呪術トリック (Cursed Tricks)
呪術トリック (Cursed Tricks) Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
56 cards (1 to 14 in each of purple, green, red, and yellow; the art for the four 1 cards is slightly different).
The Idea of the Game
On their turn, players will play a card from their hand, and once everyone has, the player who played the highest value card of the lead suit wins the trick. Each round continues until players have played all of their cards, and players will earn points based upon the number of cards they have won. However, some players may earn less points due to curses. The game lasts over 4 rounds, and the player with the highest sum of points at the end wins.
Setup
When playing with 4 players, all cards are used. For a 3 player game, remove all cards of 1 color.
How to Play a Round
Choose a player to be the start player, and this person shuffles the cards, giving each player 13 cards. (Four cards are unused in a 4 player game, and three cards in a 3 player game.)
The start player may lead any card from their hand. The next player in clockwise order then plays a card, following the suit of the start player if possible.
Once each player has played a card, the trick is over and the player who played the highest value card of the lead suit wins the trick. However, if the 14 and the 1 of the lead suit were in the trick, the 1 wins the trick.
After the curse steps described below are resolved, the player who won the trick chooses a card from their hand and begins the next trick.
Curses
A "curse" is a face-up card in front of a player. There can be up to one of each color present on the table at any time. The card comes from having won a trick.
After cards have been played to a trick, first check to see if any player has broken a curse. If a player both follows suit and plays the lowest card of that suit to a trick, that player must remove one of their curses. This curse does not need to be the same color as the low card. The broken curse is added to the player's pile of cards won. The lead card of a trick cannot break a curse.
Special Case - The 1 cannot break a curse. (If the 1 and the 14 of a color are both played to a trick, no curse can be broken this trick, even by a 2.)
Next, examine the card which won the trick. If no player has a card of this color face up in front of them, the winning player separates this card from the trick they've won and leaves it face up. This is the curse card and will affect a player's score.
If any player does already have a card of that color as a curse in front of them, then the winner of the trick only takes a card from the trick as a curse if they won the trick with a higher valued card than the previous curse card. In this case, the player who previously held the curse card also adds their card to their pile of cards collected from winning tricks.
Special Case - If the current curse of a color is 13, for example, and a trick later contains both the 1 and the 14 of the color, the person who played the 1 will win the trick, but as 1 is less than 13, the winner does not take the curse from the player with the 13.
End of Round and Score Calculation
A round ends when either all players are out of cards or one player has collected 3 curses; then, scores are calculated.
The scoring depends on how many curses a player has in front of them:
- 0 Curses - The player earns 1 point per card taken. If a player wins no tricks, they earn 10 points (unless the round has ended prematurely. See below under 3 Curses.)
- 1 Curse - The player earns 0 points for cards that match the color of the curse, and 1 point for all other cards.
- 2 Curses - The player earns 0 points.
- 3 Curses - If a player collects 3 curses, the round ends immediately. That player earns -8 points, and all other players score normally; however, players who have not taken any tricks will score 0. (In a 3-player game, a player with 3 curses earns -6 points.) If a player collects 3 curses on the last trick of a round, the round still ends immediately, and a player who has taken no tricks will earn 0 points and not 10.
End of the Game
The game ends after 4 rounds, and the player with the most points wins.
Special Note
The original EN rules include a note from the designer stating that "I welcome those of you who would like to play my game with just a standard set of cards. Feel free to tell your friends about the rules. Of course, the reproduction of the game material in this box, or the art, is strictly forbidden. I just want to offer the right to use and share the rules of my game."
As a standard deck of cards is 13 ranks per suit rather than 14, each round is modified by being 1 trick shorter. The same number of cards are unused each round, and the Ace would beat the King.