Trick-taking

In the trick-taking game Seas of Strife, formerly Texas Showdown, originally published as Strife, you want to avoid taking tricks as skillfully as you can, but playing off-suit might not keep you safe as the suit can change during the trick, possibly stinging you in the end.

Before play, all the cards are distributed evenly among the players. Once a player leads a single card for the first trick, all other players must play a card of the same suit, if possible. If a player can't play on suit, they can play a card of any color — but after they do this, all subsequent players can play a card of either matching color (or possibly a third color if they have neither of the first two).

Once all players have played to the trick, you see which color has been played most frequently in the trick. Whoever played the highest card of this color wins the trick. If two or more colors are tied, then the highest card counts as the winner.

You play several rounds until someone reaches the target number of tricks taken. At that point, whoever has captured the fewest tricks wins!

The card game Velonimo allows you to depict the merciless struggle in the animal world for the distinctive and highly prized "petits pois-carottes" jersey rewarded to the best climbing cyclist. This trick taking game features ultra simple rules for an absolutely addictive play experience.

Goal of the Game: Race to the summit to score as many points as possible and win the covered jersey. To win a race, you must be the first player to get rid of all your cards. Racer cards may be played alone or in specific combinations of the same color or same value. There are also breakaway specialist cards which work alone to speed ahead of the pack.

Victory: The game has 5 rounds, each representing the ascent of a different mountain summit by riders in a cycling race. To win the round, yo need to get rid of all of your cards before any other player. Even if you are not the winner, you can still score points for your position. Keep playing until there is only one player left. At the end of each round, the player with the highest points total is the leader and received the coveted jersey. The player who receives the jersey at the end of the last round, after the final scoring, is the winner.

Dragons compete in a variety of ways, but one of their favorite ways to compete is by playing trick-taking games.

In Wicked & Wise, players are either the dragons who are playing a trick-taking game OR they're a mouse allied with a particular dragon to help manipulate the trick-taking game. Over the course of three rounds, each team of mouse and dragon fight over tricks, treasures, and coins to see which team ends up on top!

The game isn't all about winning tricks; it's about setting goals and utilizing magical treasures. If you can make enough of your goals or sabotage enough of the other team's goals, you'll have the most coins at the end of the game and be crowned king of the caves!

—description from the publisher

Hidden somewhere along the tropical coastline, you'll find a charming little beach town called Twin Palms. Here you'll see dolphins jumping, lovers holding hands, and children playing in the sand...always in pairs.

Twin Palms is a beach-themed escape from your traditional trick-taking card game. At the start of each of the game's 5-8 rounds, you bid the number of tricks (0-5) you think you'll claim with the ten cards in your hand. Wait, ten cards = five tricks? Yes, because each time you play to a trick, you play two cards at once!

You play the game with 1-3 suits of cards depending on your desired level of difficulty and the number of players at the table; each suit has cards numbered 0-10 and a wild, with each card appearing twice. The strongest play is a pair of cards that are the same number, with high numbers beating low ones, and with palm trees beating dolphins, which beat sunglasses, which beat pairs that are of different suits. If no one plays a pair, then whoever played the highest single card wins the trick. After five tricks, you score points if you've met your bid exactly. (If you bid a non-zero number of tricks but missed, you still score 1 point per trick taken.)

What's more, if you want to play risky, you can place bets on your bids, giving you an additional way to win (or lose) points. Whoever has the most points after the designated number of rounds wins!

You want to become the new ruler of the Kingdom of 12. To do so, you use your magical orb. But to channel its power you will need the help of different characters throughout the kingdom.

In King of 12, each player plays with the same set of seven character cards. Each round, each player chooses one of these and plays it hidden to the table. When everyone did, they are revealed. If two or more players chose the same card, these cards are negated. Otherwise the cards effects are resolved. They affect each players magical orb - a d12. After all cards are resolved, the values of the dice are compared. If two players have the same value on their die, these are negated. Usually the remaining player with the highest value on his die wins the round and gets 2 points. The second most also gets 1 point. But in some cases the smallest value may win... When only one card is left, players compare their points. Players with the same amount of points negate each other, then the player with the most points wins the round. This player puts one of their cards aside and another round is played until one player must put a second card aside. This player wins the game.

A nice and highly interactive game of bluffing, mind reading and tactics. Easy to learn and fun to play.

Up to four games can be combined to play with up to 16 players.