----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+ TRICKY ====== A trick-taking dice game for two to five players by Clark D. Rodeffer, February 2006, submitted as an entry for the 2006 Game Design Competition sponsored by About Board Games and GameTable Online. GOAL & SUMMARY ============== The goal of Tricky is to score the most points over a series of hands by bidding for the right to name trump, then winning tricks. Game is 1000 points times the number of players. EQUIPMENT ========= Each player needs three sets of common "role playing" dice. That is, each player needs 3d4, 3d6, 3d8, 3d10, 3d12 and 3d20. Colors and styles don't matter, but uniform dice for each player makes end-of-hand sorting easier. Players also need something to use as screens (such as open books or folded cardboard) to hide their hands of unplayed dice. One player also needs pencil and paper to keep track of bids and scores. Optionally, players may agree to use extra sets of 4d10 (ones, tens, hundreds and thousands digits) as play aids to track running point totals after each trick. ORDER OF PLAY ============= Tricky is played over a series of hands, and each player starts each hand with 3d4, 3d6, 3d8, 3d10, 3d12 and 3d20. Hands proceed in four stages: ROLLING, BIDDING, TRICKS and SCORING. 1. ROLLING. Each player rolls all 18 dice behind a screen so no other player can see their values. The players then have one chance to re-roll any or all of their dice. Each player must announce how many dice are being re-rolled, and all of them must be rolled at the same time. Thereafter, the dice values remain fixed. 2. BIDDING. The player who scored the most points in the previous hand bids first. If this is the first hand of the game, the youngest player bids first. Going around clockwise in turns, players bid the number of points they think they will win in tricks and for the right to name a number as trump. The minimum opening bid is 30 points times the number of players. Each subsequent bid must exceed the highest previous bid by at least as many points as there are players. Any player may pass instead of bidding, and may re-enter the bidding in a later round without penalty. If no players wish to make an opening bid, all players lose 20 points, and a new hand is started with the same first bidder. Bidding ends when all players but the highest bidder have passed in succession. At that point, the highest bidder may name any number from one to 20 as trump, or optionally declare that there will be no trump for this hand. 3. TRICKS. The player who won the last trick leads (plays first) to this trick, or, if this is the first trick of the hand, the highest bidder leads first. Going clockwise in turns, players place any two dice from their hands in front of their screens, being careful not to change their values. Players are under no compulsion to try to win tricks, but, if possible, one of the two dice played to a trick by each player must match one of the two dice played by the leader. After all players have placed their dice, the values are compared to determine who won the trick. If no dice showing the trump number were played, or if there is no trump for this hand, the player whose pair of dice had the highest total value wins the trick. In case of a tie, the player who played earliest wins the trick. If any dice showing the trump number were played, one of the players who played a trump will win the trick. Among them, the player whose second die was also a trump wins the trick. If no player played two trumps, then the player whose second die had the highest number wins the trick. In a tie, the player whose trump die had the most faces wins the trick. Should the tie continue, the player whose second die had the fewest faces wins the trick. Finally, if there is still a tie, the player who played earliest wins the trick. Being careful not to change their values, dice won in the trick are collected near the player who won them, and are left exposed for all to see throughout the remainder of the hand. After all nine tricks are won, scoring begins. 4. SCORING. First, players total the number of points showing on all the dice they took in tricks. If the highest bidder won at least as many points as were bid, he or she scores the number bid (NOTE: not the number of points won) times either the trump number or the number of players, whichever is greater. All the other players individually score as many points as they each took in tricks. If the highest bidder did not win at least as many points as were bid, he or she scores nothing, and all the other players individually score one and a half times as many points as they each took in tricks, rounding down. After scores for the hand are recorded, all the dice are sorted so that each player has 3d4, 3d6, 3d8, 3d10, 3d12 and 3d20 before starting the next hand. The first player to score at least 1000 times the number of players in points wins. If more than one player exceeds the winning total in a given hand, the highest bidder for that hand wins. If none of the players who exceeded the winning total was the highest bidder for that hand, the player who scored the highest wins. If there is still a tie, additional hands are played until there is a clear winner. PLAY TEST TEAM ============== Matt Arnold, Don Beyer, Stephen Beyer, Amanda Rodeffer, David Whitcher