Unique Games Enjoyed Elsewhere

I learned this game back west from a guy who originally lived "back east" (Champaign, IL). You might know this game by something else)

King & Peasant (is also known by other games) is a game of castes.

Required for the game:
• 5 or more participants (5-7 is about ideal)
• 1 or 2 decks of cards
• 1 or 2 dice (optional)
• Munchies in the middle of the table (important but not necessary)
• Ranks
  • King
  • Queen (also, Princess)
  • Merchant (also, Bishop or whatever)
  • Knave (also, Soldier)
  • Peasant

  • Card Ranks: K, 2, A, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3

After knowing how many players there are going to be, take that many suits out of the 2 decks. It does not matter which suits they are. There are 4 suits per deck. 8 players would use two decks.
• Mix them up and spread them on the table.
• Pick ONE card
• Highest card takes the "King" position and so on down to the lowest position
• Peasant shuffles and deals the cards to each player (you can deal them however you like). If I'm in that position, I like to screw up the karma... Usually, that means that I'll deal 3 to one player then 3 to someone else who is far away from the first person I dealt to and so on. YOu can deal in any denominations.. That's the privilidge of being Peasant (and the only one)
• After you are done dealing, look at your cards.
• Depending on the amount of players, "the giveaway goes something like this"
• Peasant gives his/her two highest cards to the King. The King returns the favor and gives the Peasant his/her TWO lowest cards..

  (What a DEAL!)

  Knave has to give his/her HIGHEST card to the Queen
  If there are 7 players, #3 & #6 also exchange ONE card (The same trade as #7 & #2) #6 highest goes to #3)
  
  >Play Begins....
  • The die or dice is rolled by the King

    (this is not a requirement. The die or dice is an optional... The King can choose to throw them or not. Depends on where he/she has been the entire night and would like to be able to lead for a change... )

  • Play starts with the King or whomevers number was rolled. King can lead with whatever he wants.

    (it's suggested that s/he lead with one of their lower cards but to fake others out and feign strength on a crappy hand, they've been known to lead with stronger cards)

  • An example: King leads with a 7, Queen would have to better that. (8 or better). Merchant would need to beat the 8 or better and so on. You can also pass if you think that you'll be losing too much strength. Because, with the possibility of going up with a strong hand, if you weaken yourself too much at the onset of the game, you could fall in rank too. Make sure that you have enough strength to ward off the castes that are below you. You don't want to lose the royalty position. This is why, early on, it is not good sense for the peasant to blow his whole wad trying to cross swords with the King.
  • Player can lead with lead with a "set" of the same numbered card. (2 to all the way out). This will sometimes make it more difficult for others to play anything on top of them because if one player leads with 3 of one number, the subsequent player would have to top that triplet with one of their own.
  • First player that runs out of cards assumes the King position, next player out becomes the Queen and so on down the line to the last finisher.
  • This game has no scoring system. It's just a game of who ends where and any bragging rights that you might be able to rub others faces in as the night goes on.
  

  1-2-3

  (this one is also known by another name.. It just escapes me now!)

  
  
  
  This game is played with a standard 52 card deck. As many as 6 or 7 can play. Five is probably the best.
  • 1 card is dealt to each player. The next round: 2 ,after that, 3 and so on until the maximum amount of cards can be dealt.
  • Then the "trump" is shown by lifting a portion of the undealt cards up.
  • Players determine who takes the trick by doing a countdown and showing their intentions with how many fingers they hold up [You can also say that you're not going to take a trick-- this scores you points if you happen not to take any of them] (it's looking a little like Bridge...)
  • Score is determined from there. If you hit what you thought you could take (or not take), you'll score. If you're wrong, you pay... Simple as that. Scoring summary at the bottom of this section.
  • You play a complete round of the highest amount of cards that are able to be dealt. In the case of the 6 players, the most that can be dealt is 8 cards to each player (48). You then play a complete round of that number.
  • After each round is dealt out, the dealer shows trump (pick up a portion of the cards). This card is turned rightside up (for everyone to see). It is the trump card.
  • Dealer changes every round. Clockwise.
  • After each deal the number of cards dealt increases by 1. This is true until the maximum can be dealt, then you do the maximum for each person in the group... then you decrease by 1 the same way as before.
  • Dealing order (if 6 players)
    1. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 ---

       Can only go up to 8 cards dealt to each player

    2. 8,8,8,8,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1

       You see that it then goes down back towards 1. The loop can continue should you still want to continue this game.

  • Playing: First person to the right starts the game.
  • Next player MUST follow suit. If has none, can use a trump or any other suit.. It all depends on what you chose as the number of tricks you could take. This is a possibility to dump high, non-trump suits (in case you had claimed 0 trumps)
  • highest, suit (that was started with) takes the trick.
  • Game ends when we've gotten back down to 1. There are many variations on how this game could be played.

    Scoring Summary for 1-2-3

    Your Bid:	# of Acutal Trumps	Score	Comments
    0	0	+5
    1	1	+10
    2	2	+15
    ...and so on
    0	1	-5
    0	2	-10
    ...and so on. Minus score is based on how far you are off your bid. It is then multiplied by -5

    

    Roborally

     

    This is NOT a playing card game, though it is driven by cards only. A guy I knew for short time introduced me to this game... I liked it enough that I went to the games store and bought myself a copy of it. Is somewhat complicated.

    Game Description	Is a robot race game in which each player attempts to be the first to touch a series of flags by maneuvering a robot across a dynamic race course. The game is for 2 to 8 players playing independently or in teams. Frequently., the race will mutate into multi-player skirmishes as those players who are behind use their weaponry in an attempt to slow the opposition. The simultaneous movement rules encourage clever strategies and counterstrategies as players try to second-guess their opponents. Good Luck and may all the conveyor belts be running your way!
    Components in the game	6 factory tiles	Modular sections of the playing board. Factory tiles are made up of squares, some empty and others containing board elements. They are grouped together to make up the playing board.
    	84 program cards	Cards used to program how a robot will move. There are 42 movement cards & 42 rotate cards. Each card has a priority number in the left hand corner. That plays into when you take your turn should you both have the same instruction card.
    	26 Option cards	Extra equipment robots may acquire during the course of a race.
    	32 robot life tokens, 61 damage chits	(Does this give you an idea of what can happen? ;-) )
    Overview of game play (How everything is used)		Each of the players controls on or more robots that race against one another. Race course is marked by a set of flags spread out among the boards in play. Object of the game is to touch each of these flags in order. Players are dealt a hand of program cards (9, choose the 5 instructions you want your robot to perform) at the beginning of each turn, and these program cards allow a robot to move and rotate. Playing 5 program cards completes a turn, and after the 5 cards have been revealed and the actions on them performed, all the cards are collected and dealt again. More than just program cards affect robot movement They can collide, pushing them off course Active board elements like conveyor belts. Passive elements will destroy robots Walls will block robot movement (or another robot) "It's not a good natured race game..." Laser beams can damage you (on the board) Lasers mounted on other robots, if pointed at you fire off after every move. You receive a damage point if hit. For each damage point you get, you receive one less program card. - If there is enough damage, some or all the program cards will become "locked" and must be used again in the next turn. - 10 hits results in a destroyed robot. Damage may be repaired by touching various repair sites ont he game board or by choosing not to receive a set of program cards for a turn Each robot starts with 3 lives.... a destoyed robot must start at the last flag it touched.

    
    

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    MAHJONG

    some nuances to be aware of....
    Number of players: 4
    Suits: 3 (Circles, Bamboos, Chinese Characters)
    Four Winds: (East, South, West, North)
    Bird: One Bamboo (Bird is sitting on the "branch" of the "Bamboo">
    Dragons: 3 Red- "C", Green- "F", Black ("B})
    Hot Cards: Dragons, Your Own Wind, Table Wind (depends on round... Each round, the wind remains the same until all 4 players have "dealt")
    Flowers: Two sets of them, 4 of them to a set. (blue, red).
    Order of Play
    Each player builds a wall of 18 double stacked tiles. Gather 6 double stacked tiles three times.
    Roll one die to determine dealer. Highest roll is dealer... next highest chooses next location, etc. You choose. Dealer is East.. Other positions: West, North, South.
    Dealer throws dice to determine where to cut the deck. End of the deck is the flower pot.
    Play is counter clockwise, deck cut is clockwise. 8... you start at East and go clockwise... then count the number of "tile rows" In this case, 8.
    Dealer takes 4 cards, then rest follow suit. When dealer has 12 cards, he then takes two cards (tiles) by skipping... All other players take 1 "card" (tile). Therefore, the Dealer starts with one extra "card" (tile) (14 "cards" [tiles]). All other players have 13 cards... Dealer begins by discarding a card...
    But before the discard, see if you have any Flowers... If you do, you'll choose a "card" from the "flower pot" [this replentishes your 13 or 14 "cards". The Dealer replentishes his "Flowers" first, then the next player, counterclockwise, replentishes, and so on.
    Winning hand consists of 14 cards: Four Sets and an Eye
    Sets could either be CHI, PONG, KONG (described below in next section). An Eye is a matching pair of tiles.
    Can win (EAT) on any players discard.
    All players pay the winner, the other players pay each other their net points. (Example at the bottom of this section)
    SCORING
    Pong: Three of a kind. Can retrieve any players discard and interrupt the game. Other players may lose their turn as a result of a PONG.
    Kong: class="rite"> Four of a kind. Can retrieve any players discard and interrupt the game. Other playerss may lsoe their turn as a retuls of a KONG If you get an INSIDE KONG (rare), you reveal it right away, and you draw another "card" from the FLOWER POT
    CHI: Three card run of the same suit. You can only pick card from the table to amke a Chi from the person on your left. If another player on the board calls either KONG OR PONG, this takes presidence over your CHI.
    Each player is a wind which is deetermined by where you sit in the game (east-1, south-2, west-3, north-4)
    Four rounds to a game( east, south, west, north). Deal goes around the table so that each person has an opportunity to deal. If you win while you are the dealer, you get to deal again (oh, joy!)
    Point Association: 2 Three Of a Kind (2-8) Outside Eating On A Middle Tile. Two Matching Hot Tiles 4 Three Of a Kind (2-8), Inside Three Of a Kind (1,9, winds, dragons), Outside Flowers (yours) 8 Four Of a Kind (2-8), Outside Three Of a Kind (1,9, winds, dragons), Inside 16 Four Of a Kind (2-8), Inside Four Of a Kind(1,9, winds, dragons), Outside 30 Eating The Hand (winner) 32 Four Of a Kind (1,9, winds, dragons), Inside 70 All Run Hand with 1-2 flowers (all Chi's) 80 All Run Hand with 3 flowers (all Chi's) 120 All Run Hand with 0 flowers (all Chi's) FANS (Double Count)   Having Your Own Flower   Having 4 Flowers of the Same Color   Three Of a Kind (dragon, your wind, table wind)   Picking your eat tile from the Flower pot due to Four Of a Kind   All PONG hand   All one suit with winds or dragons. Three Fans: All One Suit with no winds or dragons 1000 Maximum points one can receive in one hand.
    Strategy and End Game.
    Good Discards Single winds that are not yours or the table ones and 9's
    Watch what others discard and discard the same so that you will not improve other players hand.
    Watch what the person on your right is discarding. You don't want to help them make CHI's
    Discard hot cards early in the game if you are not collecting them
    When late in the game, be cautious about discarding hot cards. There's a good likelihood that someone is holding a pair of them, just waiting for a 3rd.
    If your flowers are not on the table, you may want to pass up an easy CHI in the hopes the next card is your flower.
    You may want to break up your hand so that you have safe discards (cards you think no one else wants, especially if another player has a really big hand going)
    STALE MATE: No Winner, 14 cards from the end of the deck is considered dead cards. You may want to try for a STALE MATE, rather than hyave someone win the hand so that no chips are paid.
    You may try for the big hands rather than small hands. Remember the winnner of the evening is the person with the most chips, not the person who wins the most games.
    On the subject of BIG HANDS, here are some ideas.... ALL ONE SUIT WITH HOT CARDS (1 or more fans) ALL RUNS (70 or more points) ALL RUNS IN ONE SUIT (3 fans) THREE OF A KIND IN HOT CARDS (1 or more fans) ALL PONG HAND (1 fan) YOUR OWN FLOWERS (1 or more fans) TRY TO CALL MORE THAN ONE CARD(run with both sides open). THIS WAY, YOU HAVE A BETTER PROBABILITY OF RETRIEVING YOUR EAT CARD TO WIN THE GAME.

    TEXAS HOLD-EM

    "Discovered" this game back in 1990. This was when a friend of mine introduced me to "The Garden City", located here in San Jose, CA I didn't think you could gamble in CA... Boy, was I wrong. You could play card games. CA is littered with card clubs in certain counties... just not all of them. Anyway, this was the first game I ever played and have always liked the action of it, almost enough to deal it. You can play it with as few as 3 and as many as a standard deck of cards allow. (just try and find a table large enough... ) It was being played at a casino table with 8 total people. The limit games I've found around SJ were 2/4, 3/6, 6/12, 10/20, 20/40, 60/120 (I actually saw a game in Tunica, MS with the limits of 2.50/7.50.. That was weird to me.)
    The play goes a little something like this.... (Lets use the 3/6 example again)
    
    • Each player is dealt two cards, face down. If the players like their hand, they throw in $3. Depending on what the other players at the table think of their two cards, it could get raised to $6 or $9 or capped at $12, so if you are one of the early bettors, ask yourself, 'do I like my hand enough to put $3-$9 more in??'
      Better hands might be higher pairs, high suited cards (like Q-A of clubs). Players with better hands might raise the initial pot to get others that have bad hands out, so they have a better chance at the pot.

      After the inital betting is settled, the dealer "burns" one card and then "spreads" the next 3 cards. This is called "community hand". All players left over will use their two cards and combine it with the 3 that the dealer "spread" out.
      Another round of betting ensues... Anyone who thinks they have a chance to take the pot (or actually has something) makes the lower limit bet of $3. The next person can either call or fold and so on. Raising can happen here too.. All the way up to $12 again (capped)

      "The Turn" (card #4). After the pot is satisfied, another card is burned and the following is turned.
      Another round of betting, but this time, it is the higher side of the limit game, $6. This can be raised up to $24, unless there are only two players left, then the raising can go as far as need be. The game could end at this point if there is only one bettor left They don't have to show their hand either..

      "The River" (I have known many who have been burned here. They have the best hand up to here and there *ALWAYS* seems to be one player who chases and chases and then hits when you are the one that is going to take the big pot.. s/he ends up getting it) [Card #5, the last one-- first one is burned, and then next one is turned.]. Betting takes place based on how players feel about their hands. This is the last card before payout.. No more chances to fill out that busted 4 flush or missed straight. Throw them away, you aren't going to win. That Ace pair has you beat (or King, or Queen).
      Caller shows hand first, then bettor. Winner, takes entire pot.. Sometimes, there are ties.. Not too often.
      

      (Other Games I know that probably don't need explanation)

      1. Canesta
      2. Hearts
      3. Scrabble
      4. Muggins (dominos for score)
      5. Cribbage
      6. Spades-- but a friend lambasted me for not knowing the intricies of the game... Sheesh.

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      Mexican Dominos

      I learned this one just this past New Years Eve, 2001 It takes a few hours to play... You use the set that goes up to 12. Can play from 3 up to 8 players. You start with the highest double.. This one goes in the middle.. All players play off of that.
      Let's say that we're playing with 4 people...
      Each person starts off by playing their own area (if they can, otherwise, you have to draw 1 tile only, not like Muggins, where you can have a large collection. If you can't make a play on that one draw, play goes onto the next player. They make their play on their own "trail". Play continues.. If it is determined that the person who drew before, still cannot play on that number, (even after drawing) the next player over has to fill that spot before going on and adding to their "trail". Each time a player cannot continue to add to their "trail", the responsibility falls on the player following to fill it. If they cannot, they have to draw.. They cannot play on their own "trail". In addition to the 4 trails made by the 4 players, an additional "trail" can be started in which anyone can play on. It's a bail out situation just in case you can't make a play on your own "trail". First player that goes out in that round (there are as many rounds as there are numbers on the domino... 12 = 13 rounds (including the double blank). Scoring goes against the others who have dominos left after one player runs out of them. The killer is that the double blank is 50 against you, not zero. I don't think there is a set number to go up to, though, you could do that Go through all 13 rounds and see how you feel.
      
      
      

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