You’ve joined a hot air balloon festival in which the goal is to go higher than your opponents. Dump as many sandbags as you can — and try to gain rockets as well! — to send yourself higher and higher to win.
Sandbag is a trick-taking game of avoiding tricks, manipulating trump, and reconfiguring your hand of cards. In each of the three rounds, you configure your basket with two face-up cards; the most common color among all players’ cards is the trump suit. Each trick, players either play from their hand, play a sandbag (to sluff, that is avoid winning the trick), or play one of their opponents’ face-up cards. During the round, it’s possible for the trump to change as the number and kind of face-up cards are exchanged for face-down sandbags. Five rocket cards worth negative points are in play each round, and you want to win these while avoiding the sandbag cards because in the end the player with the lowest score wins.
I last published a list of my top 20 trick-taking games back in 2021. There have been several additions to the list, in large part due to the recent explosion in interest in the mechanic. Without further ado, here is my latest list, updated for 2024.
For context, these are the top 20 in a category I very much love, I estimate that I’ve played at least 300 trick-taking games (and possibly closer to 400, depending on how public domain games are counted). I’m picky about what I buy, but I still own about 100 of the designer titles (plus I have printed rulesets for numerous public domain games). I myself have designed more than 20 tricksters (but have left those off this list).
To clarify up front, I didn’t count “climbing games” in this list, although if I had, Seers Catalog and Tichu would have made it. I also didn’t count games where the trick taking was incidental to play, as in Brian Boru or Honshu (though none of those games would have made the list).
They are listed in alphabetical order. I apologize for the lack of pictures: gathering 20 different images and putting them in this blog is a challenge!
“The reign of Henry VIII is one of the most fascinating in English history. Not only was it a time of revolutionary political and social change, but it was also dominated by one of the most extraordinary and charismatic men to emerge in the history of the British Isles. … He ruled England with some of the most intriguing personalities of the age, men and women who have left behind such vivid memorials of themselves that we can almost reach out across the centuries and feel that we know them personally. Six of these people were the King’s wives.” — Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII
This past week, at Dice Tower West, I had the great joy of serving on a panel with ThinkerThemer and Taylor Reiner. The discussion was about the top 10 thematic trick-takers. Carol LaGrow’s The Six of VIII — the game I’m reviewing today — was second on my list, and it was (at least for me) the one that triggered the most post-panel discussion. Several attendees at Dice Tower West approached me to ask about the game, and I gave it my enthusiastic endorsement.
I’ve been a little obsessed with this game since I first learned its premise. One day, while casually reading a trick-taking focused Discord server, I took notice of a discussion of The Six of VIII. I didn’t immediately realize precisely what this was — my brain is not used to mixing Tudor history with trick-taking, so the use of numbers made me think of something more math-y — but I became enamored once I realized what the designer had done.
Then I played The Six of VIII, and I absolutely fell in love.
The game uses trick-taking to show the history of the six wives of Henry VIII, with thematic ties spread throughout. The big hook is that the cards are suited after the six wives, with each suit being trump for a period of the game approximately resembling each queen’s reign. Not only is the history great, but so is the trick-taking. This is a fresh, thematic take on so-called “track” games.
This week is Trick Taking Week here on The Opinionated Gamers, and the theme this year is innovators. The Six of VIII innovates in a devilishly clever way: in a genre littered with pasted-on themes (including all of my own designs), the Six of VIII shines by having both an ingenious thematic implementation and some fresh mechanics.
As an admission up front, I have a bit of a personal obsession with Tudor-era history. I had once thought I’d try to write this review in the style of Hilary Mantel — and I got close to finishing that endeavor and publishing it — but ultimately decided that my writing did not do enough justice to either that beloved author or this excellent game. Nonetheless, I have embedded a few hidden Tudor references herein.
Author’s Note: In the interest of fair disclosure, a game I designed (Xylotar) is being published by Bezier Games in coming months. Additionally, the designer of this game (Taylor Reiner) is a member of The Opinionated Gamers.
In spring 2016, I co-wrote an article for now-defunct Counter Magazine on the history of climbing and shedding games. The article walked through dozens of titles, everything from the public domain classics to newer designer games, and it was an attempt to provide a short (but nonetheless semi-comprehensive) overview of leading titles. Each game had its own twists, but in reading the article, it became apparent that most climbers/shedders are entirely too similar. Sure, there were a few groundbreaking outliers back then — Taiki Shinzawa’s Maskmen comes to mind — but whether it be Chimera, Gang of Four, Tichu, or the numerous similar titles, the primary variance was small shifts in either the deck or the melds permitted.
While there has been significant innovation in trick-taking the past few years, there has not been as much innovating in the climbing/shedding game space. But that seems to be changing in the past year or so. This week is Trick Taking Week here on the Opinionated Gamers. This is our second annual event, and I’ve commandeered the calendar to spotlight innovators in trick taking and trick-taking adjacent games.
Today, I want to highlight the most innovative shedding game I’ve ever played. I predict Seers Catalog will do more than any other game in recent years to move climbers and shedders forward.
The twist is that this is almost a game where you want to be the first to run out of cards. With a few subtle changes, Taylor Reiner has turned this beloved genre on its head, and the result is a fascinating game that is easily one of my most-anticipated titles of 2024.
This is the second annual event where we here at The Opinionated Gamers spend a whole week on trick-taking games. An enormous “thank you” to Dale and the writers on this site for letting this semi-retired writer again commandeer the calendar for a whole week.
Before we turn to the 2024 festivities, I’d like to do a quick shoutout to my article last year on the recent infatuation with trick-taking. Last year, as I reintroduced our long-abandoned Tricks and Trumps series, I told the story of how trick-taking came to recent prominence. If you missed it last year, I still think it is worth a read (even if the Tricks and Trumps series was again abandoned, for a variety of reasons).
That article is one of the finest things I’ve written, because as far as I can tell, it is the closest thing we have to an accounting of the recent growth. It is from a limited point of view, and I welcome the perspectives of others, but I think it is a fair description of recent years.
Other great articles from last year include:
7 Trick-taking games that deserve a reprint. Since then, Green Fivura and Potato Man have either been reprinted or announced as forthcoming. But that leaves five more titles deserving a fresh take.
But back to 2024. What’s in store this year? A couple of reviews, of course. My tale of trying to bring small batch trick-taking to the United States. A list of my top 20 trick-takers. And a history of climbing games.
I’ve given a theme to this year, which is that I’m going to celebrate the innovators. Trick-taking has moved so far forward in recent years because of innovative designs and mechancis. This year is a tribute to them.
So tune in. I’ll have the next article later tonight.
Since 2019, I’ve been a devoted fan (and playtester) for the Unmatched: Battle of Legends game system – and been part of epic face-offs between so many different heroes in so many diverse locations. (There are – if you’ve acquired every bit of the Unmatched output from Restoration Games – currently 20 different locations and 47 different heroes that can be set against each other.)*
Now, for the first time, those heroes gather together not to fight each other but battle shoulder to shoulder against monsters of legend, bent on destruction and/or world domination. Or, since this is Unmatched, you can use any of the four included heroes to battle each other and/or any other hero in the series.
Unmatched for the Uninitiated
I’m well aware that some of you have not had the opportunity to play the wonderful goodness that is Unmatched – so, a short primer on how the game works is in order. (Yes, I know, some of you have played before. A lot. You can skip to the next heading.)
Unmatched is a skirmish battle game, driven by card play and fought on a variety of boards. On your turn, you get two actions:
Maneuver – draw a card from your personal deck & optionally move your fighter(s)
Attack – play a card face-down to initiate a melee or ranged attack
Scheme – play a Scheme card from your hand for its effect
You win by reducing your opponent’s hero to zero hit points.
If this sounds a lot like Star Wars: Epic Duels, you’re not wrong. That 2002 mass-market game is the forefather of this amazing combat system. (If you want more detail, I did a deep-dive into the differences in my original Unmatched review.)
The first thing you’ll notice when opening the box for Tales to Amaze! is that there’s a lot of stuff packed into it: multiple card decks, miniatures, plastic counters, and a number of punchboards in order to create hit trackers and various other bits for the game. There are also three rulebooks: the Core Rules (which teach the basics of playing Unmatched), the Set Rules (which go over the special rules related to the four new heroes), and the Tales to Amaze! Instructions (which teach how to play the cooperative adventure game).
Once you’ve gone through the assembly process, you’ll have 4 playable characters (2 with sidekicks), 2 boss monsters, 6 minion monsters… and the card decks for each of those. In addition, you will have a deck of initiative cards and a deck of Amazing Event cards. Finally, there’s a good bit of other tokens/bits – bridges, webs, acid blobs, invasion markers, and the like.
Come meet the crew!
The Heroes
Nikolai Tesla – armed with a ranged weapon that uses his Tesla coils to charge up and trigger various effects
Dr. Jill Trent – she has two potential gadgets (she can only use one per turns) and a trusty sidekick to help her figure out the smartest way to eliminate the threats
Annie Christmas – the riverboat captain and her gambler husband (sidekick) have lots of tricks up their respective sleeves: she’s more dangerous when she’s the underdog in a fight and he’s a gambler with some very slick moves
The Golden Bat – a Japanese pulp hero… with a skull for a head and a rapier to do serious damage with.
The Boss Monsters
Mothman – he fights to cut off his territory from the human world, destroying bridges and generally beating our heroes to a pulp
The Martian Invader – busily beaming up cows and sending his little green men (no, not the cute kind from Toy Story but more like the ones from Mars Attacks!) to establish a permanent foothold on our planet
The Minions
Ant Queen – who is a boss in her own right… she not only moves the threat marker, but she also adds cards to the Initiative deck, making her stronger & faster.
Blob – this monstrosity spits acid and is just generally difficult to kill
Jersey Devil – he scares cards out of players hands (and occasionally cancels player cards when they are played)
Skunk Ape – He’s basically a brute with an anger problem
Tarantula – her webs slow down heroes & sidekicks… plus it’s easier for her to attack players caught in her silky strands
The Loveland Frog – another minion who adds cards to the deck and thus just keeps coming like some kind of demonic Energizer Bunny (only he’s a frog)
Game Play
The starting point is that pretty much everything from the hero (player) side works just like normal Unmatched. There are specific exceptions (dealt with in the rulebook) but it’s an easy variant to jump into if you’ve played Unmatched before.
The player(s) have an overriding objective: get the villain (boss) to zero health before they accomplish their nefarious scheme. Alternately, loss comes if the boss finishes their four-step plan (destroy the bridges or complete the invasion) OR if all player fighters are defeated (both heroes and sidekicks).
Each player is assigned a player number (1 through 4) and an initiative card of that number is included in the initiative deck. In addition, each boss and minion starts with a card in the initiative deck… which is thoroughly shuffled and dealt out one at a time to trigger player and bad guy turns.
Note: the boss & minion initiative cards may have immediate effects (activating the bad guy) as well as end of round effects (that are triggered in the order the cards were revealed.) Some of the bad guys also have multiple cards that are added to the deck as play proceeds, making them more and more difficult to deal with. (Dadgum Loveland Frog…)
In general, bosses and minions will attempt to close with the nearest hero or sidekick and attack. Just like the original Unmatched design, the player will choose a card to play (or choose not to play a card) and then flip over the top card of the bad guys deck. Damage ensues as well as particular effects – all of those are resolved just like basic Unmatched.
Your objective is to defeat (kill, eliminate, send back to Mars, etc.) the Boss. If you manage to do the same to some or all of the minions, great – but it’s not necessary. (I did not say it was a bad idea – leave them alone and they will hound you to death.)
Variety Is the Spice of Life
Just in case you don’t think the game is difficult enough, there are Amazing Event cards that ramp up the difficulty. In general, we’ve found the game easiest as a solo game – particularly with a character with big attack values. On the other hand, the game becomes trickier with more players and more minions.
After 11 plays, we’re 6-5… with two of those losses using an Amazing Event card.
We’ve also played with heroes not found in the Tales to Amaze! Box: while Bruce Lee easily defeated the Martian Invader (is that even a surprise?) and the T-Rex/Raptors team sent them back to the stone age, the team of Beowulf, Little Red, and Sindbad were not as successful. (And after finishing writing this, I played a quick two player game against the invaders with Bigfoot & Bloody Mary… and hurt them pretty bad before getting stomped.)
Final Thoughts
I have to admit – my younger son & I were early version playtesters of this box for Restoration Games. We were not impressed and found the prototype at that point to be a bit clunky and not particularly fun.
And this is why development/playtesting is so important… because the final product is incredibly enjoyable to play and a worthy addition to a line of games I love. (I haven’t played with new heroes in a 1v1 or 2v2 game, but both my sons assure me that they’re great medium difficulty heroes and lots of fun to play in that setting as well.)
If you enjoy Unmatched, don’t let the “cooperative” nature of Tales to Amaze! put you off. If you’re a cooperative fan, give this a try – even if you’re skeptical of its origins in a fighting game. The quality of the production and the smoothness of gameplay is really something special.
Math Nerdery
* I had some of the more math-inclined writers on the OG staff figure out just how many possible combinations you can currently come up with to play Unmatched: Here’s what they (well, Dan) came up with:
Assuming that:
1. Any hero can be played on any map.
2. Any two heroes can oppose each other.
3. Any two heroes can pair up for a 2v2.
4. You can’t buy multiple copies of a set and play the same hero against themselves.
5. We can ignore details such as which side of a map each team sets up on.
Then there are 21,620 1v1 scenarios and 10,701,900 2v2 scenarios.
That’s a lot of scenarios, folks.
My copy of Tales to Amaze! was purchased through the Kickstarter for the game. I have received review copies of Unmatched: Buffy, For King & Country, and Teen Spirit… the rest of my Unmatched collection was purchased with my hard-earned cash. Which reminds me – anyone want to buy my copy of Epic Duels?
Thoughts from the Opinionated Gamers
Erik Arneson (4 plays) – Mark sums up my thoughts very well. I’m a huge fan of Unmatched, but I was very skeptical that a cooperative Unmatched game would work. Thankfully, my confidence in the team at Restoration Games was enough to make me a Kickstarter backer, because Unmatched: Tales to Amaze is absolutely fantastic. I haven’t played with heroes from the other sets yet, but I’m eager to give that a try.
My 20 Favorite Trick-Taking Games (Article by Chris Wray)
I last published a list of my top 20 trick-taking games back in 2021. There have been several additions to the list, in large part due to the recent explosion in interest in the mechanic. Without further ado, here is my latest list, updated for 2024.
For context, these are the top 20 in a category I very much love, I estimate that I’ve played at least 300 trick-taking games (and possibly closer to 400, depending on how public domain games are counted). I’m picky about what I buy, but I still own about 100 of the designer titles (plus I have printed rulesets for numerous public domain games). I myself have designed more than 20 tricksters (but have left those off this list).
To clarify up front, I didn’t count “climbing games” in this list, although if I had, Seers Catalog and Tichu would have made it. I also didn’t count games where the trick taking was incidental to play, as in Brian Boru or Honshu (though none of those games would have made the list).
They are listed in alphabetical order. I apologize for the lack of pictures: gathering 20 different images and putting them in this blog is a challenge!
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