YORKTON - Halloween lies just ahead, so it seems a perfect time to cover a game themed to the day of tricks and treats.
Split Trick is a little card game from designer Shimi Shadi that holds some elements which make this one rather interesting.
The objective of the game is to collect candies – treat cards – in five suits.
The treats are played to the table in pairs, and players then play tricks – pretty standard follow the lead if possible – or if you can’t trump.
Whoever wins the trick gets to pick one of the treats to keep, the opponent getting the other.
Treat cards have various points value and players are trying not to exceed the value of the ‘haunt card’ – it has a value of nine. If at the end of three rounds you have exceeded the haunt card those treats only score half points.
It is not overly complicated yet there are some neat in-game decisions to make.
Oh, and trump is determined by a lay-out of cards which can be changed in game – a nice twist.
In fact ones, twos, and threes all have a special ability the player may opt to use when playing those to a trick, which adds to the ‘thinking’ needed in this card game.
There are three added modules: A co-op mode, special treats and wild tricks (a total of 18 cards).
It’s highly recommended you review the special treats and wild trick rules and just add those cards – five combined – into the base game. They each add twists to things without over balancing or over complicating things.
The co-op mode sounds interesting, but the rules once read, frankly didn’t excite at all, and won’t be an option for there ‘guilders’, but it is an options some will likely appreciate as it does provide some game versatility.
This one is available at www.thegamecrafter.com/games/split-trick
