Trick to the Future
Trick to the Future Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
2-5 players, 40 minutes, ages 12+, competitive.
Trick to the Future is a time travel trick-taking game where you can spend fuel to change the value of your cards. Each trick you win represents a successful time jump, earning you points. You can also receive bonus points for collecting spent fuel rods. However, if the number of tricks you win during a round is greater than the number of unspent fuel you have remaining at the end of the round, you will be lost in time and score no points. After 3 rounds, the time traveler with the most points wins!
Components
- 36 playing cards: 0-8 in 4 suits (Past, Present, Future, and Beyond; Beyond is the Trump suit). Colors: Past is yellow, Present is brown, Future is blue, Beyond is purple.
- 5 player boards (Temporal Transistors)
- 25 fuel rods
- 54 point tokens (1s, 5s, and 10s)
Setup
- Create a pile of point tokens off to one side of the play area.
- Give each player a player board.
- Prepare the deck (summarized on the back of the rulebook):
- For a 2-player game, return all purple "Beyond" suited cards to the box.
- For a 2- or 3-player game, return the 4, 6, and 8 cards of each suit to the box.
- For a 4-player game, use all 36 playing cards.
- For a 5-player game, return the yellow 1 to the box.
- Shuffle the deck of playing cards and deal each player a hand of cards as shown in the table below.
- Give each player a number of fuel rods to place on their player board as shown in the table below.
- The player with the yellow 0 of the "Past" suit in their hand will lead the first trick.
| Players | Cards per Player | Fuel Rods per Player |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | 8 | 5 |
| 4 | 9 | 6 |
| 5 | 7 | 5 |
Playing with 2 Players
In a game with 2 players, there will be 6 undealt cards. If neither player has the yellow 0 in their hand, the player with the lowest yellow card in their hand will lead the first trick. With the purple suit removed, there is no trump suit, so the highest card of the lead suit will always win each trick.
Note: Keep your hand of cards private.
Gameplay
The game consists of 3 rounds of trick-taking and scoring. During each trick, you must "follow suit," if possible. Additionally, when you play a card, you may choose to modify its value by placing fuel rods from your player board onto the card. The spent fuel rods will be collected by the winner of the trick. When all players are out of cards, you score points and the round ends. After 3 rounds, the game ends.
Trick-Taking
LEAD: Once the cards have been dealt, the player with the yellow 0 in their hand leads the first trick of the round by playing any card from their hand face up to the center of the table.
FOLLOW: In clockwise order, each other player must "follow suit" by playing a card that matches the suit of the lead card, if possible. If a player cannot follow suit, they may play any card from their hand.
DECIDE THE WINNER: Once everyone has played a card, the trick winner is determined as follows:
- The highest trump card wins the trick. The purple "Beyond" suit is trump.
- If no trump card was played, the highest card of the lead suit wins the trick.
- In the event of a tie, the card played later wins the trick.
The winner of the trick collects all of the played cards and any spent fuel rods from the trick. They place the cards in a face-down stack to the right of their player board, with the collected fuel rods on top (not on their player board). If you win multiple tricks, create separate piles, since you need to count how many tricks you have won. Finally, the trick winner leads the next trick, again playing any card from their hand. Continue playing tricks until all players are out of cards, then proceed to round scoring.
Fuel Rods and Card Values
The digital numbers in the game are as follows: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9.
When you play a card, you may choose to modify its value by rotating it and/or by placing unspent fuel rods from your player board onto the card. The numbers along the edge of each card show what it can become. After modifying a card, the resulting card value must match one of these numbers exactly.
Examples:
- Using three fuel rods, a 7 can become a 0.
- Rotating a 6 makes it a 9.
- Rotating a 3 and adding a fuel rod can turn it into a 6.
Trick-Taking Examples
Example 1:
- Sherman leads the trick by playing a blue 7.
- Bill must follow suit and play a blue Future card, if possible, so he plays a blue 8.
- Ted doesn't have any blue cards in his hand, so he decides to play a yellow 9.
- Peabody also has no blue cards in his hand. He decides to play a purple 3.
- Since purple is the trump suit, Peabody wins the trick for playing the highest card of the trump suit. He will lead the next trick, but first he places all 4 cards from the trick in a face-down pile beside his player board.
Example 2:
- Peabody plays a brown 5 to lead the next trick.
- Sherman plays a brown 0 and decides to place one of his fuel rods on the card, turning it into an 8.
- Bill has the brown 6, but he decides to rotate it and play it as a 9.
- Finally, Ted plays a brown 4 and decides to place 2 of his fuel rods onto the card, creating another brown 9.
- Since no trump card was played, the highest card matching the lead suit (brown in this case) will win. Bill and Ted both played a brown 9, but Ted played his card later, so Ted wins the trick. He places the 4 cards and 3 fuel rods from the trick beside his player board and leads the next trick.
Round Scoring
Once all players are out of cards, each player counts the number of tricks they won this round and compares that to the number of unspent fuel rods remaining on their player board. Then each player scores points for the round. See the Round Scoring chart below, and the back of the rulebook.
LOST IN TIME: If the amount of unspent fuel remaining on your player board is less than the amount of tricks you won this round, you are "lost in time" and score 0 points.
SAFE JOURNEY: Otherwise, you score 2 points for each trick you won and an additional 1 point for each spent fuel rod you collected on your "safe journey."
PERFECT JOURNEY: If the number of tricks you won is exactly equal to the amount of unspent fuel you have remaining, you score double points for completing a "perfect journey!"
INOPERATIVE: Finally, if you win 0 tricks in a round, you have an "inoperative" time machine. In this case, you score points for "selling fuel" to other players, earning 3 points per empty fuel space on your player board. This includes all fuel spaces, even the one that begins empty in a 3- or 5-player game.
RESET ROUND: Once you have calculated your score for the round, take point tokens to keep track of your total score for the game. After all players have scored, reshuffle the deck and play another round. Redistribute the cards and fuel rods as described in Setup. As before, the player with the yellow 0 will lead the first trick of the new round.
| Result | Condition | Points |
|---|---|---|
| LOST IN TIME | Unspent fuel < tricks won | 0 points |
| SAFE JOURNEY | Unspent fuel > tricks won | 2 points per trick won; 1 point per spent fuel rod collected |
| PERFECT JOURNEY (Double Points!) | Unspent fuel = tricks won exactly | 4 points per trick won; 2 points per spent fuel rod collected |
| INOPERATIVE | 0 tricks won | 3 points per empty fuel space on your player board |
Game End
After the third round, the game ends. Count up the points from all of your point tokens. The player with the most points wins! In the case of a tie, the tied player who scored the most points in the final round wins. If the tie persists, the tied players share the victory.
Scoring Examples
Safe Journey (rewards 2 points per trick won and 1 point per spent fuel rod collected). This round, Peabody has 4 unspent fuel rods remaining on his player board. He won 3 tricks and collected 4 spent fuel rods. For this safe journey, Peabody scores 10 points. 3 tricks won x 2 = 6; 4 fuel rods collected x 1 = 4; total 10.
Perfect Journey (rewards 4 points per trick won and 2 points per spent fuel rod collected). Sherman has 2 unspent fuel, and he collected 2 tricks and 3 spent fuel rods during the round. For a safe journey, this would score 7 points, but since Sherman's remaining fuel exactly matches the number of tricks he won, his score is doubled for a total of 14 points. 2 tricks won x 4 = 8; 3 fuel rods collected x 2 = 6; total 14.
Lost in Time (0 points). Bill won 4 tricks this round, but he only has 3 remaining fuel on his player board. Without enough fuel to return home, Bill is lost in time and scores 0 points for the round.
Inoperative (rewards 3 points per empty fuel space on your player board). Ted won 0 tricks this round. For his inoperative time machine, Ted scores 3 points for each empty fuel space on his player board. With 2 remaining fuel, he has 4 empty fuel spaces. Ted scores 12 points. Excellent! 4 empty fuel spaces x 3 = 12.
Quick Setup
| Players | Return to the Box | Cards per Player | Fuel Rods per Player |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Purple "Beyond" suit and all 4s, 6s, and 8s | 6 | 6 |
| 3 | All 4s, 6s, and 8s | 8 | 5 |
| 4 | None (use all 36 cards) | 9 | 6 |
| 5 | Yellow 1 of the "Past" | 7 | 5 |