Prey

• Designer: Toru II
• Publisher: Allplay
• Players: 3-4
• Age: 11+
• Time: 20 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Prey is a 12-trick trick-taking game where 3-4 players play the first six tricks with one side of numbers (predators), then FLIP their cards over to play the final six (prey). You must follow suit if you can.

The goal of the game is to be the first player to win your assigned number of tricks(determined by dice roll), twice.

Can you manipulate your hand (and, the upside down cards in your hand!) in clever ways to win?

To start, shuffle the deck of 48 cards (12 each in 4 suits) and deal out 4 hands of 12. (In 3 player game, just set the fourth hand to the side). At the start of the game, they are arranged so that the predator side, that is the darker side, of the card is at the top.

Each player takes a score card and the two dice of matching color.  These dice are rolled and placed on the scoring cards. Doubles are rerolled until there are 2 different numbers on the dice.  The player with the lowest total on their dice is the lead player of the first trick. In each round of the game, you’ll play through all 12 tricks.  You’ll score a point in the round if you can win a number of tricks equal to one of your goal numbers.  One exception is that a die showing 6 will reward a point for either 6 tricks or ZERO tricks.

In the round, the first 6 tricks are the predator tricks, that is, the cards are played with their darker side values  (you can see the value of the other side in the little subscript beneath the main value number).  The tricks are must follow, and there is no trump.  The highest card of the led suit wins the trick and leads the next trick.  After six tricks have been played, all players rotate their remaining cards so that they now show the prey side.  Play the second half of the round with these values.

At the end of the hand, again, each player will score a point if they were able to win a number of tricks equal to one of their goal dice.  If any player has 2 points, they win (no tiebreaker). Otherwise, shuffle and re-deal the cards for another round; all players also re-roll their scoring dice.

My thoughts on the game

If you are familiar with obscure Japanese trick taking games, this game may be better known to you as “Double Side Play”, a 2023 release.  It has been redone and distributed to the masses by Allplay in their Tiny Box line.  I’m super grateful for this little line of card games as they have curated a really good collection of games for games to play and collect.

Prey is a really clever game of trick taking savvy and hand management.  I like the way that this game takes out any complaints of card luck as you not only have to rely upon your card values but also your die rolls for your target score.  Further, you get a chance to manage your hand – the values on opposite halves of a card generally vary and mirror each other, so you sometimes just have to wait until you can flip your hand over to get to the other values.

Of course, you don’t have free rein in shaping your hand; you’re going to be obligated to follow suit as other players lead tricks – but there is a surprising amount of “deck-building” that goes on in the first half of the game which you can use to hopefully get to the desired result through the playing of the second half of the hand.

Sure, sometimes the dice roll and your hand just match up perfectly and the hand seems easy.  But, the best hands for me (i.e. the funnest) are when you have to really work to shape things to work out how you want them to.  It’s really quite amazing how many hands of this come down to the final trick before people are sure whether or not they are going to make their bid.

In the end, the game is short and packs a lot of thinky trick taking punch.  If you’re a fan of the genre, this one is definitely worth adding to the collection. 

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

• I love it!
• I like it. Dale Y
• Neutral.
• Not for me…