Good Little Tricks
Good Little Tricks Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
The game contains 27 cards. The deck is made up of 6 coloured suits. The suits contain 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 cards respectively, and the cards in each suit are numbered sequentially (always starting at 1).
In addition to the cards, you will need paper and pencil or some other way to keep score.
Aim of the Game
The game is played over a fixed number of hands. Players will score points at the end of each hand, and the winner of the game will be the player with the lowest cumulative score at the end of the game.
Note: the source reads "the the winner"; corrected to "the winner" in this transcription.
How to Play
Good Little Tricks uses many of the conventions of standard trick-taking games such as Whist, so if you are familiar with these games, playing this game should be straightforward.
The main difference between Good Little Tricks and other trick-taking games is that the winner of each trick does not automatically claim the cards in the trick. Instead, all cards played in a trick are first put face up into a 'Display' beside the play area.
Then, before the next trick is played, the players look to see if all the cards of any suit are now in the Display. If they are, then the winner of the trick must claim all the cards in this suit (which will not necessarily be all the cards that were played in the trick).
At the end of each hand, each player scores a number of points equal to the number of cards they have claimed. However, if a single player claims all 27 cards they have 'swept the board' and each other player receives a penalty of 27 points.
Remember: It is the player with the lowest score at the end of the game who wins.
Game Length
The game is played over a fixed number of 'hands'. With 2 or 3 players, play two hands per player. With 4 or 5 players, play one hand per player.
- 2 players: Play 4 hands
- 3 players: Play 6 hands
- 4 players: Play 4 hands
- 5 players: Play 5 hands
Choose a player to shuffle and deal the cards in the first hand. The player to the dealer's left is always the start player and leads the first trick.
Players take turns clockwise to be the dealer during the game, so that all players are the start player and lead the first trick an equal number of times.
Changes for 2 players are explained below.
Dealing
At the start of each hand, the dealer shuffles all 27 cards and then deals them out evenly to the players so that each player receives the same number:
- 3 players: Each player receives 9 cards.
- 4 players: Each player receives 6 cards (3 spare).
- 5 players: Each player receives 5 cards (2 spare).
Put any spare cards face up in the Display beside the play area.
Note: the source reads "At the start of the each hand"; corrected to "At the start of each hand" in this transcription.
Adding cards to the Display
When cards are added to the Display, arrange them so that the cards of the same suit are placed together.
Overlay cards of the same suit in a vertical stack so that the numbers in the corner flashes are all visible.
Trumps
Unlike most regular trick-taking games, the suit that is trumps can change during the game, so watch out!
At any time, the trump suit is the smallest suit of which at least one card remains in the players' hands. Once all the cards in this suit have been played, the trump suit for the next hand shifts to the next smallest suit of which cards remain unplayed.
Therefore, at the start of a hand, the Orange suit will almost always be trumps, unless in a 4- or 5-player game both Orange cards were dealt to the Display. In this rare case, the Mauve suit will be trumps.
Playing Tricks
The player to the left of the dealer is the start player and leads the first trick.
When you lead a trick, choose one card from your hand and play it face up in front of you. You cannot lead a trump unless you only have cards of that suit in your hand and so have no other choice.
Going clockwise, each other player must now play one card in turn and must 'follow suit' if possible: that is, you must play a card of a suit that matches the suit of the card that was led.
If you cannot follow suit, you may play any other card from your hand, including a trump if you have one.
Once each player has played one card, the winner of the trick if determined. If no trump was played, the winner is the player who played the highest-valued card of the suit that was led. If one or more trumps were played, the winner is the player who played the highest trump.
Note: the source reads "the player who playe the highest-valued card"; corrected to "played" in this transcription.
After each trick, move all the cards played into the Display, arranging them by suit.
Claiming cards from the Display
After each trick, check whether any suit is 'complete': that is, whether all of its cards are now in the Display. The winner of the trick must claim all cards from every complete suit. Leave all cards of incomplete suits in the Display. Keep any cards you claim in front of you.
Note: the source reads "complate"; corrected to "complete" in this transcription.
Remember to keep track of which suit is trumps. The trump suit is always the smallest incomplete suit.
Leading the next trick
The winner of each trick must now lead the next trick.
Scoring
Continue playing until everyone has played all their cards and all cards have been claimed from the Display. Each player's score is equal to the number of cards they claimed during the hand. However, if any single player claimed all 27 cards they have 'swept the board': they receive no points, and each other player receives a penalty of 27 points.
Write down the scores, and keep track of each player's cumulative score from hand to hand. The game ends after the set number of hands have been played.
The player with the lowest total score is the winner.
Changes for 2 Players
Deal 9 cards face down to each player, plus 9 cards to an imaginary third player called the 'Dummy'. Place the Dummy's cards in a face-down stack between the players, as if the Dummy was seated to the dealer's left.
Note: the source reads "imagnar"; corrected to "imaginary" in this transcription.
Flip the top three cards from the Dummy's stack face up and arrange them, going from left to right, in suit order, starting with cards from the smallest suit and placing cards from larger suits to the right.
If there are 2 or 3 cards of a single suit, place the lower-valued cards first. Always keep the Dummy's face-up cards arranged in this way. This is the Dummy's 'line'. After each trick, flip a new card and add it to the line.
Playing Dummy cards
The Dummy takes their turn as if they were a third player, playing one card from the line automatically.
- The Dummy must follow suit if possible, and will always play the highest valued card of that suit if they have a choice.
- If the Dummy cannot follow suit, they always play the leftmost card in their line. Note: This card will be a trump if they have any face-up.
- The Dummy can win tricks and claim cards from complete suits in the Display just like a regular player. If they win a trick, they lead the next trick by playing the rightmost card in the line.