Retro-inspired games and reprinted classics that bring back the wonder of youth TRICK TAKING
NOSTALGIC GAMES
This classic genre is making a big comeback in modern card games
Bezier Games makes richly themed, accessible, ever-changing games for friends and family. Games such as One Night Ultimate Werewolf and Castles of Mad King Ludwig are the new classics — the first game you open on game night and the last one you put away.
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Alley Cat Games are an independent board game publisher, releasing popular titles such as our small dexterity game Tinderblox and our advanced Euro Autobahn. Covering a wide range of genres — We Make Fun. For Everyone.
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SPONSORS
Czech Games Edition is known for crafting 50+ board games & expansions, including Lost Ruins of Arnak , Codenames , Galaxy Trucker , and many more. CzechGames.com
Van Ryder Games strives to design and create games that deliver unforgettable and immersive experiences. Our visions are brought to life with clear rules, detailed art, sensible graphical layout, and high-quality materials. VanRyderGames.com Blue Orange Games
Family-owned since 1883, Ravensburger encourages discovery of what really matters through play. Their award-winning catalog includes immersive board games such as Villainous and Horrified, as well as party favorites like That’s Not A Hat and Strike
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Tough as Scales! Dragon Shield is one of the most recognizable card game accessory brands in the world, known by players everywhere for unparalleled strength, durability, and fantastic value. Distributed by PHD.
Hachette Boardgames USA has put together a small yet powerful collection of independent publishers that are making significant waves throughout the board gaming world. HachetteBoardgames.com
The Dice Tower has video reviews, top 10 lists, live plays, conventions, and more! Tom Vasel and the gang love board games and hope they can help you find games you love, too!
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BREWING UP FUN: A LOOK AT
In 2024, CGE released their first board game aimed at children and families: Little Alchemists . Based on CGE ’ s 2014 game Alchemists , Little Alchemists is a family-friendly game of potion making and deduction. The game was not simply meant to be a simpler version of Alchemists for children, but an accessible game for various ages and experience levels. The game builds upon itself, using multiple chapters to grow the game ’ s complexity.
A POTION-FILLED ADVENTURE AWAITS
You and your cousins stumble upon your grandpa’s old alchemy set and begin to tinker around, making magical potions. You decide to open a lemonade stand of sorts to sell these potions to adventurers. As you improve your skills, the story unfolds in front of you.
MIX, MATCH, AND MASTER THE MAGIC
The gameplay of Little Alchemists is centered around scanning ingredients with a device and using the companion app to create potions. Using a handy deduction grid, players can mark off what type of potions are made with each ingredient combination. Throughout multiple playthroughs, players can unlock new chapters adding new game mechanics, components, and more to the game!
YOUR HANDY LITTLE HELPER: THE COMPANION APP
The Little Alchemists companion app is similar to the Alchemists companion app in that it allows players to use their device to scan or input the ingredients to craft a potion. However, the Little Alchemists companion app is not just a tool — it walks players through learning each chapter of the game. This can be a huge help for kids who have varied reading levels, or really anyone who learns better through visuals. There is still always the rulebook to consult for any questions!
LEVEL UP YOUR POTION-MAKING SKILLS
Little Alchemists comes with seven “unlockable” chapters that each increase the complexity of the game. The game begins with simply scanning and selling potions to develop into a light-tomedium strategy game. This is what sets Little Alchemists apart from many games aimed at children — it was developed in a way that can be truly fun and engaging for the whole family!
The game’s early chapters are quite simple and allow children to master the simple mechanics of mixing potions, filling in the deduction grid, and selling potions for coins. After each game, the app will allow players to earn keys, which they will then apply to the appropriate chapter box. Once a box has been unlocked, it can be scanned with the app to add that chapter’s contents to the next game! The components can easily be loaded back into their respective boxes, allowing the game to be reset to any chapter. The game can be continuously played at chapter 7 for more advanced players, or repeating earlier chapters until kids grasp the concept. 5
It’s Tricky: A Modern Take on Trick Taking
FJustin Spicer Music Journalist and Board Game Experimenter
or many, the first taste of board gaming comes from familial classics such as Hearts, Euchre, and Spades. These are basic trick-taking games, where a 52-card deck (sometimes modified with fewer cards depending on the game) is often all that is needed to play. Everyone is chasing the same goal: to win tricks (sets of cards played by each player in a round) by having the highest card(s). Perhaps the highest card is a specific number or face card, suit, or combo thereof.
For a long time, the trick-taking genre was dormant in hobby gaming. But in the past 3-5 years, trick-taking has taken board gaming by storm. The inventiveness of designers to take mechanisms in trick-taking—such as trumps, climbing, and shedding—and utilize them in imaginative new ways has captured the imagination of gamers everywhere.
By no means can Casual Game Insider begin to provide a comprehensive guide to modern trick-taking games. However, we have enlisted some help from Daniel Newman, game designer and proprietor of New Mill Industries, to help illuminate the appeal of the vast world of trick taking.
DIP A PINKY FINGER IN
Daniel Newman traces some of the hype around trick-taking games to his own experiences. “There have been a couple of larger publishers who have had pretty significant successes with trick-taking games recently that have kind of sparked a new interest,” explains Newman. “Any time someone has a big hit, other publishers take notice and decide they want to get in on the new thing.”
So, what are some of those hits and where can trick-taking-curious fans learn some basics outside the traditional parlor games? Here are but modest starting points.
INFLATION!
3-4 players | 20 minutes | ages 8+
SCOUT
2-5 players | 15 minutes | ages 9+
At its most basic level, Inflation! is quick and easy. Players will start by declaring how many tricks they will win. Then the first player will lay down a card, and subsequent players must follow by rank, if possible (not suit, as in many other trick-taking games). Each card is numbered 1-10, with this value also determining how many of those cards are in the deck. The winner of the trick will then play their next card to the left of the face-down card, therefore building higher and higher numbers. At the end of the round, players score buttons (points) based on how close they were to their bid. Players who won exactly their bid score 2 points per trick. Those who didn’t win their bid score 1 point per trick, unless they also won the most tricks, in which case they bust and score 0. This continues over a number of rounds matching the player count, with the player with the highest total across all rounds being declared the winner.
SCOUT may seem intimidating at first with its face values on top of cards and different ranks on the bottom, but this offers a fun twist to the game. Players are dealt their hand and must decide which direction to play their cards, without rearranging any cards. The goal is to then play runs or sets (one or more cards) that beat the previously played combo. Players may also scout face-up cards on the table to add them to their hand for future turns. Once per hand, players can play a “scout and show” token to take a face-up card from the table and immediately play it as part of a new or existing combo. When no one can play a higher run or set, the current trick ends, and a new one begins. Points are earned for face-down cards won, plus any scout tokens each player has remaining, minus any cards in hand. Rounds work like Inflation! , with the winner being the player with the highest point total across all rounds.
FUEGO
2-4 players | 30 minutes | ages 10+
Fuego pits players on teams of two, trying to win tricks in a must-follow-suit format. However, winning a trick really matters when cards have flame icons, allowing the winner to take a Flame token from the player to their left. The team with the most Flame tokens at the end of a round wins the round; win two rounds, and they win the game. But Fuego offers up some familiar board game tricks of its own with Strike tokens, which allow players to change the suit or rank of a played card, Wildfire cards, which are wild and earn a flame token for the team that wins the trick, as well as Caliente cards that can change the gameplay entirely.
Taylor’s Trick-Taking Table Talk
Taylor Reiner Game Designer and YouTube Host
As with many hobbies, jargon is a gate-keeping hurdle. However, it is often a useful shorthand to help talk about specifics much easier and much more efficiently. The beauty of these games is that I can sit down to a new-to-me trick-taker and a teacher familiar with these terms can skip 85 percent of the rules within a minute using this shared language.
Of course, these definitions aren’t absolute; often, trick-taking games pride themselves in stretching these concepts. But these generic catch-all definitions will give you a good start. I apologize in advance for any weirdness; ancient people we can’t yell at made this up, not me!
Trick: A trick is created when each player, in turn, plays a card from their hand to the table. Those cards form a trick.
Hand: A hand of cards. In some contexts, this could mean a round, see below.
Round: The term for playing out all the tricks. After everyone has played all their cards and has no more left in their hand, the round is over. A trick-taking game is often many rounds.
Rank: The number on a card.
Suit: The symbol on a card below the rank. On a standard deck of playing cards, there are 4 suits: Heart, Diamond, Spade, Club. It denotes a grouping of cards.
Leading/Led Suit: Leading a trick means when a player will play the first card to a trick. Leading is important because it dictates the led suit for the trick. The player leading a trick is called the lead player.
HOLDING HANDS AROUND THE
WORLD
Newman enthuses, “My personal interest is in the weirder stuff that people don’t necessarily know about because it doesn’t make it over to the wider hobby market (though some of those are being brought over and given attention by publishers like Allplay, Bezier Games, and CMYK).”
With the explosion in popularity of the Tokyo Game Market (an event Newman also attends, and often brings games back from for distribution), some of these games are making their way into the North American market. Others are getting their inspiration from these games, as well.
THE CREW
2-5 players | 20 minutes | ages 10+
In this cooperative trick-taking series, players must work together to overcome increasingly difficult challenges. Using tasks, goals, and variations of trick-taking mechanics, players must cooperate to win specific tricks or combinations of tricks to succeed in each mission. Failure to do so requires restarting the current mission, with each one providing unique challenges. What’s more, players must strategize and cooperate with limited or no table talk.
JEKYLL & HYDE VS. SCOTLAND YARD
2 players | 20 minutes | ages 10+
In this cooperative trick-taking game for two, players take the roles of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as they evade the relentless pursuit of Scotland Yard. The game unfolds over 10 chapters, each presenting unique trick-taking challenges and objectives. The goal is to navigate Jekyll and Hyde to the designated locations of the board without being caught. Communication is limited unless players play a potion card, so strategy and cunning are necessary.
HOLDING HANDS AROUND THE WORLD
Taylor’s Trick-Taking Table Talk, Cont’d
Must Follow/Following Suit: Many trick-taking games are Must Follow, meaning the following players who play a card after the lead player must follow the led suit of the lead player’s card. If the lead player plays a card with a Heart on it, then the next player (Player 2) must play a card with a Heart on it. This is called following suit. If Player 2 has multiple cards with a Heart on them, any of the Heart cards can be played.
Short-Suiting/Voiding: If Player 2 does not have any card with a Heart on it, then Player 2 can play any card in their hand.
Winner: A trick is won by one of the players. The player that played the highest rank in the led suit will win. If a card has a high rank but does not have the same suit as the led suit, then it cannot win. That player takes the trick by collecting all of the played cards into a pile and flipping that pile facedown in front of themselves. This pile is also called a trick. The winner then becomes the lead player for the next trick.
Trump Suit: Sometimes a game may have a trump suit. This suit is stronger than any others. When any cards with a trump suit are in a trick, then the highest ranked trump suit card will win the trick, rather than the highest led suit card (even if it has a higher rank). It is possible that the led suit is the same as the trump suit. In this case, the highest led suit card wins as normal.
Yeeesh, lots of basics! Sorry, it’s brutal out here. But I do think it gets easier as you play, thankfully!
SAIL
2 players | 20 minutes | ages 11+
In this two-player game, players are trying to move their ship to the end marker while avoiding kraken damage. Players use the symbols on their played cards to move their ship diagonally or straight, damage the kraken (by adding cards to its deck), or take damage from the kraken (by adding its cards to the discard pile). Once a player wins four tricks that they led, the round ends and the next round begins. To win, players must get their ship to the end marker before all rounds are over or the kraken deck is depleted.
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING: TRICK-TAKING GAME
1-4 players | 20 minutes | ages 10+
In this cooperative Lord of the Rings adaptation, players take on the roles of members of the Fellowship, using trick-taking to progress through challenges inspired by the novel. Each character has a condition that must be met in order to pass the chapter and advance in the story. Each chapter unlocks new cards, characters, and threats to challenge the Fellowship, requiring players to adapt their trick-taking strategies to succeed. This trick-taking game also offers a solo experience, which is unusual for this type of game.
GIMME SOME TRICK-TAKING
WITH A SIDE
OF EURO
“I used to be pretty big into complicated Euros,” begins Newman. “However, a couple of years ago I got turned on to some of the games that were coming out of the Japanese and Korean trick-taking scene and was pretty blown away by the variety of things that were being done and the experiences those games were creating with what is often a very brief ruleset.”
The innovation Newman was finding in trick-taking is now colliding with oft-called Euro mechanisms where actions are more dynamic, more complex, and provide multiple paths toward objectives.
CAT IN THE BOX
2-5 players | 20-40 minutes | ages 13+
MOLLY HOUSE
1-5 players | 45-90 minutes | ages 14+
Does a suit exist and not exist at once? In a clever twist inspired by the thought experiment of Schrödinger’s Cat, Cat in the Box uses suit-less cards but tasks players with determining the suit by placing their cards by one of the colors on their corresponding board. Players can choose not to follow suit, but must then remove a player token from that color, preventing them from declaring that suit again this round. The red suit is wild, but initially unavailable until a player sacrifices one of their other suit tokens. The goal is twofold: win the exact number of tricks bid at the beginning of the round, and also create groupings of your player markers across the shared board of suits and numbers. When a player is left with a card that can’t be legally played (since the rank and suit were already marked by another player) or everyone has one card left, the round ends. Points are scored based on tricks won and connected groups of player markers, and a new round begins until all players have led a round. The highest point total wins.
ARCS
2-4 players | 60-120 minutes | ages 14+
For those who want a little 4X in their trick-taking, last year’s big hit Arcs provides that spice. Designed by Cole Wehrle, Arcs uses trick-taking to determine available actions, how many actions can be taken, and end-of-round scoring opportunities. Much of the game is about placing bases, moving and deploying ships, and generally controlling wide expanses of space. The may-follow system adds a strategic layer: while following suit provides flexibility, failing to do so restricts both the number of actions a player can take and their influence over which scoring opportunities are available that round.
Designed by Jo Kelly and Cole Wehrle, Molly House plunges players into the clandestine world of 1720s London, exploring the historical context of forbidden same-sex relationships. As mollies, players host festive events and coordinate with each other, all while evading the watchful eye of the disapproving Society for the Reformation of Manners. However, the cards themselves can betray the mollies’ activities, forcing players to bribe officials or risk arrest. This game shines with its inventive theme and use of tricktaking to accomplish individual goals, enhanced by the ability to throw others under the bus to score points and avoid the Society’s steady gaze.
From classic card games to innovative new designs, trick-taking continues to evolve and surprise. So, shuffle up, deal yourself in, and discover the many tricks this captivating genre has to offer. 5
Thanks for diving into this sneak peek of Casual Game Insider ! You've only scratched the surface of what awaits in the full Spring 2025 issue:
Thanks for diving into this sneak peek of Casual Game Insider ! You've only scratched the surface of what awaits in the full Spring 2025 issue:
