3 Tricky Pigs
3 Tricky Pigs Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
62 playing cards, 20 bidding cards, and 5 reminder cards.
Object of the Game
Win the most points after 4 rounds of play.
Set Up
Make the deck you will use for the game depending on player count.
- In a 3 player game, remove all 3's, 6's, 9's, 13's, 16's, 19's, 23's, 26's, and 29's (there are 2 copies of each of these cards). Remove all cards marked with a player-count die: the die showing 4-and-5 icon, and the die showing the 5 icon. 24 total cards removed.
- In a 4 player game, remove just one copy each of the 3's, 6's, 9's, 13's, 16's, 19's, 23's, 26's, and 29's. Remove all cards marked with the 5-player die icon, include cards marked with the 4-and-5-player die icon. 12 total cards removed.
- In a 5 player game, use the entire deck. Include all cards. No cards removed.
- Shuffle the constructed deck and deal 12 cards to each player.
- 2 cards will be undealt at all player counts.
- Give each player a set of bidding cards consisting of Sleep, Play, Work, and Eat.
- You're ready to start the game!
Gameplay
Before the first trick, players consult their hands and decide which bid they would like to try for. Players pick the card that denotes their bid and keep it face down in front of them. Place unused bid cards to the side so they are not confused with the selected cards. Once each player has chosen a bid card, the first trick can begin.
There are 4 types of bids available to players. Sleep, where a player is trying to win 0 tricks, Play to win 2 tricks, Work to win 3 or more tricks, and Eat, where a player is attempting to win the most tricks of any player.
The starting player is the laziest player in the first round. In future rounds, the first trick will be led by the player who won the last trick of the previous round. The first trick of a round must be led with a card with a pig on it, and not a wolf card.
To lead a trick, a player chooses any pig card in their hand and lays it in front of them face up so all players can see. Play continues clockwise with each player also playing a card face up until all players have played a card or cards and then the trick is evaluated to determine which player won.
Wolf cards can lead a trick after the wolf suit has been "broken". To break the wolf suit, one player must play a wolf card when following in a trick they do not have a card that can follow the lead suit. After that, for the rest of the round, wolf cards may be played as the lead card to a trick.
Huff and Puff cards may not be played alone, instead they are only used as card modifiers to pig and wolf cards. When a player plays their wolf or pig card, they may additionally play a huff and/or a puff card. You may play one or the other or a combination of one huff and one puff card. The huff and puff cards give a bonus to the rank of the card that player has played. For instance if a player plays a 7 and adds a +3 puff card, their card is now treated as a 10.
3 Tricky Pigs is a must follow game, which means whatever suit the first card of a trick is, other players must play a card of the same suit if they have one. If a player does not have a card of the matching suit, they may play any card in their hand.
The lowest card of the trick wins the trick if there are NO wolf cards in the trick. The laziest pig got away with being lazy!
If ANY number of wolf cards have been played to the trick, the highest card will win instead. Either the wolf won or your house was strong enough to withstand the wolf. If multiple players tie for the win, the last played card wins the tie.
The winner of the trick collects the trick as one won trick facedown to keep track of for the round. Then the winner of the trick leads a new pig card and a new trick begins.
Players may lead wolf cards once at least one wolf card has been played to a trick or if the player has no pig cards in their hand.
If at the start of a trick a player's hand has no wolf or pig cards, the round immediately ends. NOTE: Due to huff and puff cards in hands, rounds can vary in length of the number of total tricks played, but it's usually 6-10 tricks.
Scoring
Players score 1 point for each trick they won, then lose 1 point for each huff and/or puff card in their hand. Additionally a successful Sleep bid earns 12 points, a successful Play bid earns 7 points, a successful Work bid earns 3 points, and a successful Eat bid earns an additional 2 points per trick won.
After scoring, if this was the 4th round, the player with the most points wins the game. If it was not the 4th round, take all the cards, shuffle and deal a new hand of 12 cards to players and the first player to lead a trick is the one who won the last full trick of the previous round.
End of the Game
The player with the most points wins the game. If players tie for the most points, the player who won the most points in the final hand wins. If there is still a tie, players share the win.
Examples
Player 1 plays a 5, player 2 follows suit and plays a 10 plus a +5 puff, player 3 also follows suit and plays a 2. Because no wolf was played, the 2 wins.
Player 1 plays a 5, player 2 follows suit and plays a 10 plus a +5 puff, player 3 cannot follow suit and plays a 14. Because no wolf was played, the 10 +5 wins since it is the highest card played.
Player 1 plays a 21, player 2 cannot follow suit and plays an 8, player 3 follows suit and plays a 28, finally player 4 cannot follow suit and plays an 8 as well. Player 4 will win with the twig 8 because no wolf was played and since there is a tie, it goes to the last played card.
Variants
- Little Pigs Variant: For beginner players, remove the bidding cards and negative points for left over huff and puff cards. Players simply win 1 point per trick they win.
- Chinny Chin Chin Variant: During setup, remove the 0 and 31 wolf cards. There will be 0 undealt cards during play.
- Tricky Bids Variant: Remove the bidding cards. To bid at the start of the hand, players place one card from their hand facedown, the suit of the card they choose determines their bid. Straw = Sleep, Sticks = Play, Bricks = Work, Wolf = Eat.