The Decktet Wiki

It is easier to pick up new games when you have experience with other games, as game mechanics tend to show patterns between different games. This game has similarities to Settlers of Catan, but also Machi Koro, in that dice decide which cards create wealth in this round. The goal of the game is something which can be described as "majority rule", as not the total value of your cards is counted but the majority at each plot. Think best-of-five match. A game classic using this condition is El Grande.

These are the core elements of the game. You may be able to work out the rules with these elements in mind. It is hard to start on rules if you have no idea what the game is about.

Taxation is used to deter players from hoarding goods (otherwise playing deeds were inefficient).

There are two listed at BoardGameGeek; unfortunately the wiki won’t let me link them.

Sorry, I am new card gaming and board game scene. I just found out this game, but it's hard to understand the rule. Is there any video out there showing how to play Magnate? Really appreciate any help.

It's a wiki, but this page in particular says it's protected against plebes like us.

You do realize it's a wiki, right? ;-)

It's OK. I've fixed it.

Given that I changed it from LaTeX to wiki mark-up with a couple of quick and dirty regular expressions, I'm surprised there weren't more stray brackets.

The Grove explanation has a couple of stray brackets at the end.

Excellent, thank you!

I've posted them now.

Is there a reference for the interpretation of the Capital Decktet? I'm guessing some of the cards have different themes there.

Although having red correspond to both Suns and Leaves was originally an adaptation to the rainbow pyramid set, it works better in the game than having six different colours. Of course, you can use orange if you prefer. But, to me, red is more naturally between orange and brown.

For moons, white might look better.

You can also use another colour to keep score. Beyond that, I’m open to suggestions!

Now that Pyramid Arcade makes xeno colors readily available, would you recommend any variation to players with equal access to these ten colors of pyramid?

If we're just swapping colors to more closely match the Decktet suits, we could use orange for 1-pip/Suns/Leaves, and white for defense/Moons, leaving yellow, green, and blue alone. It might give the game a distinctive appearance by not using the same default colors as other pyramid games.

But maybe there's a way to use extra colors for a more fun game, too?

Thanks. I don’t think there’s a situation where you couldn’t get around the requirement, if it were one.

Yes, you can! But since you're not dealing onto the tableau it's not very important, yeah.

Never mind; I realized the restriction makes no difference in this game.

Am I allowed to deal while there are empty tableau piles?

I have already posted this on BGG some months ago, but now I have added entry to this wiki too.
I can't link it but search for "Hexaract" on the wiki.

Any feedback, suggestions, discussion etc. is welcome.

Correct: When you play a Crown to an increasing stack or an Ace to a decreasing stack, then you can't play any more cards on that stack.

Welcome to the world of the Decktet. I'm glad that you are enjoying Emu Ranchers.

Well, I guess I'm REALLY late to this dance! But I just recently dived into the Decktet world, and even more recently tried my hand at Emu ranching. My wife and I played it for the first time last night and had a blast. I just wanted to kinda double check something…

Am I correct in understanding that playing an Ace or a Crown on a previously established bird effectively closes off any further play on that bird?

As I indicated, we only have a few hands of playing experience, so I haven't yet worked out the best strategies (i.e. starting most birds with either an Ace or a Crown hoping to get the 5 point bonus) but it seems like a game with a lot of replayability.

Thanks for your hard work.

Magi is inspired by the playing card solitaire game "Oracle Patience". It is called Magi after the three wise men of the biblical narrative which here represent the three powers of man that battle for dominance - Intelligence, Emotion, and Instinct. These powers, or Magi, are represented by three Personality cards that contain between themselves all suits of the Decktet, the Lunatic corresponding to the mind, the Painter corresponding to the sentiments, and the Savage corresponding to the body. These personalities are arranged as the three corners of a triangle and courts are built around them by placing a card at each of their four sides as they are upturned from the pack. The upper card in each court is immovable; the three others are moveable meaning that they can capture and be captured.

Upturned cards are first played to contribute to a court with a corresponding suit if space is available. If the card corresponds to multiple Magi, it is placed at the court corresponding to the highest available suit in the depicted arrangement. A court is completed when all four sides of a Magi card have been occupied.

If a card containing one of the suits of a Magi with a completed court is turned up, and it cannot be previously be played as part of a court, it activates the power of the corresponding Magi. If the card corresponds to multiple completed courts, priority is given to the highest listed suit first.

Once the power of a Magi card is activated, the upturned card may be used to capture a card of the same value from another court. Both cards are then placed on top of the stack above the corresponding Magi card. If no capture is available, the card is similarly placed on top of the corresponding stack. Additionally, the three movable cards of the court of the activated Magi card may also capture cards of their value from other courts - one stack each. These cards are placed beneath their captors and may be recaptured as a set. If no cards of a similar value are available for capture by the three movable court cards, then nothing happens and another card is upturned from the deck.

Gameplay proceeds in this manner until the deck is depleted. The Magi card surrounded by the highest total value of cards represents the power that is dominant in the player during the gameplay session. Aces=1, Pawns=10, Courts=11, and Crowns=12. Numbered cards are valued accordingly. The Excuse is not used in this game.

(This game is still being tested)

I think the game predates the Courts, and they might be too powerful an addition.