Anansi
Anansi Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Components
- 42 Story cards — three suits, each numbered 1-14: Leopard, Hornet, Snake.
- 3 Trump cards.
- 15 Trickster Bonus cards — 5 of each value: 2, 4, and 7.
- 36 Follower cards — front: inspired; back: uninspired.
Setup
- Place the 36 Follower cards with the uninspired side face-up as a supply deck on the table.
- Place the 15 Trickster Bonus cards separated by their values next to the Follower cards.
- Place the 3 Trump cards randomly in a horizontal line face-up below. They form the trump display.
- Shuffle all Story cards and place them as a face-down deck in the center of the table.
Gameplay
Anansi is a trick-taking game played over 3 rounds.
Preparing a Round
At the beginning of each round, shuffle all Story cards. Draw the top 2 cards and place them face-up below the corresponding Trump card in the display.
Then deal the rest of the Story cards face-down depending on the number of players as follows:
- 3 players: deal 10 cards each. Put the 10 remaining cards face-up next to the trump display, so that each card is visible. These cards are common knowledge to all players and are out of the game for this round.
- 4 players: deal 10 cards each.
- 5 players: deal 8 cards each.
The players take their cards in hand. The number of cards per player determines the number of tricks played in each round.
The Trump Display
The suit with the most cards in the trump display is the current trump suit. In case of a tie, the trump suit is the leftmost of the suits involved. Make sure to place the cards in the trump display so that the number and values of the cards in each suit are visible.
Note: The trump suit may change during the game when more cards are added to the display.
Playing a Trick
In the first round the youngest player becomes the start player and leads the first trick.
When leading a trick you must choose any card from your hand and play it face-up in the center of the table.
In clockwise order, the other players must choose to add a card to the trick or to gain followers.
- Adding a card to the trick. You must play a card with the same suit as the led card from your hand face-up in the center of the table. Important: If you do not have any cards of that suit in hand, you must play a card of the trump suit. In case you have no trump suit card either, play a card of any suit.
- Gaining followers. Instead of adding a card to the trick you may play any card from your hand face-up to the table directly in front of you. Place it horizontally aligned to show that it is not part of the trick. Then take a number of Follower cards equal to the number of follower icons on the card you just played (2, 1, or none) from the supply deck and place them with the uninspired side face-up in front of you. Important: In a 3 or 4 player game, only 1 player per trick may choose to gain followers. In a 5 player game, up to 2 players per trick may gain followers. All other players must add a card to the trick. The player leading the trick may not gain followers!
Resolving a Trick
When each player has played a card to the trick or gained followers, the trick is resolved:
- If no trump was played, the highest card of the led suit wins the trick.
- If any cards of the trump suit have been played, the highest card of the trump suit wins the trick.
The player who played the winning card takes the trick and puts all cards played to that trick as a face-down story stack in front of them.
Important: Cards played to gain followers are not part of the trick and are not considered when resolving the trick!
If you take more than one trick in a round, make sure to keep all of your story stacks separate.
After resolving the trick, the player(s) who chose to gain followers add the card they just played to the trump display. Place them below the corresponding Trump card. This may change the trump suit for the next trick (see The Trump Display above)!
Then the player who took this trick leads the next trick.
Inspire Followers with Stories
At any time during a round, you can inspire followers with a story. To do so, flip a Follower card in front of you to the side showing the inspired face and put it on one of your story stacks. Only 1 Follower card may be attached to each story stack.
End of a Round
The round ends after resolving the trick in which all players played their last card in hand. Players may again inspire followers, if applicable, before the round is scored:
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If you have any followers that have not been inspired, i.e., more Follower cards than story stacks, then none of your followers are scored. Put all Follower cards you got in this round back to the supply.
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If you have inspired all your followers but have any story stacks without a Follower card attached, then you score your followers. Take all Follower cards you got in this round and set them aside on your scoring stack. Each of these Follower cards is worth 1 point at the end of the game.
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If you managed to inspire all your followers and have exactly as many Follower cards as story stacks, then you score your followers (see before). Additionally, you receive 1 Trickster Bonus card and put it on your scoring stack. The value of the Trickster Bonus card you take depends on the round:
Round Trickster Bonus value 1st round 2 points 2nd round 4 points 3rd round 7 points Important: Even if you have no Follower cards and no story stacks, you will still receive the Trickster Bonus card!
The player who won the last trick of the round will be the start player of the next round.
End of the Game
The game ends after the scoring of the 3rd round. All players then count the points on their scoring stacks (the number of Follower cards plus their points on Trickster Bonus cards). The player with the most points wins the game. In case of a tie, the tied player who has the most Follower cards wins. If there is still a tie, all tied players share the victory.
Download
Visit HeidelBÄR Games online (heidelbaer.de/en/anansi-en/) for variants and more information:
- Anansi the Trickster
- Solo Rules
- Two-Player Rules
- Variant: Race for Points
Credits
Game Design: Cyril Blondel & Jim Dratwa Artwork: Dayo Baiyegunhi, Emmanuel Mdlalose Graphic Design: Annika Brüning Editing: Matthias Wagner Producer: Heiko Eller-Bilz Additional Support: Marina Fahrenbach, Roland Goslar, Sabine Machaczek Proofreading: Chris Baylis, Autumn Collier Thanks to: all our friends and playtesters
Words of thanks by the designers: Heartfelt thanks to the playtester friends, parents, partners and children first, those who love games and life, comrades of an evening and of always, companions of each festival (with a joyful thought for Ludix where we met ten years ago, way before winning it with this very game) and fellow artists, authors and publishers (with a joyful thought for the amazing team at HeidelBÄR, who have made it possible as it is). The game as human adventure, as opening up of the space of possibilities, meeting of the other, joint engagement, shared pleasure. Re-enchanting, reinventing, remaking the world. To life, to each moment, to eternity! — Jim & Cyril