Anathema
Anathema Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Cards
Anathema is based on the classic card game Casino and is played with a specially-designed 52-card deck. Each card has information such as a name, picture, and flavor text that lends to the game's atmosphere, but has no direct influence on the game. Use these features to learn more about the Salem Witch Trials, although the information won't be used during the game.
The three parts of each card that are important for game purposes are the number (1 through 13), the suit (four suits - Witch, Spell, Village and Familiar), and special instructions. We'll go into detail on why each of these parts is important to game play, but for now here's a quick overview:
- The card number tells you how cards can be combined and captured, as described later in the rules.
- You may look at the suit of each card when determining which cards to capture. Capturing some card types with other card types will grant you a special effect. There are four card suits - Spell, Witch, Village and Familiar - as indicated by the icon below the card number.
- Special instructions on the bottom of the cards explain what to do when capturing specific cards, or scoring them.
Objective
The game is played in a series of rounds where players play cards from their hand to capture face-up cards from the table. After each hand, players score the cards they've captured. The first player or team to score 21 points wins.
The Basic Game
It is recommended that players play at least the first game using these basic rules. After becoming familiar with the mechanics of Anathema, players should feel free to incorporate the advanced rules.
The Deal
The player who most recently cursed (cussed) is the dealer for the first round. The dealer shuffles the cards and deals two cards face-down to each other player. He then deals two cards face-up in the center of the table, and two cards face-down to himself.
He repeats the procedure, dealing two more cards face-down to each other player, two more cards face-up in the center, and two more cards face-down to himself.
At this point each player has a four-card hand, and there are four face-up cards in the center of the table.
On their turns, players play a single card from their hands as described in the rules below. Once all four cards are played, the dealer gives each player 4 more cards, 2 at a time, but no additional cards are placed in the middle. This cycle continues until all 52 cards have been dealt and played.
When the dealer distributes the last card from the deck, he announces Last Deal. After this final round of cards is played, players score their captured cards. If no one has scored a total of 21 points, the deal passes to the player on the left. All of the cards are shuffled and dealt out as described above, with four cards face-up in the center of the table. Scoring is done when the deck is once again depleted. If no one still has 21 points, deal again passes to the left and the procedure is repeated until a winner is determined.
Play
The player to the left of the dealer goes first, and play proceeds clockwise around the table. During his turn, a player must play only one card from his hand to do one of the following actions:
- Capture one or more face-up cards from the table
- Build on one or more face-up cards on the table
- Trail a card by placing it face-up on the table
A player may never play more or less than a single card from his hand on his turn.
Capturing Cards
A player can use a card from his hand to capture a face-up card or cards from the table if that card matches the value of a card on the table, or any combination of cards on the table. Both the card from the player's hand and any captured cards are placed face-down in a capture pile in front of the player. The player may capture any number of cards that add up to the value of a card in his hand.
Example 1: Herbert uses a 10 from his hand to capture a face-up 10 on the table. He places both 10s face-down in front of him in a capture pile.
Example 2: Face-up on the table are 3, 6, 7 and 9. Herbert uses a 10 from his hand to capture the 3 and the 7. All three cards are placed face-down in his capture pile.
Example 3: Face-up on the table are 3, 6, 7 and 10. Herbert uses a 10 from his hand to capture the 3, 7 and 10. All four cards are placed face-down in his capture pile.
Sweeps
If a player captures all of the face-up cards in the center of the table, he sweeps the table. All of the captured cards are placed face-down in his capture pile as normal. Then the capturing card (from his hand) is placed face-up on his capture pile, so that when it is time to score, he can easily count the number of sweeps.
Example 4: Face-up on the table are 3, 6 and 9. Herbert uses a 9 in his hand to capture the 3 and 6, and also the 9. All three cards, plus the 9 from his hand are placed in his capture pile. The 9 from his hand is placed face-up to indicate he has swept the table.
Builds
If a player cannot capture any face-up cards on his turn, or chooses not to, he may be able to make a build that he can capture on a future turn. To do this, he places a card from his hand face-up on the table with a face-up card, or combination of face-up cards, that add up to the value of another card in his hand. Individual face-up cards on the table can be combined into a stack when creating a build, arranging the cards so that each number can be seen. He then announces that he is creating a build, and the value of that build.
It is important to note that a build can only be started if the player holds a card to capture the build.
Example 5: Face-up on the table are 2, 5 and 7. In his hand Herbert has a 5 and a 10. He places his 5 on the face-up five and announces he's creating a build of 10. If he didn't have a 10 in his hand, he could not have created the build of 10.
Example 6: Face-up on the table are 2, 3 and 7. In his hand, Herbert has a 5 and a 10. He moves the 2 and the 3 on the table together into a stack, and places the 5 from his hand on the stack, announcing a 10 build.
A player may capture another player's build on his turn with a card that matches the value of the build.
Example 7: On his turn Herbert created a 10 build with his 5 and a face-up 5, as described in the previous example. Next to play is Charlotte, who has a 10 in her hand. She uses the 10 to capture the build, and moves all three cards to her capture pile.
Instead of capturing another player's build, a player may instead add to the build by placing a card from his hand on to the build, and announcing the new value of the build. A player may only add to a build if he has a card in his hand matching the new build value he will create.
Example 8: If in the previous example, Charlotte didn't have a 10 but rather a 1 and an 11, then she could play the 1 on the build Herbert started and announce the new value of the build to be 11.
A player cannot add to a build and capture a build on the same turn; he can do one or the other.
Example 9: There are a 2, a 3 and build of 8 on the table. Charlotte has a 4 and a 10 in her hand. She is tempted to add the 2 to the 8 build and then take it with her 10. She cannot, however, since you cannot add to a build and capture it on the same turn.
Example 10: In the previous example Charlotte may instead be tempted to combine the face-up 2 with the build of 8 (announcing a 10 build that she could take next turn) and then trail the 4 from her hand (rules for trailing are described later.) This would be an illegal move, however, because at least one card added to a build must come from the player's hand.
Trailing
If a player chooses not to (or cannot) capture cards or create or add to a build on his turn, he must trail a card. Trailing a card simply means placing it face-up on the table with the other face-up cards. Play then passes to the next person.
Example 11: Mildred has 2, 5, 5 and 7 in her hand. The only card face-up on the table is a 1. She cannot capture the 1 with any of the cards in her hand, nor may she start a build since she cannot create a build whose value is that of a card in her hand. She therefore must trail a card from her hand. She chooses to trail the 5, hoping no one will take it before her next turn so that she can capture it with her other 5 or add a 2 from her hand to it next turn to start a 7 build.
If on a player's turn, there is a build that he was the last person to play on, then he may NOT trail a card. If another player has added to his build before his move, then he may trail.
Example 12: On his turn, Herbert creates a build of 10. When play gets back to Herbert, he sees that Charlotte has added a 1 to his original build of 10, so he is free to make whatever move he wants. His hand contains a 2, 10 and 13, so he could not take the modified build even if wished to. Instead, he adds to the build by playing the 2 from his hand onto the build and announces the new build value to be 13. Play goes around the table, with no one capturing the build.
On his next turn, Herbert cannot trail a card. He may take any action EXCEPT trailing (adding to the build or capturing the build.)
Scoring
Once the last player has played his final card, the player who made the last capture adds all of the face-up cards remaining on the table to his capture pile. This is not considered a sweep, so all cards are added face-down to the capture pile.
Then, each player scores points for his or her captured cards as follows:
| Scoring item | Points |
|---|---|
| Player with the most cards | 3 |
| Player with the most Familiar cards | 1 |
| Each sweep | 1 |
| Each other card with points | 1 or 2, on card |
The 'Other cards with points' have large numbers 1 or 2 on them to make them easy to spot.
Basic Rules Summary
That covers the basic rules. Remember, on a player's turn he can do one of three things:
- Capture one or more cards
- Start or add to a build
- Trail a card
The advanced rules will describe Peek, Swap and Steal as well as multiple builds and partner play.
The Advanced Game
After players are comfortable with the basic rules, they may feel free to add in these advanced rules.
Capture Rewards
There are four suits of Anathema cards, as indicated by the icon on the top right of each card: Spell, Witch, Village and Familiar. Many of the cards have symbols in the instructional area that describe a reward for capturing a particular card. These rewards are optional, but must be used immediately upon making the capture, if they are to be used at all. The rewards are described on the card in the following format:
<number> <suit> : <reward>
The card text will be something like "11a: Steal" which means that the player can Steal a card if the 11a card is captured with this card.
The rewards are:
- Peek - The player may immediately look at all of the cards in any other player's hand. The contents of that player's hand may not be shared with any other player. This effect is very useful in partner play (rules below) and also helps when determining which card to trail or which builds to start.
- Swap - The player may take a face-up card from the table and add it to his hand. He then places a card from his hand face-up on the table.
- Steal - The player may take a card at random from another player's capture pile, and add it to his own capture pile. The card must be a face-down card (i.e. not a face-up sweep card) and must be taken without looking at the cards. If no other players have cards in their capture pile, then this reward cannot be used.
Example 13: Mildred uses a 7d from her hand to capture a build containing a 3a, 4d and 7a. Her 7d card says she can use the Peek reward if she captures the 7a (7a: Peek), and so she looks at Charlotte's hand.
Multiple Builds
The builds described in the basic rules are known as single builds. Players may also perform multiple builds. A multiple build is done almost the same as a single build. A single card from a player's hand is added to a face-up card or combination of face-up cards on the table. However, where the value of a single build is the total of all the cards in the build, the value of a multiple build is the value of only some of the cards in the build. Each card in the build, or a combination of cards in the build must add up to a particular value. A multiple 5 build, for instance, consists only of 5s or combinations of cards that add up to 5. When adding up card values, each card can be counted only once. The best way to explain multiple builds is with some examples.
Example 14: Herbert combines face-up 2 and 5 with a 3 from his hand, and calls it a 5 build. In order to do this, however, Herbert must have another 5 in his hand to take the multiple build with on his next turn.
Note that unlike single builds, other players cannot change the value of a multiple build. They may, however, add to the multiple build. This is sometimes done in partner play (rules below).
Example 15: On her turn, Mildred creates a multiple 7 build. Charlotte is Mildred's partner and on her turn adds to the multiple 7 build by adding a 5 from her hand to a face-up 2 on the table, and placing both cards on Mildred's multiple 7 build. Note that even though Mildred and Charlotte are partners, Charlotte must have also have a 7 in her hand in order to add to the multiple build.
Players may capture multiple builds started by other players. It is possible to turn a single build into a multiple build.
Example 16: Face-up on the table are a 2 and a single build of 6 (consisting of two 3s.) Charlotte has a 4 and 6 in her hand. She plays her 4 on the face-up 2 and adds both cards to the 6 build, calling the new build a multiple 6 build. On Mildred's turn she takes the multiple 6 build with the 6 in her hand.
Note that when converting a single build to a multiple build, the new value of the build must be higher than the value of the single build.
Example 17: On the table is a single 7 build consisting of a 3 and a 4. There is also a 2 on the table by itself. Mildred has a 3 and a 6 in her hand. She would like to combine the 2 on the table with the 3 from her hand to the 7 build to create a multiple 6 build (3+3=6 and 4+2=6). However, since 6 is not greater than the existing value of the single build (7), she cannot do this.
Partners Play
In the four-player game, players may play as partners, with partners sitting opposite each other. During scoring, partners combine their points. All other rules from the game are the same.
Resources
The Salem Witch Trials were an incredible event in our history. One cannot hear about them without being filled with questions.
So, in addition to making Anathema a fun game to play, part of the reason we created the game was to increase your interest in the witch trials, prompting you to further investigation. The Anathema cards contain quotes from the trials and interesting historical notes. Almost all of this text was retrieved from http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft. Note that the wording we used was taken directly from the records. We did not update the cards to use modern English so as not to influence the text with our interpretation.
Other sources of card information include:
- Bernard Rosenthal, Salem Story, Reading the Witch Trials of 1692 (1993), Cambridge University Press; reprinted 1998
- Chadwick Hansen, Witchcraft at Salem (1969), George Braziller, Inc.; seventeenth printing 1998