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BrigandsA trick card game about brigandage for 2 - 6 players.
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- 2024
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- Type:
- Trick / Trick Avoidance
- Players:
- Difficulty:
- Ext. Diff.:
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- Version
- 1.0
- Updated on
- 23 Apr 2024
- In Finnish:
- Maantierosvot
- Sibling games:
- Mexican Standoff, Amish Lords, Round Robbin', Scavengers
- Table of contents
- Optional rules:
Extensions
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BASICS
REQUIREMENTS
- 2 - 5 players. Supports 6 players with slight adjustments.
- A normal deck of 52 playing cards. (Optionally 1 - 3 jokers.)
BASIC IDEA
The game has 4 sub variations depending on which suit (♤, ♧, ♥, ♦) is removed from the deck.
- One suit is removed from the deck as rewards / penalties, and accordingly the brigands (players) hunt for them (if red) or avoid them (if black).
- The diamond (♦) and club (♧) games have winners (= most rewards / fewest penalties), while hearts (♥) and spades (♤) losers (= fewest rewards / most penalties).
- Each round is played as two sets of 7 tricks and each player gets 7 hand cards per set. The winner of the trick collects the reward / penalty.
- In the 1st set 6 rewards / penalties are revealed (= placed face up overlapping each other), and then played for one by one. The last trick has no reward / penalty.
- In the 2nd set, the remaining 7 rewards / penalties are revealed and played for, and then the round ends.
- The player with the most/fewest rewards/penalties (face cards being worth 2, and aces 3) gets a win/loss. The game is usually played for 3 wins/losses.
LAYOUT & START UP
The players are positioned into a ring, and one player chosen as the first dealer.
- The players decide whether to play for wins (♦ and ♧) or losses (♥ and ♤), and how many (usually 3). The dealer decides the colour: rewards or penalties.
- The dealer (removes the excluded suit) and deals each player 7 hand cards and puts the deck aside. The player on the dealer's left starts the first trick.
- With 2 - 4 players, or 5 players and at least 1 joker, each player can first discard one hand card and draw a new one (in free order) before the set starts.
- With 6 players, can either include 3 jokers (see Joker's Trick extension) and play normally, or play the sets with 6 hand cards each. (Either way, no exchange.)
- After the 1st set, the player on the right of the last winner deals the 2nd set (so the last winner starts it). In the 2nd dealing, the remaining deck is first dealt and then the played cards are shuffled into a new deck to finish the dealing (unless just 2 players) - the players may then again exchange one card.
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PLAYING
LINE OF REWARDS / PENALTIES
The game is played in 2 sets. In the 1st set there are 6 cards of the excluded suit face up overlapping each other, in the 2nd set 7 cards.
- The rewards / penalties are played for one by one starting from the top. The winner of the trick collects the card face up in front of him.
- The last trick of the 1st set has no reward/penalty, but only determines who starts the next trick - and thus who deals: the player on his right.
- With 6 players (and no jokers), there are 6 cards for each set and no empty tricks. The player who wins the last trick of the 2nd set gets the 2 last cards.
PLAYING TRICKS
During a trick each player plays 1 hand card in clockwise order. After all have played, the cards are revealed and discarded.
- In each trick the first player plays a hand card face up (determining the trick suit), and others respond by playing a hand card face down.
- Others must play the trick suit (= suit of the 1st card), if they have cards of that suit - otherwise any suit is fine. No need to play higher (any number is fine).
- The winner with the highest number of the trick suit collects the reward / penalty face up in front of him (overlapping earlier) and starts the next trick.
- Face cards are their number equivalents (J = 11, Q = 12, K = 13), and aces (A) are 1 when starting a trick (= played face up), but number 14 otherwise (face down).
SCORING
After the last trick of the 2nd set, the round ends and the winner(s) / loser(s) are counted from the collected cards.
- Each low card (2 - 10) is worth 1 p., while face cards (J, Q, K) are worth 2 p. and aces (A) worth 3 p. (The points are positive in red games and negative in black.)
- The player with the most/fewest rewards/penalties wins/loses the round - if many, many win/lose. The game is usually played for 3 wins/losses.
- In diamond (♦) and club (♧) games the player with the most rewards / fewest penalties wins.
- In heart (♥) and spade (♤) games the one with the fewest rewards / most penalties loses.
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EXTENSIONS
JOKER'S TRICK
The deck can include 1 - 3 jokers when playing with more than 2 players. Jokers are either slightly above or below the 1st card of the trick.
- JOKER'S PROTECTION: Normally jokers protect / leach off the 1st trick card (= as if +0.5 same suit). If many jokers win the trick, the first played joker wins.
- JOKER'S BETRAYAL: However, if no one responded with a real card (= non-joker) of the trick suit, the jokers instead dodge the 1st card (as if -0.5).
- JOKER'S TRICK: When playing a joker as the 1st card (face up), it's number 1 of the declared suit (= as if an ace) - the suit can be any of the 3 suits.
- JOKER IS FREE CHOICE: When responding to a trick, you don't have to play the joker if you don't have cards of the trick suit, but can if you want to.
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STRATEGY
PLAYING SUITS
- There are only 3 suits in the game, so the dynamics of winning and avoidance are "tighter" than in more traditional trick games.
- In black games low number cards are precious, and aces are useful for starting tricks. It's beneficial to completely get rid of a suit early on.
- In red games low cards are practically useless, while face cards and aces are used for the most important hunts. It's common to try to consume other players' highs away before the important moments come.
RANDOM WISDOMS
- One of the most important strategical aspects is to learn to play into the rhythm of the set.
- When a black face card or ace is near, you might sacrifice getting a penalty beforehand to avoid the big hit (by starting with an ace or something very low).
- In red games it's common to try to capture the initiative before the pointworthy cards and then play a K (or other high, but not A) to keep the winning flow.
- Generally speaking the most important moment of the round is the last cards of the 2nd set (= the last 2 or 3 rewards / penalties).
- This is because their outcome is very much automated by the time of the 3rd last card, or at latest the 2nd last card. Play them wisely.
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HISTORY
v1.0 - Brigands (2024-04-23)
- While exploring mechanics for Mexican Standoff (in 2021), came across interesting trick avoidance dynamics with just 3 suits. On the other hand, this is the most direct implementation of the core idea of 4-suit-games explored in 2022 - 2023 (that indirectly yielded Scavengers, Round Robbin' and Amish Lords).