| Designed by | P.D. Magnus |
| Players | 2-4 |
| Length | not long |
| Extra Material | None |
a relic of a silent auction game
This game was designed in August 2008, when the Decktet was new. I had it briefly on my homepage, but took it down because it really isn't that exciting. The Decktet Wiki is supposed to be an exhaustive archive, though, so I've posted it here. Just for the record. [P.D.M.]
Object of the game: To score points by winning scrums.
If players play high cards, then the low card will win the trick. If players play low cards, then the high card will win the trick. So you need to guess what your opponents will do and make an honest assessment of your own chances.
Set up
A hand begins with the dealer shuffling the deck and dealing out five cards to each player.
The scrum
The dealer takes a number of cards from the deck and places them face up in the center of the table. In a two-player game, the dealer flips just one card. Three players: two cards. Four players: three cards.
The total of the cards in the center is the tipping point for the trick. Aces count as one. Crowns
count as ten.Each player then selects a card from their hand and places it face down in front of them. When every player has selected a card in this way, they flip their cards face up. Total the ranks of all the played cards. (Again: Aces count as one. Crowns count as ten.)
- If the total is less than the tipping point, then the player who played the highest card wins the scrum.
- If the total is greater than the tipping point, then the player who played the lowest card wins the scrum.
- If the total is exactly equal to the threshold, then nobody wins the scrum.
The winner selects one of the cards from the scrum and sets it next to them as a prize card. They may pick from any of the tipping point cards and any of the cards played. The remaining cards from the scrum are discarded.
If more than one player plays the same winning rank, then each of them counts as they each take the card that they played as a prize card.
This repeats until five scrums have been played, at which point the hand is over.
Example: [above] The two cards in the center are a 3 and an 8. So the tipping point is 11.
The total of all the cards played is 15 (=6+5+4). This is greater than the tipping point, so the lowest rank card (a 4) wins the trick. Bob takes a prize card and the remainder are set aside.
Note that it is possible for a trick to have no winner (if the cards played total to exactly the threshold) or even for every player to win a given trick (if everyone plays a card of the same rank). As such, the total prize cards won in a hand typically won't add up to five.
Scoring
At the end of the hand, you score one point for each suit symbol among your prize cards; that is, 1 point for each Ace or Crown and 2 points for each number card.
You score a 5 point bonus if every suit symbol appears at least once among your prize cards.
The maximum possible score for a hand is 15; that would require winning every scrum, taking five number-ranked prize cards, and getting the bonus.
The player to the dealer's left becomes the dealer for the next hand.
Credits
Design and development: P.D. Magnus, Cristyn Magnus
Links
- none