board reveals, including older Stays. Nobody can keep one hidden after seeing the draft. Locked plates never participate.
A matching gold King and top King become a triple with this draft King. The draft cannot rescue an unmatched base and top.
01TRIPLEMatching gold + top + draft rank
02PAIRMatching gold + top rank
03HIGH CARDHighest top when unmatched
Each seat automatically uses its best play. Equal best plays within one board use the older placement, then the lowest slot number. A sole pair or triple winner may lock that selected gold plate, subject to capacity. A high-card winner cannot lock.
EXAMPLE D · THREE WAGERS OF 10
The prize is 50. The winner gains 40 net.
30original main pot+10 + 10losers’ extra reserves=50paid to the winner
Winner 240Loser 180Loser 180
Starting at 200 each: everyone already paid 10 main and reserved 10 extra. The winner receives 50 and their unused 10 reserve. Each loser loses 20 total.
x2 follows the draft reveal. Losers owe the extra payment even if the winner has only a high card. If all three tie, all three win and nobody owes an extra payment.
No double debit. The original wager is already in the pot. Only the extra reserved amount is added. The absolute cap is B + min(B, available extra); a new Stay requires full cover in advance.
07
THE LEFT CIRCLES
“You won’t make a pair.”
A voluntary no-match challenge concerns the target’s new current play, including an ordinary card. It can also be defeated by a pair the target legally reveals from a Stay in that original round. A losing, folded or non-qualifying pair still counts.
BETTOR5
→
SEPARATE ESCROW10
←
TARGET5
Target makes a pair.
The target receives all 10: their 5 back plus 5 profit. A main-pot loss does not change this result.
Target reveals no pair.
After the complete reveal/claim window, the bettor receives the 10 if the current play was exposed and no revealed claim made a pair.
Only targets with four or fewer locks may accept a new challenge.
Both sides fund equal stakes from free chips after draft reserves.
Your new outgoing stakes plus accepted counterstakes may total at most your actual current main contribution B.
One offer per opponent. First a clockwise left-target pass from the marker, then a right-target pass. Each offer is resolved before the next.
Declining costs nothing, does not fold your main hand and reveals no hidden-card fact.
Still hidden? Keep the escrow. If the current card Stays and no pair is revealed that round, both stakes remain attached to that exact card and its original gold base. Later, only that held card’s own match settles the old contract. An unrelated later pair cannot settle it. Reaching five locks does not cancel an accepted obligation.
Example E · one challenge against each opponent
Offer 5 to each eligible opponent with enough free chips and combined side budget. Both accept: two separate escrows of 10. If one target matches and one fails, you lose 5 on the first and profit 5 on the second. Your net side result is zero.
08
AFTER EIGHT ROUNDS
The Trip refreshes your possibilities.
YOU 3 locksKORR 3 locksVEYRA 1 lock
Reserved regular Trip card
Tied counts open one memory attempt.
Snapshot lock counts before exchanges. Here, you and Korr are tied. Reveal the reserved regular Trip card; each of you may choose one eligible ordinary slot or decline. Veyra gets no attempt.
No tied counts means the Trip card stays concealed. Ties at zero, or all three tied, qualify.
Your selected ordinary 9♣→Awarded open gold 9♣
A selected ordinary card must never have been publicly exposed since entering that slot. Private memory viewing is allowed. A match becomes open gold with the base’s suit; a miss returns face down and is marked publicly seen. Neither result changes the lock counts. No x2.
Keep or exchange.
All players choose together. You may exchange an unoccupied open gold plate or surrender a locked plate for an ordinary card in that slot. A held Stay and its occupied plate cannot be exchanged. Ordinary slots are not exchange choices.
Remember only the new cards.
Replacements arrive round-robin from the marker. A shared 30-second memory period shows new replacements only. Retained ordinary cards and hidden Stays stay out of the shuffle.
The regular set always contains the same 52 cards. After replacements, 25 available cards supply the next eight rounds and conditional Trip. The separate gold draft stack is renewed independently.
09
NINE IS THE DESTINATION
Catch is progress. Plate9 is nine locks.
CATCH
All nine slots contain gold. Some may still be open or occupied by Stays. Catch alone is not the achievement.
PLATE9
Nine valid locks. Finish the round’s accounting, settle pending challenges, record the achievement, then reset to a fresh game at 200 chips each.
Chip-out ends the session. A seat unable to fund the next ante from free chips ends the three-player session. Resolve pending challenges and record final standings. Chip-out awards no Plate9.
Leaving preserves obligations. Normal leaving is specified to save the unfinished session. Explicit abandonment is a forfeit, not a refund or hidden-card preview. Save/resume controls are still part of the game’s remaining implementation.
A 2 on your last open plate? With eight locks it cannot Stay or beat a lower tied pair. You may exchange that unoccupied open plate at a Trip to pursue the ninth lock. Its rank never secretly changes.
10
YOUR REPUTATION AT BERTH 09
Make a name at The Ninth Ember.
Press R or click Career. Your club record carries across games: nine badges, a local skill rating, experience levels and club chips for card finishes. The long-term pursuit is recognition—from Visitor through Regular, Contender, Strategist and Master to Ember Elite.
ASTRA’S RESPECT
Earn the android’s respect.
Finish an unchanged table as its sole winner with Astra seated throughout. Her badge brings 150 club chips + 250 XP, in addition to Table Victor and any other milestone. A calm holographic popup counts the reward; Astra acknowledges the result kindly.
A single pot does not defeat Astra. Plate9 decides the winner when reached; at chip-out, the unique largest final stack wins. Tied leaders do not receive the winner bonus.
Milestone
XP
Club chips
First Light · first ordinary gold
25
10
Sealbreaker · first lock
100
25
True Recall · matched Trip
50
20
Against the Tie · takeover lock
100
50
Draft Sovereign · draft lock
100
50
Golden Nine · Catch, all nine slots gold
250
100
The Ninth Ember · Plate9, nine locks
1,000
500
Table Victor · completed-table sole winner
100
30
Astra’s Respect · completed-table win with Astra
250
150
Catch, Plate9, Table Victor and Astra’s Respect can reward once per game. The other milestone bonuses are awarded once per career. Milestone bonuses stack. Each settled round adds 2 XP; an ordinary gold conversion adds 5 XP and a new lock adds 20 XP.
Pending until the table finishes. Milestones appear immediately, but club chips, badges and XP bank only after natural Plate9 or chip-out accounting. Saving keeps pending progress. Abandoning clears all pending positive credit. Guest handoffs offer a fresh 200-credit stack only after the current main pot clears; funded challenges remain in escrow. A handoff marks the current table as unrated and makes Astra’s Respect unavailable for that table. Other play rewards remain available. Club chips never fund a buy-in.
Skill is separate from experience.
Local skill starts at 1,200 and is provisional for ten rated tables. It compares each completed result with the strength of both guests; stronger opponents bring larger gains. Forfeits cannot increase skill. Reference guest ratings are authored tuning values, not measured competitive Elo.
Titles: Visitor below 1,100; Regular 1,100; Contender 1,300; Strategist 1,550; Master 1,800; Ember Elite 2,050. XP increases career level independently.
Club chips buy your finish.
Ember Brass is included. Aurora Teal costs 50; Obsidian Pearl 150; Imperial Violet 300. Purchases are permanent and may be selected again freely. They cover concealed cards uniformly, preserving hidden identity.
Club chips have no cash value and cannot enter bets. The table still begins with 200 credits per seat.
10
KEEP THIS CLOSE
The table, at a glance.
Event
Gold awarded?
Lock?
x2?
Revealed ordinary pair
Yes, even losing or folded
No
No
Routine current gold pair win
Already gold
No
No
Sole higher gold pair over opponents’ tied pairs
Already gold
Yes, if capacity permits
No
Sole draft pair / triple win
Already gold
Yes, if capacity permits
Draft losers only
Draft high-card win or split
No
No
Draft losers only
Successful Trip memory match
Yes, face up
No
No
Odd chips in split pots go clockwise from the action marker among the winners. At most one plate locks in a round.
F1 Player guideF Focus tableF8 Table toolsCtrl Space Watch / pause roundM Mute club soundCtrl F Find in this guideEsc Return to the table
Click the small cards icon in either opponent’s titlebox to open a slim public-board row. Concealed cards stay face down; Escape closes the row. Watch a round plays a scripted Queens-over-eights example, with slow card turns and illuminated credit ingots. This companion explains Plate9 Rulebook v1.0. The application includes a playable first-person table, timed opening memory, saved games and independent opponents. The optional study view demonstrates a scripted round. Worked examples are instructional, not live hidden-card views.
