Trick'n Trouble: Fangt Doc Crazy!
Trick'n Trouble: Fangt Doc Crazy! Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 27 playing cards: 21 single-colour cards, 7 each in 3 colours (Blue, Green, Yellow), numbered from 3 to 9; 3 double-colour cards; 3 triple-colour joker cards.
- 27 task cards in 3 difficulty levels (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3).
- 3 turn summary cards, each showing the turn sequence:
- Fill Up Tasks
- Fill Up Hand
- Pass Card (optional)
- Switch Task (optional)
- Play Trick
- Fulfil Tasks
- 1 lead player card.
Goal
Trick 'n Trouble is a cooperative trick-taking game. You can only win together.
You must fulfil tasks, as each task means you have snatched one important item from Doc Crazy. You receive points depending on their importance to the big plan. The goal is to get at least 40 points in 9 rounds to foil the sinister scheme of Doc Crazy.
Communication
You may only talk in limited ways in this game. You may not tell anyone the cards you have or don't have in your hand. You may not say which tasks you want to fulfil or which makes the most sense.
Setup
- Separate the task cards by level. Shuffle each of them separately and place them in the middle of the table. Flip up 3 cards of Level 1, and 1 card each of Level 2 and Level 3.
- Shuffle the remaining playing cards. Deal 5 face down to each player. Place the remaining cards as a draw pile on the table. Leave some space next to it for the discard pile.
- Each player gets a summary card.
- Whoever got the most recent delivery notification for a package is the first lead player and gets the lead player card.
Turn Overview
The game is played over 9 rounds. Each round has the following sequence.
- Fill Up Tasks
- Fill Up Hand
- Pass Card (optional)
- Switch Task (optional)
- Play Trick
- Fulfil Tasks
Phase 1 - Fill Up Tasks
If there are less then 5 face-up tasks, the lead player draws new tasks until there are 5 face-up tasks in the middle. You may chose any level for each new task you draw. Skip this phase in the first round.
Phase 2 - Fill Up Hand
Each player draws up to five cards. Skip this phase in the first round. If the draw pile is empty skip this phase for the rest of the game.
Phase 3 - Pass Card (optional)
The lead player may choose to pass a card. Chose any 1 of your cards in hand and give it face down to the player to your left. That player puts the card in their hand and now has to pass a card face-down as well to the next player; that can be any one card in their hand, even the card they just got from you.
You don't have to play this phase, but if you play it, each player has to pass a card. The last player also takes the card in their hand and has to pass a card face-down back to you. You should all have the same number of cards in your hand now.
Phase 4 - Switch Task (optional)
If you dislike any of the 5 face-up tasks, you may, as the lead player, put 1 task face-down at the bottom of its pile. Then draw 1 new task of any level as a replacement.
This phase is optional and you don't have to play it.
Phase 5 - Play Trick
The lead player now chooses any card from their hand and plays it face-up.
Going clockwise, the other players now also have to play 1 card from their hand. They have to stick to some rules for this:
If they have the same colour in their hand as the card you just played, they have to follow your lead and play one card of that colour as well. If they have no card of that colour in their hand, they can freely chose to play any card from their hand.
Then you check: who played the highest card in the leading colour? That player becomes the new lead player, now. Pass him the lead player card!
If two players played the highest card, the player who played their card first becomes the new lead player.
The double colour cards
The three 2s are double-coloured.
A 2 follows any trick, which leads with any of its colours. If that is the only card of that colour on your hand, you have to play it.
If a 2 is leading a trick, the other players can follow with any of the 2 colours. Each player can freely choose and play either of them or even another 2.
The joker cards
They are triple-coloured and have special rules. You may always play them, even if you have other cards on your hand to follow the lead.
Even if you can follow the lead with a 1, you don't have to and you can play any other card from your hand.
If a trick is lead with a 1, the other players can play any card they wish.
Phase 6 - Fulfil Tasks
With the three cards from one trick, you may now fulfil tasks. Sum up the numbers in each colour for that. Collect each task that you can fulfil (or over-fulfil) with the trick. Totals can be used across multiple tasks.
Then put the cards from the trick face up on the discard pile. You may look through that pile and sort it any way whenever you want.
Place fulfiled tasks on a scorepile.
End of Game
After the ninth round, the players will have played all the cards and the game is over.
Add up the points you scored on all fulfiled tasks and see if you managed to prevent Doc Crazy from completing his evil plan.
- 0 - 19 points: A good effort but the World is lost now!
- 20 - 29 points: There may still be hope - do better next time!
- 30 - 39 points: Fallen at the final hurdle?! It's only a matter of time before you succeed!
- 40 - 49 points: Huzzah! You did it! But has the Doc gone forever?
- 50+ points: The world can live in peace. You made it.
Expert Mode
In expert mode there are two rules changes.
First, you always skip Phase 4.
And second, all played tricks are placed face down back into the box, and may not be looked at again.
Story Mode
In the story mode, there are two rules changes.
First, after the inital setup, stack the three tasks cards on each other into a big pile. The players can no longer choose which pile they want to draw from, but always have to draw the top task from that pile. They can still switch a task in phase 4, unless they also play in expert mode.
And second, it is no longer important how many points you collected. Only the number of fulfiled tasks counts.
- 0 - 9 Tasks: A good effort but the World is lost now!
- 10 - 14 Tasks: There may still be hope - do better next time!
- 15 - 18 Tasks: Fallen at the final hurdle?! It's only a matter of time before you succeed!
- 19 - 22 Tasks: Huzzah! You did it! But has the Doc gone forever?
- 23 - 26 Tasks: The world can live in peace. You made it.
- 27 Tasks: Did you use a game guide?