Matchmakers
Matchmakers Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
MATCHMAKERS a team-based, must-follow trick-taking game. Each team aims to collect specific cards in order to form scoring sets.
At the beginning of each round, players exchange cards with their respective partner and then play a series of tricks. At the end of each trick, some animal cards will be placed in the campsite. A round ends when one player runs out of cards in hand. Collected cards are then pooled by team and scoring takes place.
2 or 4 players / Ages 14 / 15–20 min
Components
- 52 playing cards in 4 suits, ranked 1 to 9 with all even-numbered cards doubled (1, 2★, 2☾, 3, 4★, 4☾, 5, 6★, 6☾, 7, 8★, 8☾, 9) – referred as adventurous animal
- 4 special trump cards (2, 4, 6, 8) in tarot size – referred as the mountain guides
Setup
The game is played as a team battle of 2 VS 2 players. Each team member should sit across from each other, so that both of your opponents sit next to you.
There are 3 different areas to play:
- The mountain guide office: Place the 4 trump cards aside in a separate area. They will not be dealt with the other cards.
- The campsites (one per team): Arrange 2 empty scoring areas where each team will collect their animal cards during the tricks.
- The matchmaking place: Where the tricks are played
Shuffle the 52 cards and deal 13 cards face down to each player. The Dealer will be the first player (only in the first round)
Gameplay Flow
Exchanging Cards
The card exchange differs from traditional team based Trick taking games.
In each team, one player initiates the exchange by giving 3 cards face down to their partner. The partner looks at them and must return 3 cards of the same colour distribution as those initially received.
Example: Player A gives an 8 Red, 5 red and 2 blue. Their partner must return 2 red cards and 1 blue card.
Note: If a player receives a colour they did not originally have in hand, they must return the exact same card in order to keep respecting the rule.
This exchange allows players to share cards and information without being able to short suit their hand.
Trick Taking Phase
Starting with the lead player and proceeding clockwise, each player plays one card face up from their hand. Once all players have played a card, the trick is resolved. The winner of the trick leads the next one. This process continues until one player has played their last card. Teams then proceed to scoring.
MATCHMAKERS is a must follow may trump trick taking game. Players must follow the lead suit/colour if possible. If they cannot, they may play any suit/colour. Trump cards are special and may be played even if the player could follow the lead suit (see details in section Trump rules).
Trick Resolution
1. Determining the Loser of the Trick - "Recruiting a Mountain Guide"
The loser is the player who played the weakest card in the trick.
- If all players followed suit, the lowest ranked card is the weakest
- If they didn't: an off-suit card is always considered weaker than any card of the leading suit
- In case of a tied weaker cards, the card played first is considered weaker
Only if the weakest card has a value corresponding to a trump value (so 2, 4, 6, or 8), the loser may take the corresponding trump card and place it face up in front of them (not in hand) to be played on a future turn.
They may either: take the trump card from the mountain guide office or steal the trump card from another player if already collected previously.
Example: Lead player A initiates the trick with an 8 red. Player B follows suit with a 2 red. Player C and D don't have any red and play respectively a 4 green and a 4 blue. The loser of the trick is then player C who has the possibility to collect the 4 trump which is currently owned by player A.
2. Determining the Winner of the Trick - "Gathering Your Adventurers"
The winner is the player who plays the strongest card in the trick
- If no trump card was played: it's the highest ranked card of the lead suit
- If a trump card is played, it is considered stronger than any card of the lead suit regardless of its value
The winner of the trick must choose a played card of the trick except for their own card and add it to the team's scoring pile. The other cards of the trick are discarded. The winner of the trick then leads to the next trick.
Example: Following the previous example, Player A wins the trick with a 8 red as it is the highest of the lead suit. He cannot collect his own card so he decides to collect the 4 green (played by his partner player C)
3. Matchmaking ★☾
Each suit has its even-numbered values doubled as ★☾.
During a trick, if a player plays a card with the exact same suit and value as one already in play, they create a Matchmaking ★☾. The trick ends immediately even if not all players have played a card in that trick.
The two matching cards ★☾ are discarded immediately from the trick. And any other cards already in play are added to the scoring piles of their respective players.
There is no evaluation of a winner or loser so no trump can be collected. The later player who caused the Matchmaking leads the next trick.
Note: If a trump is present during a Matchmaking, it is returned to the mountain guide office (because trumps can never be added to the scoring).
End of Round and Scoring
When a player runs out of cards in hand, the round ends and scoring begins.
Note: A player could be running out of cards in hands but still have trumps in front of them as trumps don't count as being part of a player hand.
Each team combines the cards collected during the trick-taking phase and arranges them to form scoring sets. A card may only be used in one set. Scoring sets can either be:
- making a couple ★☾: 2 cards of the same colour and value
- making buddies: 3 or 4 cards of the same value in strictly different colours.
Each card used in a valid set scores points equal to its value.
Any card that cannot be included in a valid set scores negative points equal to its value.
Any trump cards still held by a team at the end of the round score negative points equal to twice their value.
Trump Rules
Trump cards are not dealt at the start of the game.
They can only be collected by the loser of a trick.
Trumps are placed face up in front of a player, not kept in hand.
A player may play a trump even if they are able to follow suit.
Trumps always beat any non-Trump card.
If a trick is led with a trump, the next player may play any card; that card determines the lead suit.
After being played, a trump returns to the Mountain Guide office.
If multiple trumps are played in the same trick, the winner cannot collect the other trump cards. In the very rare case where all four trumps are played in the same trick, the trick is just discarded
Example: The first player leads with a 9 Red. The next player follows with a 4 Red. The third player has red cards in hand but chooses to play his 8 trump card instead. The last player with no Red cards left plays a 3 green.
Trick loser: the 3 Green because it is off-suit. Unfortunately, 3 is not a trump value so no trump can be collected.
Trick winner: the 8 Trump. His owner chooses the 4 Red and adds it to their scoring pile.
The 8 Trump returns to the mountain guide office while the 3 and 9 are discarded.
End of the Game
After scoring, add each team's points to their total from the previous round. If there is a difference of at least 30 points between the teams, the game ends, and the team with the highest total score wins.
Otherwise, another round is played. The starting player will be from the team who has the current highest score, specifically the player who initiates the next card exchange in that team.
After 3 rounds, if no team has reached a 30-point difference, the team with the highest total score wins. If both teams are tied, the victory is shared.
Variant 2-player Game
This is a variant rule to play MATCHMAKERS with 2 players. We recommend reading and understanding the base game rules first.
Set Up
Follow the same steps as in a 4 player game but deal only 8 cards to each player. Then deal 9 cards face down in a 3×3 square in front of each player, and place 9 cards face up on top of them. This is called the straw pile.
Each player should have 8 cards in hand and 18 cards in their straw pile. You may not look at the face-down cards in your straw pile.
Trick Taking Phase
The game is played in the same way as the base game except that the face-up cards in your straw pile are considered to be part of your hand. So players may lead and follow using both their regular hand and the face-up cards of their straw pile.
Each player plays 2 cards per trick. The lead player starts by playing a card from their hand (or straw pile). The opponent must then follow suit according the base game rules. Next, the lead player plays a second card in the trick, and then the opponent does the same. In total, four cards are played in each trick—two from each players' hands and/or straw pile.
At the end of a trick, if a face-down card in your straw pile has no card on top of it, reveal it. The newly revealed card is now considered part of your hand.
Trick resolution, end of round, scoring and trump rules are identical to those in the 4-player game.
Designer's Note
Yokai septet has been a mind-blowing discovery for me. It has the perfect blend of accessibility, depth of gameplay and tension. I wanted to create a game in the same spirit where you aim to not only collect the 7s but also to build various sets based on the flow of play.
I also incorporated some trump elements from Jass, a traditional game from my home country, Switzerland. Finally, the matchmaking mechanism is inspired by the excellent game Bannish, released at TGM a few years ago.
Thanks to everyone for the inspiration!