Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Card Game from Jerusalem Games
Found this card game by Yehuda at Jerusalem Games. Looks to be a short, clever and fun game that is easy to learn--just the type I would recommend on this blog.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Penguin! The Card Game (Inverted Iceberg?)
In this game, based closely on the Fantasy Flight produced "Penguin" designed by Reiner Knizia, players build a pyramid (inverted iceberg?). Once again, I would like to note before I begin to explain the rules to an adaptation of an already published game, that I introduce you this game to draw your attention to terrific game mechanics developed by a fantastic game designer, and also to provide you with a fun game to play in a pinch. With that being said, lets get started.
Like an iceberg, the game is simple on the surface, but the complexity runs deeper.
No. of players: 2
Set up: One deck of 52 cards. Take out the Kings, Queens, Jacks, and Tens. Deal 14 cards to each player. The remaining 8 cards are set out of play for the round.
Game play: On your turn, play one card face-up on the table to build the pyramid.
The Pyramid: The bottom level of the pyramid may hold 7 cards side-by-side. If you play in the bottom level, you may play any card you wish. Each succeeding level holds one less card until you reach the top. In order to play on a higher level at least one of the cards beneath it must be of the same suit.
Round end: If you are unable to play a card you are done for the round, but your opponent may continue to play until they either run out of cards or are unable to play any more, then the round is over.
Scoring: Add up the cards you have left by their number value. These are your points for the round. Play three rounds to determine a grand champion!
(Note: After reading up on "Penguin" at BoardGameGeek.com I found that this game was originally supposed to be a card game, but that it was changed for marketing purposes. One thing you will notice about the variant I have posted here, is that points are collected based on the face value of the cards you play instead of on number of cards you have remaining).
Like an iceberg, the game is simple on the surface, but the complexity runs deeper.
No. of players: 2
Set up: One deck of 52 cards. Take out the Kings, Queens, Jacks, and Tens. Deal 14 cards to each player. The remaining 8 cards are set out of play for the round.
Game play: On your turn, play one card face-up on the table to build the pyramid.
The Pyramid: The bottom level of the pyramid may hold 7 cards side-by-side. If you play in the bottom level, you may play any card you wish. Each succeeding level holds one less card until you reach the top. In order to play on a higher level at least one of the cards beneath it must be of the same suit.
Round end: If you are unable to play a card you are done for the round, but your opponent may continue to play until they either run out of cards or are unable to play any more, then the round is over.
Scoring: Add up the cards you have left by their number value. These are your points for the round. Play three rounds to determine a grand champion!
(Note: After reading up on "Penguin" at BoardGameGeek.com I found that this game was originally supposed to be a card game, but that it was changed for marketing purposes. One thing you will notice about the variant I have posted here, is that points are collected based on the face value of the cards you play instead of on number of cards you have remaining).
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Comments and criticism welcome
On this blog I plan to post numerous card games, hopefully one every week or two weeks, but I may not always have time to playtest enough times to catch glitches and mistakes.
Please feel free to comment and criticize if you ever find a problem with one of these games so that I can fix it, or post your own fix and have it added to the blog!
Thanks!
Dennis
Please feel free to comment and criticize if you ever find a problem with one of these games so that I can fix it, or post your own fix and have it added to the blog!
Thanks!
Dennis
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Reversi, The Card Game
This card game is essentially the same as its namesake boardgame, Reversi (or Othello), that was originally designed in 1883. Its a light strategy game with some interesting nuances and it only requires a deck of cards to play.
No. of Players: 2
Set-up: Make sure you have a big area to play, at least 2-3 square feet. Place two cards face down, and two cards face up in a square as shown in the picture below. Count out 30 more cards for the deck. (Use 30 cards of any value you want. The number values in this game do not matter!)
To play: One player is face-up, and the other player is face-down. On your turn, draw a card from the deck and place it in such a way that you create a line in which your cards are at both endpoints. When you do so, flip all the opponents cards in between your two endpoints. It is possible to create multiple lines in which you control both endpoints when you play.
Face-down player plays a card in the upper right spot, creating a line with face-down endpoints. Face-down player flips the face-up card face-down.
Continue play, with each player drawing and playing one card per turn until...
Game end: The game ends after the last card from the deck has been played. Count how many card you have on the table (if you are face-up, count all the face-up cards). Winner is the player with the most.
Note: Cards may be played in such a way as to create either orthogonal or diagonal lines. Any opponents cards along such diathogonal lines will be flipped over. Also, in the course of the game, you should expect to flip multiple cards per turn, and sometimes you may flip cards along several different lines, but only the final orientation of the cards at the end of the game matters for scoring.
No. of Players: 2
Set-up: Make sure you have a big area to play, at least 2-3 square feet. Place two cards face down, and two cards face up in a square as shown in the picture below. Count out 30 more cards for the deck. (Use 30 cards of any value you want. The number values in this game do not matter!)
To play: One player is face-up, and the other player is face-down. On your turn, draw a card from the deck and place it in such a way that you create a line in which your cards are at both endpoints. When you do so, flip all the opponents cards in between your two endpoints. It is possible to create multiple lines in which you control both endpoints when you play.
Face-down player plays a card in the upper right spot, creating a line with face-down endpoints. Face-down player flips the face-up card face-down.Game end: The game ends after the last card from the deck has been played. Count how many card you have on the table (if you are face-up, count all the face-up cards). Winner is the player with the most.
Note: Cards may be played in such a way as to create either orthogonal or diagonal lines. Any opponents cards along such diathogonal lines will be flipped over. Also, in the course of the game, you should expect to flip multiple cards per turn, and sometimes you may flip cards along several different lines, but only the final orientation of the cards at the end of the game matters for scoring.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Lost Cities Adapted
To start this blog, here is a card game that I have adapted* from the famous Lost Cities board game, by designer Reiner Knizia.
Requirements: 2 standard decks of playing cards. Take out the jokers and shuffle the decks together.
No. of Players: 2-4 (but more may be possible)
To Play: Deal each player 8 cards for their hand. On your turn you may play one card on one of four stacks in front of you, one stack for each suit, or you may discard into one of four discard piles in the middle of the table, one for each suit. Whenever you play a card in front of you, it must be higher than or equal to the card underneath it. After you play or discard, draw a card from the deck or from one of the discard piles to finish your turn (make sure you have 8 cards in your hand). Play continues clockwise until...
Game end: Whenever any three stacks of cards (not the discard piles) have seven or more cards, the game ends immediately and players score their stacks. You earn points based on how many cards are in each of your stacks. The game also ends immediately whenever someone draws the last card from the deck.
Scoring: If you have 0 cards in a stack, you earn 0 points for that stack. If 1 card, you lose 10 points. If 2 cards, you lose 5 points. If 3 cards you earn 0 points. If 4 cards, you earn 5 points. If 5 cards, you earn 10 points. If 6 cards you earn 20 points. For 7 cards you earn 30 points! (For 8 or more cards you earn an additional 10 points each.)
Special two-player note: After dealing 8 cards to each player, count 30 cards at random from the top of the deck and put these cards out of play. Don't peak!
This is a quick game! Play three times in a row and keep track of your total points to determine the grand champion!
*As an important introductory note, I think I should say that I post these rules here, not to take anything away from the game of Lost Cities or from Knizia or any of the many publishers of the game, but rather to draw your attention to an awesome board game, and to hopefully teach you a fun and easy adaptation that you can play in a pinch with only two decks of cards.
Of personal note, I believe that people tend to be more accepting of things that are familiar to them. I always struggle to find people who are eager to learn a new game I've purchased or designed, because, in my opinion, the rules of new games tend to incorporate principles that are foreign to them, and I hope that by sneaking some of these principles into card games, that people will feel more comfortable with all types of rules.
Requirements: 2 standard decks of playing cards. Take out the jokers and shuffle the decks together.
No. of Players: 2-4 (but more may be possible)
To Play: Deal each player 8 cards for their hand. On your turn you may play one card on one of four stacks in front of you, one stack for each suit, or you may discard into one of four discard piles in the middle of the table, one for each suit. Whenever you play a card in front of you, it must be higher than or equal to the card underneath it. After you play or discard, draw a card from the deck or from one of the discard piles to finish your turn (make sure you have 8 cards in your hand). Play continues clockwise until...
Game end: Whenever any three stacks of cards (not the discard piles) have seven or more cards, the game ends immediately and players score their stacks. You earn points based on how many cards are in each of your stacks. The game also ends immediately whenever someone draws the last card from the deck.
Scoring: If you have 0 cards in a stack, you earn 0 points for that stack. If 1 card, you lose 10 points. If 2 cards, you lose 5 points. If 3 cards you earn 0 points. If 4 cards, you earn 5 points. If 5 cards, you earn 10 points. If 6 cards you earn 20 points. For 7 cards you earn 30 points! (For 8 or more cards you earn an additional 10 points each.)
Special two-player note: After dealing 8 cards to each player, count 30 cards at random from the top of the deck and put these cards out of play. Don't peak!
This is a quick game! Play three times in a row and keep track of your total points to determine the grand champion!
*As an important introductory note, I think I should say that I post these rules here, not to take anything away from the game of Lost Cities or from Knizia or any of the many publishers of the game, but rather to draw your attention to an awesome board game, and to hopefully teach you a fun and easy adaptation that you can play in a pinch with only two decks of cards.
Of personal note, I believe that people tend to be more accepting of things that are familiar to them. I always struggle to find people who are eager to learn a new game I've purchased or designed, because, in my opinion, the rules of new games tend to incorporate principles that are foreign to them, and I hope that by sneaking some of these principles into card games, that people will feel more comfortable with all types of rules.
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