Rewind
Rewind Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents & Materials Needed
- A Deck of 52 Cards, 1-13 in Four Suits
- The "Rewind" Game Board (Flat Copies Can Be Printed from BGG)
- 1 Track Token (Black Lightning Bolt Token)
- 13 Markers Per Player (Not Included in Some Copies of the Game)
- This Rules Sheet
The Concept
In this must-follow and fixed-trump trick-taking game, players will play the same hand of cards twice, trying to earn the same placement in each trick both times. The twist is that the game is played in rewind, so that final trick in the first hand is the first trick in the second hand!
Set Up
In a four-player game, shuffle all 52 cards and deal them evenly between players. In the 3-player game, remove one of the suits (other than cassettes), shuffle the remaining 39 cards, and deal them evenly between players. Each player should have 13 cards. Put the board in the middle of the table, and give each player their markers.
The Trick-taking Game
Round I
The player to the left of the dealer starts the hand. They play a card of their choosing into the trick. Players then play into this trick in clockwise order. Each player will play one card on their turn, and they must follow suit if they can. If they cannot follow suit, they can play any card.
Players leave the cards they played in front of themselves and mark on the game board grid where they placed in the trick. (The fourth row has no function in the 3-player game.)
The cassettes suit (blue) is always trump. The rank of cards is first determined by the highest of the trump suit, then the suit led, then the other suits. If cards ever have a tied rank (because players played equal numbers that are of non-trump and non-led suits), the placement of all tied players is chosen by the last player to play into the tie.
The winner of the trick will lead the next trick. Players keep their hand of cards for Round II. (This means players do not give the player winning a trick all of its cards, which is the norm in trick-taking games.) It is helpful to turn already-played cards facedown. Play will continue until all cards have been played.
Round II
Players pick up their hand of cards: it is time for a rewind! The lowest placing player in the final trick of Round I starts Round II. The trick play is the same, except now players are aiming to have the same placement in each trick as they did in Round I. They can play any card on their turn, but must still follow the suit led (if they can). The catch is that the game is played in reverse, so that the 13th trick from Round I is the first trick from Round II. Players can use the included track token to track which trick they are on (or they can just count the number of cards remaining in hand).
If a player earns the same placement, they take their marker off the board; otherwise, they leave it. The highest placing player (if any) that picks up their marker can put it in the tiebreaker area. Play continues until all cards have been played.
Scoring
Markers remaining on first-place placements are worth two points. Markers remaining on second-, third-, and fourth-place placements are worth one point. The low score wins, so players should avoid points. In the event of a tie, the player with the most markers in the tiebreaker area wins the tie. If there is still a tie, victory is shared among the tied players.
Additional Hands and Victory Condition
This game is intended to be played once forward and once in rewind. For a longer version of the game, players can do this two, three, or four times, writing down scores and tie-breaking points after each Round II. The cards should be shuffled and re-dealt after Round II.
Frequently Asked Questions and Insights on the Game
Do I have to show other players the cards I have already played in prior tricks? Can I look through my stack of cards played? Play however you'd like, if you agree in advance. As a default rule, the answer is "no," you do not have to show other players the cards you have already played, but "yes," you can look. Allowing the former can really slow down the game.
Round I just feels like set up? It might feel like that the first few times you play, but experienced players will try to strategically make their Round I placements by predicting what will happen in Round II. As a thought experiment (which you can play as a real experiment), if you can randomly place markers and only play Round II, you'll likely find the game to be much more chaotic.
Why is a first-place marker worth 2 points but the others are worth 1 point? It is far easier to plan to get first place in a trick than to get second, third, or fourth. To compensate for that easier play, there is a larger penalty for missing it. Having it be worth different points also prevents score clumping.
Where did the idea come from? I designed this when working on my set of Hearts variants called "Change of Heart." I ultimately did not think it had much in common with Hearts, so I removed it from the set. Nonetheless, I loved the design. A hand of cards is a magical thing, because the order in which they are played has tremendous influence on the outcome of the game. I hope this game shows the beauty in that concept.
One of the things trick-taking designers spend considerable time thinking about is how to mitigate the randomness of a deal of cards. Here, having a bad hand (i.e. a hand where one won't win many tricks) can be mitigated by just aiming for lower placements in Round I and achieving them in Round II. A strong hand (i.e. a hand where one can win plenty of tricks) is not really at an advantage in Rewind. In fact, because of first-place placements being worth 2 points, it is a riskier hand of cards to have.