Trick Runaway Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Game Preparation
• I. Round Preparation
• II. Trick Taking
  • Case 1
  • Case 2
  • Case 3
• Curse
• Damage
  • Example
• Changing Lead Players
• Elimination and End of Round
• Rules of Conservation
• Advice
• Easy to Forget Rules
• Card Composition

Contents

• 52 game cards in 5 suits (See Card Composition for composition)
• 5 Life Cards
• 5 Curse Cards
• 10 Escape Indicator cards (2 types x 5 cards)
• 15 Wooden Cubes
• This rulebook

Game Preparation

Deal each player a life card, a curse card, and two (distinct) Escape Indicator cards.

Place the cube on the white side of the life card at 17 (4-player game) or 15 (5-player game). This is the player's initial life. Place the cubes in the top two places on the Curse Cards (the side to be used is different for 4- and 5-player games). Do not use the Escape Indicator cards yet. Keep them nearby.

The game is played in a series of about two or three "rounds."

I. Round Preparation

Shuffle the 52 cards well and deal 13 cards to each player (10 cards for the 5-player game). Keep the cards dealt in your hand and do not allow other players to see them.

The two cards left over in the 5-player should be kept aside.

Each player chooses 3 cards from their hand (2 cards in a 5-player game) and simultaneously passes them to the player on their left.

(From here on the rules assume that the reader is familiar with trick taking games to some extent.)

II. Trick Taking

The last player to have visited a cave will be the first lead player (or use a method of your choice). From the second round onwards, the lead player is the player to the left of the player who took damage in the last trick of the previous round (see below for details).

From this point on, the trick-taking of must-follow is performed in a clockwise direction, except that it is a "two-color follow."

• The lead player plays a card of their choice.
• The player to the left of the lead player must follow with the same color as the lead player. (This is the general must-follow rule)
• If they cannot follow, they may play a card of their choice. The player after that is obligated to follow either the "lead suit" or the "second suit."
• If the player has neither, the third or fourth suit is played, but there is no following obligation on these suits. Also, this card is not subject to curses or damage as described below (so-called discard).
• However, only when a card of clubs (green) is led, there is no obligation to follow on a card of a different suit, and the card is not subject to curses/damage. (The word ONLY is drawn to indicate this).

Case 1

1. Lead player plays 8 of hearts
2. Must follow, so player pays 10 of hearts
3. Player does not have any hearts and plays 5 of clubs
4. Player must follow hearts or clubs, and plays 7 of hearts

Cursed card = 10 of hearts Damaged card = 5 of clubs

Case 2

1. Lead player plays 8 of hearts
2. Player has no hearts, so plays 11 of hats
3. Player has neither hearts nor hats, so plays 5 of clubs (discard)
4. Player must follow hearts or hats, and plays 11 of hearts

Cursed cards = 11 of hearts and 11 of hats

Case 3

1. Lead player plays 7 of clubs
2. Player has no clubs, so plays 10 of hearts (because clubs was lead there is no second suit, so this card is a discard)
3. Player must follow clubs, and plays a 5 of clubs
4. Player does not have clubs, and does not need to follow hearts, so plays a 4 of spades (discard)

After each trick, the "Curse" and "Damage" are determined and processed.

Curse

The highest rank (numerical value) played ⇒ The player who runs away too far will be cursed. (This can be more that one player)

If you receive a curse, choose one of your tracks on your Curse card and lower the cube one space.

• If you lower the "escape strategy" (left track, blue icon), the rank of the card you play will be lowered by the amount shown (making it easier to delay escape). Please remember to place the relevant escape card on the table in front of you to remember (and remind the other players) that your escape will be hindered going forward.

• If you lower your "damage mastery" (right track, red icon), you will suffer more damage from now on. If you take damage when you are at the bottom, you will die instantly and drop out (see below), no matter what the value is.

When you receive another curse, move the other cube down so that they are on the same level. Next time, move the one you like, and the next time, move the one you did not move, etc. In this way, one of the cubes should not be more than two squares from the other cube.

Damage

The player with the lowest rank (numerical value) of all cards played ⇒ Damage

The player who could not escape will be engulfed in flames and take damage. The amount of damage is the sum of the rank of the card you are playing and the damage modifier on the right side of your Curse card.

The initial state of a 4-player game is 2 less damage than the card's rank. The damage is based on the rank of the card itself. The amount of damage is not reduced by your escape strategy level (the left side of your Curse card).

More than one card may fall under the both the highest and lowest ranks. In that case, all applicable persons will be cursed or damaged.

Example

Player A has played a 7 of hearts. Player B has played the 5 of clubs. Player A has been cursed 3 times already and their escape modifier is on -2 and their damage modifier is on +3.

Since Player A is cursed to run away, their rank is treated as "5," and they and Player B both receive the same amount of damage. Player A's damage modifier is "+3," so 7+3=10 damage.

Player B has not yet been cursed. The damage modifier is "-2," so 5-2=3 damage.

Changing Lead Players

The next lead player is not the winner of the trick! The next lead player is the player to the left of the player who took damage this time.

If more than one player is damaged, the new lead player is the player furthest to the left of the current lead player.

Repeat the trick, curse, and damage process.

Elimination and End of Round

A player who loses all of their life as a result of damage is eliminated from the round. The eliminated player places their cards face down on the table and can no longer play in this round.

If the eliminated player's Life card is on the white side, they flip it over to the black side and will have 1 extra life point going forward.

If the eliminated player's Life card is on the black side, they have been Completely Eliminated (everyone has two lives) and the game is over.

If two or more players are eliminated (even if there are still cards in hand), the round ends.

The round also ends if all tricks have been performed and all cards in the hand have been played.

If someone is Completely Eliminated at the end of a round, all surviving players win! As long as there is life, that is all that matters.

If there is no Complete Elimination, then the players return to I. Round Preparation and start a new round. All players reset their Curse tracks.

Rules of Conservation

• The rank may take a negative value as a result of a curse that lowers the escape value, in which case it is treated as "0." If you participate in the trick with a rank of "0," you will be damaged, so please be careful.
• If a player is cursed and cannot lower their cube any more, they are Completely Eliminated from the game (i.e. they have been cursed 7 times).
• If only one player or no players are eliminated after all tricks, the player with the least life among the survivors will be eliminated due to exhaustion.
• When the highest and lowest values are of the same rank (i.e. only one type of value is valid due to various factors), you will, of course, receive both curse and damage. Please deal with curses and damage in that order.
• Cards that have already been played should be discarded in the center of the table.
• Since there is a possibility that more than one player may be eliminated at a time with a single trick, it is possible that more than three players may be eliminated in total.

Advice

• Curses may be more frightening than small damages in the early to mid game. It is also a good strategy to take damage and move to the back of the hand.
• In the endgame, you don't have many options in your hand. It is a good idea to keep some high-ranked cards in your hand for escape.
• If you have a chance to inflict heavy damage on someone, do it without hesitation; just drop a couple of players from the game before you drop out.
• The lead in clubs can be an unexpectedly high rank that becomes the lowest.

Easy to Forget Rules

• The first three cards (two in a five-player game) are passed to the left.
• The second suit played must also be followed if you cannot follow the first. When you lead with clubs, there is no must-follow second suit.
• Curses move the left and right cubes down evenly.
• Slowed "run-away" does not affect damage calculations.
• Leading is to the left of the damaged player (and furthest left if there is more than one damaged player).

Card Composition

Clubs	Hearts	Spades	Diamonds	Hats
20
15	15	15
			14
13	13	13
13	13	13	13	13
12