Tezuma Trick
Tezuma Trick Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Tezuma is a traditional Japanese magic performance, involving sleight of hand and using a variety of props: paper butterflies, Chinese umbrellas, fans, and masks.
The leader of your Tezuma troupe has retired, leaving a vacancy. You and your fellow magicians must now put on a performance and whoever impresses the audience the most will be selected to lead the troupe going forward.
Components
- 36 Number Cards (9 cards numbered 1-9 in 4 suits)
- 12 Trump Cards (3 cards in each of the 4 suits)
- 4 Pain Suit Cards (1 card in each of the 4 suits)
- 8 Bidding Cards
- 12 Ability Cards
- 12 Ability Gems
Game Overview
Tezuma Trick is a must-follow trick taking game. In turn order, each player will play one card face up to the table. The lead player may choose any card from their hand to play, and the remaining players must play the same suit from their hand if they have it. If a player cannot follow suit, they may play any card from their hand. The trick is evaluated, and the winner takes the cards played and places them as a face-down stack in front of themself, keeping separate stacks for each trick won. The winning player then leads the next trick. This continues until all cards are played, at which point players will determine if they met their bid, scoring points if they succeeded. Cards are then shuffled and redealt, and hands are played in this way equal to the number of players. The player with the highest score at the end of the game is the winner.
While similar to many other trick taking games, there are a few things that make Tezuma Trick special:
- There is no dedicated trump suit. Instead, each suit has three numberless trump cards that are equal to 0 if they follow, but when played off-suit they act as trump.
- Instead of declaring a bid, players draft Bid cards which will (in most cases) give the player a range of bids they can hit.
- Players will draft Pain Suit cards. If a player wins any cards in tricks that match that suit, they will score negative points for those cards.
- Players will draft Ability cards, which can be used 1, 2, or 4 times (depending on the Ability) over the course of the hand to allow players to break rules if the right conditions present themselves.
Game Setup
- Place the 4 Pain Suit cards face up in the center of the table.
- Shuffle the Bid cards and deal five face up to the center of the table. In a 3-player game, deal four cards.
- Shuffle the Ability cards and deal five face up to the center of the table. In a 3-player game, deal four cards.
- Shuffle all of the Number and Trump cards together and deal 12 cards face down to each player. In a 3-player game, first remove the 1, 9, and one Trump card from each suit.
- Place the Ability gems on the table within reach of the players.
- You will need pen and paper or another way to keep score between rounds.
Hand Preparation
The player to the left of the dealer is the first start player.
Before the hand is played, each player will choose one Pain Suit card, one Ability card, and one Bid card.
In turn order, beginning with the start player, players will select one of the three types of cards. Players do not need to choose the same type as the player before them. Once each player has one card selected, the player who chose last will choose another type of card and the drafting will proceed in reverse turn order. Once all players have two cards, the start player will then take the third type of card and the draft proceeds in turn order. Once all players have all three types of cards, the hand begins.
Put unchosen Ability and Scoring cards off to the side.
Playing Tricks
As explained in the Game Overview section, Tezuma Trick is a must-follow trick taking game.
Once each player has played a card to the trick, you determine who won the trick.
First, check to see if an effective Trump card has been played (see Trump Cards section for more details). If so, the first player to have played an effective Trump wins the trick.
If no effective Trump has been played, the highest card of the led suit wins the trick.
The winning player takes all cards from the trick and places them in a stack in front of them, keeping stacks from other tricks separate in order to easily track how many tricks they have won by the end of the hand. You may not check the cards in the tricks you've won.
The winner of the trick leads a card to the next trick.
Trick Examples
- Player A is the lead player. All players followed suit, so the winner is the player who played the highest number (Player A).
- Player A is the lead player. Player B played the highest value card, but did not follow suit. Player D played a Trump card, but as it was following suit, it was an ineffective Trump. Player C wins with the highest on-suit card.
- Player A is the lead player. Player B does not have any cards of the led suit, and plays an off-suit Trump, which is effective. Player C follows the led suit with an ineffective Trump card. Player D also plays an off-suit Trump card, but because they were later in turn order, Player B wins.
Trump Cards
In addition to Number cards, each suit also has Trump cards, which do not have any numbers on them. You cannot win a trick if you follow suit with a Trump card (it is effectively a 0 in that suit). That Trump card is considered ineffective.
However, if you cannot follow suit, you may play a Trump card of a different suit. An off-suit Trump card is considered effective. The first effective Trump played in a trick will win the trick.
It is possible that a Trump card is played by the lead player. Since it is technically on-suit and ineffective, it would not win if any other player follows with a Number card of the same suit. However, if only other Trump of that suit or off-suit Number cards are played, that led Trump would win the trick.
Note: Must-follow does apply to Trump cards too. If the only card you have in a suit is Trump, you must play it if that suit is led. However, since you are following, it is ineffective. Also, you can only play an off-suit Trump card if you are not capable of following suit.
Ability Cards
Players may use their chosen Ability Card when they play into the trick. Abilities may be used once, twice, or four times over the course of a hand, depending on how many circles are on the card. To use an ability card, place one of the gems from the supply on one of the circles on the card and say out loud what the ability is so that the other players know.
End of Hand and Scoring
Once all 12 tricks have been played, players check how many tricks they won and compare it to their Scoring card drafted at the beginning of the hand. If the number of tricks taken matches one of the numbers on the left of the scoring card, they score the number of points to the right of that number.
Players then check to see how many negative points they took during tricks from cards that match their Pain Suit drafted at the beginning of the hand. Subtract these points from the points earned from the Scoring card. You cannot score less than 0, so if your score is negative, consider it to be 0.
Example: The player had drafted a card (range 4 to 6 tricks, scoring 5 points) and wound up taking 5 tricks. They will score 5 points, minus any cards in their pain suit. If they scored fewer than 4 or more than 6, they would score 0 points.
You will need to write the scores down on a piece of paper or use your own chips or tokens to track the scores over the course of the game.
Once scores have been recorded, reset the game as outlined in the Game Setup section, but use the same 5 Ability and 5 Scoring cards that were previously dealt during Setup.
If you prefer more variance between rounds, you can shuffle all of the Ability and Scoring cards and deal out 5 new ones of each for every hand. Just keep in mind that this may slow down the game as players will need to relearn the options every hand.
End of Game
Play hands equal to the number of players. After scoring the last hand, the player with the most points is the winner of the game! In case of a tie, players share the victory.
Ability Card Details
Sword Walking - 4 uses. You may trigger this ability to win a trick even if you were not the first to play an effective Trump or if someone has created a situation where there are multiple highest-value number cards (due to another Ability in play).
Butterfly Dance - 2 uses. Your trump card becomes effective even if it follows suit. You may not use this ability if you are the lead player.
Linking Ring - 2 uses. You may play a card of any suit even if you have a card of the led suit. If you play a Trump card, it becomes effective.
Cup and Ball - 2 uses. The card you play is considered to be the same suit as the lead player, even if it is not. You may use this ability to play an off-suit card and consider it on-suit even if you have cards of the led suit in your hand. If you play an off-suit Trump card, it is considered ineffective.
Fire Breathing - 2 uses. You can play 2 Number cards (no Trump) of the same suit and add the numbers together. If using this ability results in multiple cards having the highest value, the first player to have played that value wins. After the winner of the trick is determined, return the lower value card you played to your hand.
Paper Egg - 4 uses. Announce that you are using this ability before you play your card. You will then play your card after all other players have played. You cannot use this ability if you are the lead player.
Water Trick - 2 uses. This Ability is active for ALL players for the current trick. It makes all Trumps ineffective, even if they are off-suit.
Chicks - 2 uses. Regardless of who wins the trick, you will be the next lead player.
Pail Dance - 2 uses. Regardless of who wins the trick, the player on your left will be the next lead player.
Horse-Swallowing - 2 uses. Add "2" to the value of your card. If using this ability results in multiple cards having the highest value, the first player to have played that value wins. You may use this to make an ineffective Trump have a value of 2.
Many Umbrellas - 2 uses. If you play a 4 or 5, you may double the number, making it an 8 or 10. If using this ability results in multiple cards having the highest value, the first player to have played that value wins.
Five-Color Sand - 1 use. You win the trick without playing a card. If you use this ability, you will end the hand with 1 extra card. It is disregarded during scoring. If you are the lead player, the player to the left may play any card and other players must follow that suit.
Note: If both Water Trick and Butterfly Dance are triggered in the same trick, Butterfly Dance takes precedence regardless of the order in which they were triggered.