Tango

• Designer: Matt Sims, David Harding
• Publisher: Grail Games
• Players: 2 
• Age: 10+
• Time: 30 mins
• Amazon affiliate link: 
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

It takes two to tango, but only one dancer will stand tall in this trick-taking game for two players! In Tango, players play cards (both from their hand and from their face-up display), in order to perform the best possible dance steps.

Plan ahead as best you can, but remember your opponent knows some of the steps you will take! Will you be named lord or lady of the dance?

The deck of 41 cards, a rose card and 1-10 of four suits, is shuffled and one card is dealt face up to be the Dance Style card (trump).  Each player has a hand of ten cards dealt to them.  The remaining cards are then dealt to the table – first, 5 cards face down in a row in front of each player, followed by a face up card on top of each card in that row.  The cards on the table are “owned” by the player they are in front of.

A trick taking hand will then be played by the two players – but, interestingly, each trick will still have 4 cards in it!  First, the lead player plays any card they like from their hand.  The rest of the cards must follow suit if possible.  Next, the opponent plays a card from their hand.  The lead player now must play a card from the face up cards on the table in front of them, again following suit if possible. Finally, the opponent also plays a card from those face up in front of them.  If the Rose card is played, it is always the lowest ranked card of the current trump suit.

The trick is resolved; it is won by the player who played the highest trump card. If no trump was played, it is won by the highest card in the suit which was led.   The winner collects the trick in a book and then stores it face down in front of them.  If a facedown card was revealed on the table (by playing the faceup card on top of it) – flip that card face up.  It could be possible that the players have different numbers of face up cards in front of them.  Finally, the loser of the trick can exchange a card from their hand for the current Style card.  The newly placed card is now the new trump suit.  The Rose can never be placed at the current Style card.

The winner of the previous trick now leads the next trick.  Continue until all ten tricks are played.  Then, points are calculated…

• +1 point per trick
• +1 per 1, 2, 8s collected in your tricks
• -1 per 9, 10 collected in your tricks
• +2 points for the Rose card

The player with the most points gets to flip a round token over to the “Rose” side.  Ties broken in favor of the player who collected the Rose card.  The first player to have both of their tokens on the Rose side wins the game.

My thoughts on the game

To date, I haven’t been overly impressed with two player trick-taking games.  I love the idea, and trust me, I try them all, but I have yet to find one that really has captivated me.  That streak may have come to an end with Tango.  

There is a lot of room for clever play in this game. Being able to see at least half of each table hand really gives you a lot to think about.  You can set up some interesting finesses or maybe compel the board to play certain cards.  Further, you are constantly challenged to re-evaluate the table as the void situation constantly changes with cards being removed from the board and possibly new cards being revealed as a result.

If that wasn’t enough, there is much more to think about than just winning the tricks – because it actually matters what cards are in the tricks that you win.  While you do score a point for every trick that you win, half of the cards provide positive or negative points as well.  The highest points in each suit give you negative points, and they can often win tricks – but you might end up with a negative score for the trick!

The loser of each trick then gets an sometimes interesting decision when they then now get to decide to switch a card from their hand with the current trump card.  This can sometimes be used to create a void.  More often, it can be used to change the trump suit to something more advantageous – or something that takes advantage of the suits showing on the board.

Finally, the Rose card can provide a nice two point boost to a trick – but you have to figure out how to win a trick with it!  As it is the lowest trump card (no matter which suit is the Style card), you’ll have to figure out a way to win with it.

All of my games of Tango thus far have been thinky games and much enjoyed by all who have played.  As there are four cards being played to each trick, it somehow feels a little more like a “regular” trick taker than the tricks that are merely one card from each player.  Additionally, the added strategy that arises from knowing some of the cards that could be played into the trick ramps up the challenge.  

Tango comes in the “pocket size” box from Grail Games, which I must admit don’t really fit in any of my pockets – but it’s definitely a small and compact size, and there is a LOT of game in a small box here.  For now, this is probably my favorite two-player trick taking game, and I’m sure it’ll get played a lot more this winter, and I plan to introduce it to lots of people at the trick-taking convention that I attend annually each January..

Ratings from the Opinionated Gamers

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

Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3K5jvHl