Cheez-Tricks
Cheez-Tricks Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Content
- 40 cheese cards (1-10 in 4 types: Swiss, Roquefort, Parmesan, and Brie)
- 50 cat cards
- 4 trump indicator cards
- 1 tracking card
- 1 starting player token
Game Objective
Earn points by getting as many tricks as possible while avoiding the cats. Alternatively, risk everything and face all the cats of the round for a big haul!
Rules for 3 to 5 players
Setup
Initially, separate the cards that will be used in the game.
- Cheese cards: if you are playing with 3 players, remove the "10" card of each cheese (use a total of 36 cards). For 4 or 5 players, use the entire deck (40 cards).
- Cat cards: Cat cards have a marking in the lower-right corner that indicates the player count in which they are used. Select specific cards according to the number of players. If they do not have any type of marking, they are always used.
Difficulty Levels
Players can choose the difficulty level according to their experience:
- House Cat: for players new to trick-taking games, or for their first games, we suggest removing all Orange Cat cards and Grey Cat cards "+9" and "+10".
- Wild Cat: if you already have experience playing trick-taking games or are looking for a greater challenge, use all the cards.
Separately, shuffle each one of the two decks and place them face down in the center of the table.
Distribute the entire cheese deck among the players:
- 12 cards for 3 players;
- 10 cards for 4 players;
- 8 cards for 5 players.
Everyone can see their own cards but not those of other players.
Reveal 3 cat cards by placing them next to each other on the table.
Shuffle the 4 trump indicator cards and reveal one of them. This card indicates the trump suit for the round.
The tracking card is used to let players know which trick of the round they are on. Use the back of one of the unused trump cards to track the current trick number (1-6 front / 7-12 back). More experienced players can play without using this card.
The starting player is the one who most recently ate a cheese plate. Give him the starting player token.
Concepts of the game
Cheez-Tricks follows the traditional mechanics of a trick-taking game, which encompasses some key concepts:
- Trick: consists of each player playing a single card in the center of the table. The set of all cards played by players is called a trick.
- Must follow: players must follow the suit of the first card played. In Cheez-Tricks, suits are different types of cheese, so each player must play a card of the same type of cheese played by the first player. If they don't have one, they can play any card.
- Trump: a suit that is stronger than all the others. In each round of Cheez-Tricks, one type of cheese will be designated as the Trump suit. Players may only play a trump card if they cannot "follow" (play a card of the same suit as the first player's card), or if the first player starts with a trump card. Trump cards are stronger than cards of any other suit and always win the trick. If more than one trump card is played, the highest trump card wins.
Who wins the trick?
If no trump card is played, the trick winner is the card with the highest number of the same suit (cheese) as the card played by the starting player. If any trump card is played, the highest card of the trump suit wins the trick. Cards of other suits, other than the initial or trump, are disregarded.
The Game
The starting player must play any one of the cards in their hand. In clockwise order, each other player must then play one card from their hand of the same cheese as the first card. If they don't have any cards of that cheese, they can play any card. The trick ends when each player has played exactly one card.
Determine who won the trick. The winner collects all the cards and places them in front of them, in a pile, facing down, and starts a new trick. Each player must form separate piles in front of them for each trick they win, allowing all players to know how many tricks each player won.
Example 1: Jerry starts the trick by playing Brie 7. Pinky plays Brie 5, Remy plays Brie 9, and Minnie plays Brie 2. Remy wins the trick, as he played the highest card of the cheese that started the trick (Brie).
Example 2: Since Remy won the previous trick, he starts by playing a Parmesan 6. Minnie plays a Parmesan 8. Jerry doesn't have Parmesan and plays a Roquefort 9. Pinky also doesn't have Parmesan and plays a Brie 3. As the trump suit of the round is Swiss Cheese, which was not played, Minnie wins the trick having played the highest card of the same cheese that started the trick (Parmesan).
Example 3: Minnie plays a Parmesan 1. Jerry doesn't have Parmesan and plays a Gorgonzola 10. Neither does Pinky, and he plays a Swiss 2, which is the trump suit. Remy doesn't have any Parmesan either and plays a Swiss 6. Remy wins the trick, having played the highest trump card.
The round continues until all players have played all their cards. The scoring of the round then takes place (see Scoring).
For the next round, shuffle the cheese cards and deal them to the players again. Discard the used cat cards and reveal three new cat cards. Pass the starting player token to the left and start a new round.
From the second round onwards, the trump suit will be chosen by the player who has the least points, after everyone has seen their cards. If there is a tie, the one who is the farthest from the starting player, clockwise, will choose the trump suit. Reveal the chosen trump indicator card.
The Cats
Each round, three cats will capture players who meet certain criteria. In case of a tie, all tied players are captured! Cat cards are distributed in the following types:
Cats resolved immediately: these cats are resolved during the round, immediately, when the criteria is met.
- Black Cat: the player who wins a certain trick will be captured. Example: the player who wins the seventh trick of the round will be captured.
- White Cat: the first player to win a certain number of tricks will be captured. Example: the first player to win 3 tricks will be captured.
- Siamese Cat: the player who takes the displayed card will be captured. Example: the player who takes the Parmesan 7 in a trick will be captured.
For cats resolved immediately, when a player is captured, immediately give the corresponding cat to that player.
Cats resolved at the end of the round: these cats are resolved at the end of the round, after all other cards have been played.
- Grey Cat: the player who owns the most of a certain type of card will be captured. Example: the player with the most 8 cards will be captured.
- Orange Cat: the player who owns the least of a certain type of card will be captured. Example: the player with the least Brie cards will be captured.
- Tuxedo Cat (Black and White): the player who won exactly a certain number of tricks will be captured. Example: the player who won exactly 3 tricks will be captured.
Remember! If more than one player is tied for any cat card, all the tied players will be captured!
House Cat: we suggest leaving the cards relevant to the resolved cats exposed (open) at the end of the trick. If one of the cats revealed is the Grey Cat "8", for example, leave all the "8" captured cards face up, in front of the player who captured it. Don't forget to keep the other cards grouped into tricks, so that the total number of tricks won by the player is not lost.
Wild Cat: if you already have experience in trick-taking games, all cards must be face down in their respective stacks, and you must rely on memory. Nobody said it would be easy!
Example 4: During the round, Jerry won the 5th trick and was captured by the black cat. Remy won the trick containing Roquefort 8 and was captured by the Siamese cat. At the end of the round, both Remy and Minnie had picked up two "6" cards each, and they were both captured by the grey cat.
Example 5: During the round, Pinky was the first to win 2 tricks and was captured by the white cat. At the end of the round, Minnie was the only one who didn't pick up any number 3 cards, and was captured by the orange cat. Both Jerry and Minnie ended with exactly 3 tricks, and both were captured by the tuxedo cat.
Scoring
The scoring for each player is tallied accordingly to the numbers of tricks won, and the number of cats that captured them.
- If the player was not captured by any cat, each trick is worth 2 points;
- If the player was captured by one cat, each trick is worth 1 point;
- If the player is captured by two cats, each trick is worth 0 points (his round score will be zero);
However, if a player is captured by all three cats, they confront them, the cats become confused, fight each other, and the player emerges unharmed! For your immense bravery and courage, each trick won is worth 3 points!
| Captured by: | Points per trick: |
|---|---|
| 0 cats | 2 points |
| 1 cat | 1 point |
| 2 cats | 0 points |
| 3 cats | 3 points |
Example 6: At the end of the round, Jerry won 3 tricks and was not captured by any cat, scoring 6 points. Pinky won 2 tricks and was captured by a cat, scoring 2 points. Remy and Minnie were captured by 2 cats each, and both do not score points, regardless of the number of tricks they have, as each trick is worth zero points.
Example 7: At the end of the round, Jerry won 3 tricks and was captured by 1 cat, scoring 3 points. Pinky won 3 tricks and was not captured by any cat, scoring 6 points. Remy was not captured by any cats, but he did not win any tricks, scoring 0 points. Minnie won 4 tricks, and was captured by all 3 cats! She showed a lot of guts, confused the cats, escaped, and scored 12 points!
At the end of each round, record each player's points before moving on to the next.
End of Game
The game ends when the total number of rounds played is equal to the number of players (3 rounds with 3 players, 4 rounds with 4 players, etc). Whoever scores the most points is the big winner! If there is a tie, the tied player with the highest score in a single round is the winner! If there is still a tie, the victory is shared (or you play one more game to find out who is the best!).
Rules for 2 players
Setup the game the following way:
- Use cheese cards of values 1-7 (28 cards in total) and cat cards that correspond to 2 players.
- Shuffle the cheese cards and deal 10 cards to each player. The remaining 8 cards are placed face down in a corner of the table and will not be used in the round.
- Shuffle the cat cards and reveal 3 cards.
- Give the first player token to one of the players.
During the game, follow the normal game dynamics for 3 to 5 players. At the end of four rounds, add up the points. The player with the most points is the winner! If there is a tie, the one who scores the most points in a single round wins.
Consider that some of the cheese cards are not in play when developing your strategy for the round!
Thanks
Fel Barros e Fábio Tola, for the initial push and fundamental suggestions in the development of the game. Tato Iazul e Bárbara Côrtes for coordinating several playtest sessions and providing valuable contributions. To feline models Pudim (Siamese), Gigi (Grey), Cookie (Black), Nala (Orange), Abel (Tuxedo) e Snow (White) who inspired the game's illustrations. All friends (and biribeiros!) who participated in the in-person or online testing sessions with me and gave important suggestions for the game (I won't name each one of you as there are many). Special thanks to the international Martin "Shobu", Inuka J., Adelle Frank, Shreesh B., Bryce Carter who, in addition to participating in the playtests, continually introduced me to new trick-taking games (classic and traditional). And to everyone who collaborated on this craziness of making a self-published game and financially supported this production, my sincere thanks. This game would not be produced without your support.
Credits
- Designer: Mauricio Torselli
- Artwork: Luís Felipe Ruiz
- Graphic Design: Marcelo Groo
- Rules: Mauricio Torselli
- English Rules: Michael Ladror
- Game Development: Fel Barros, Fábio Tola, Tato Iazul e Bárbara Côrtes