Tricky Traps
Tricky Traps Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
This rule sheet, a score pad and 50 cards numbered 10 to 59, broken into 5 Trap types (colours): 10s, 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s.
Each card shows:
- Points (top left)
- Trap type and range (top right, e.g. Blue/Lure, 10-19)
- Strength (the printed number, e.g. 18)
- Players (bottom left, the player-count number used during setup)
Setup
Before shuffling, remove cards from the deck based on the number of players. (Use the full deck with 5 players.)
- 5 players: Deck of 50 — use the full deck.
- 4 players: Deck of 40 — remove card 50.
- 3 players: Deck of 28 — remove cards 7, 8, 9 and 50.
- 2 players: Deck of 20 — remove cards 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 50.
Player count numbers are printed at the bottom of each card to help sort them faster. If you see your player count number on a card, add it to the deck.
Goal of the Game
Score the most points.
Sounds easy, but two things are going to make it tricky:
- Only your lowest card in each colour scores.
- Consecutive cards (within each colour) are cancelled.
How to Play
Tricky Traps is played over 3 rounds, with each round consisting of 8 tricks. At the start of each round, you will build your hand of 9 cards as follows:
First game? Teaching new players? Feel free to skip these steps and simply deal 9 cards to each player. After a few games, players will have a better understanding of which cards they may want to keep during this draft.
- Shuffle the deck you created for your player count, and deal 9 cards to each player. Discard the remaining cards without anyone seeing them.
- Each player simultaneously picks 3 of these cards to keep, and passes the remaining 6 to the player on their left.
- From the 6 cards they received (from the player on their right), each player picks another 3 to keep, and passes the last 3 to their left.
Each player will again have 9 cards in hand: 6 they have chosen, and the final 3 that were passed to them.
Note! Only 8 of these 9 cards will be played.
Starting a Round
In the first round, the player who read the rules (or explained the game) starts the first trick. In rounds 2 and 3, the player with the highest total score starts the first trick. In case of a tie, use any method of your choice to determine which of the tied players starts the first trick.
Tricks are played in clockwise order, and the trick ends when each person has played one card.
Taking a Turn
On your turn, play any card from your hand faceup on the table. You do not need to follow the Trap type (colour) of any previously played card.
Winning a Trick
The person who played the card with the highest number wins the trick, moves those cards to their personal Scoring Area (explained below) and starts the next trick.
Note! The last card in hand is NOT played.
End of the Round
After playing 8 tricks, each players' 9th card is discarded, the round ends, and scoring takes place.
Personal Scoring Area
Each player must keep all won cards visible, organized by Trap type (colour).
Scoring Rules
Scoring Zone — Only the lowest single card of each colour scores points.
Danger Zone — Cards that are not the lowest of their colour do not score (but could in the future).
Trapped Zone — Consecutive cards of each colour are cancelled and do not score.
Example of a player's Scoring Area in a 4-player game: the 10s pile has 13 (Scoring Zone) and 15, 18 (Danger Zone); the 20s pile has 22, 23, 24 (Trapped Zone); the 30s pile has 39 (Scoring Zone); the 40s pile has 40 (Scoring Zone) and 44 (Danger Zone), and 47, 48 (Trapped Zone).
- Scoring Zone: 13, 39, and 40 are the lowest cards in their colour. They score 3, 9 and 0 points. Total: 12 points. You can score a maximum of one card per colour, per round.
- Danger Zone: 15, 18, and 44 are not the lowest cards in their colour and therefore do not score.
- Trapped Zone: 22, 23, and 24 are consecutive cards, as are 47 and 48, so they do not score. Cards 39 and 40 are not cancelled for being consecutive, because they belong to different colours!
Interactions
When winning a trick and adding new cards to your personal Scoring Area, consider all interactions between new and old cards. New cards often require old ones to be moved from one zone to another. (However, once cards are in the Trapped Zone, they can no longer change zones.) Pay special attention to cards in the Trapped Zone—they may be consecutive to newer cards, pulling them down to the Trapped Zone as well!
Example
Starting Scoring Area: 10s has 13 (Scoring Zone) and 15, 18 (Danger Zone); 20s has 22, 23, 24 (Trapped Zone); 30s has 39 (Scoring Zone); 40s has 40 (Scoring Zone) and 44 (Danger Zone), 47, 48 (Trapped Zone).
A player wins tricks containing 10, 28, 38 and 41 in turn:
- 10 enters the Scoring Zone as the lowest blue card, pushing card 13 to the Danger Zone. (When scoring, this would be a loss of 3 points.)
- 28 enters the Scoring Zone as the lowest yellow card, since the other lower yellow cards are consecutive, and were sent to the Trapped Zone. (When scoring, this would be a gain of 8 points.)
- 38 is consecutive to 39, so both cards move to the Trapped Zone, leaving the green Scoring Zone empty. (When scoring, this would be a loss of 9 points.)
- 41 is consecutive to 40, so both cards move to the Trapped Zone. Then 44 moves up to the Scoring Zone as it is now the lowest (non-consecutive) purple card. (When scoring, this would be a gain of 4 points.)
Reminder! The last card in hand is NOT played.
Scoring
At the end of the round, record each player's points from their Scoring Zone on the score pad. Prepare the deck for the next round by collecting all cards from each player's Scoring Area, along with the cards previously set aside (for your player count), and shuffle them together before dealing 9 cards to each player. After the third round, the game ends.
End of the Game
After three rounds, total each player's score. The player with the most points wins! In case of a tie, play a tiebreaker round—or if you're scared of losing to someone else, share the victory.
4-Player Team Mode
Raise the stakes as you balance trapping your opponents with supporting your teammate.
- Standard rules apply.
- Sit opposite your teammate (not next to them).
- Each player scores individually, then team scores are combined.
- In rounds 2 and 3, the highest-scoring player on the highest-scoring team starts the first trick.
- After three rounds, the team with the highest score wins. In case of a tie, play a tiebreaker round.
"Table talk" (communication between players) is allowed, and encouraged, unless agreed otherwise.