Odyssey
Odyssey Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
Odyssey is a trick-taking game for 3 to 4 players. Players must win an exact number of tricks to make progress on their voyage. The number of different types of offerings they collect determines how far they advance. The first player to reach their homeland wins the game.
Components & Setup
40 playing cards, 9 Favor tokens, 1 game board, 4 scoring markers
Place the game board at the center of the table and position all scoring markers at the starting point (Troy). Shuffle the deck and deal 7 cards to each player. Each player receives Favor tokens: 3 tokens each in a 3-player game and 2 tokens each in a 4-player game. Place the remaining deck face down in the Olympus area below the board and reveal four cards face up. Randomly determine the first dealer.
Gameplay
A round consists of 10 tricks in a 3-player game and 9 tricks in a 4-player game.
The lead player plays a card first, and play proceeds clockwise. On their turn, players must either play a card from their hand or spend a Favor token to play a card from Olympus instead.
If a player has used all their Favor tokens, they may no longer play from Olympus. Conversely, if they run out of hand cards, they must play using Favor tokens and Olympus. If a card from Olympus is played, after the trick ends, reveal cards from the deck to refill Olympus to four face-up cards.
If a player has a card matching the lead suit in either their hand or Olympus, they must follow suit. If the chosen location (hand or Olympus) contains a valid card, they must play it. However, they are not required to choose the location with the lead suit - this means they may intentionally pick the other location to avoid following suit.
Once all players have played a card, the trick is resolved. The player who played the strongest card wins the trick and leads the next one.
- If any Trump suit cards were played, the highest Trump card wins.
- If no Trump cards were played, the highest card in the lead suit wins the trick.
- When a Favor token is used to play from Olympus, the suit of that card becomes the Trump suit for this trick. If multiple players use Favor tokens to play different suits from Olympus, the suit of the most recently played Olympus card becomes the Trump suit.
Scoring & Victory Conditions
At the end of the round, players who have won the exact number of required tricks (3 tricks in a 3-player game and 2 tricks in a 4-player game.) move their scoring marker forward by the number of different suits they have collected (1-4 spaces). Players who did not win the exact number of tricks do not advance.
The first player to reach 9 points (Ithaca) wins the game.
If multiple players reach Ithaca in the same round, the player with the higher score wins. If scores are tied, the player who advanced the most in the final round wins. If still tied, the victory is shared.
If no player has won, shuffle all cards, redistribute them accordingly, and distribute Favor tokens. The player who won the final trick in the previous round becomes the new lead player for the next round.