Tricky Landing Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Objective
• Game Setup
• Round Setup
• How to Play
• Trump Suit
• Resolving Cards Touching the Target Card
• Resolving a Trick on the Target Card
• Example With No Trump Suit
• Cards Connected to the Target Card Form One Trick
• Cards Not Touching the Target Card
• Resolving Face-Down Cards in a Trick
• Lead Player of the Next Trick
• End of Round
• End of Game

Components

• 50 clown cards (numbers 1 to 10 in each of 5 suits)
• 1 target card
• 1 first player card

Objective

In this follow trick-taking game, each player throws one clown card at the target card. If a card lands well, it becomes part of a trick. The order in which the cards land decides the lead suit. If a throw misses the target, the trump suit for the next trick is set. However, if several players miss, everyone is penalized, so be careful!

Play 3 rounds, then decide which daring clown gave the best performance.

Game Setup

Choose the cards to use according to the number of players. Return the remaining cards to the box.

• 3 players: clown cards 1-8 of each suit
• 4 players: clown cards 1-9 of each suit
• 5 players: clown cards 1-10 of each suit
• 6 players: clown cards 1-10 of each suit

The starting player of the first round is the player who was most recently fired from a cannon, or is chosen another way (for example, the youngest player). Give that player the first player card. The player to the right of that player is the dealer for the first round.

Round Setup

Place the target card in the middle of the play area, equidistant from all players.

The dealer takes the clown cards, shuffles them, and deals them face down, starting with the starting player and going clockwise. The number of cards dealt to each player depends on the number of players:

• 3 players: 12 cards each
• 4 players: 11 cards each
• 5 players: 9 cards each
• 6 players: 8 cards each

Place any remaining cards face down beside the play area to form the discard pile.

Players may look at and sort their own cards. Hands must not be shown to other players.

Tip: Before the game starts, it is recommended that all players practice throwing cards at the target card a few times.

How to Play

Each round is played as a series of mini-games called tricks.

Starting with the starting player and going clockwise, each player chooses one card from their hand and places it with the face toward themselves, about 30 cm away from the target card. Any suit and any number may be chosen. Then the player throws the card onto the table.

Once each player has thrown one card, the trick ends and is resolved.

Trump Suit

The trump suit is the strongest suit. In the trump suit, the card with the highest number wins the trick. A trump card beats cards of the other suits regardless of number.

Example of trump: Yellow is the trump suit, and these two cards are played. The yellow 1 beats the pink 6, because the trump suit is stronger.

Example with no trump in the first trick: The first trick has no trump suit.

Resolving Cards Touching the Target Card

A card that touches the target card directly, or touches it through another clown card, is part of the trick. The winner of the trick takes all the cards touching it and places them face down in front of themselves.

Resolving a Trick on the Target Card

Tricks are resolved as follows.

One trick on the target card:

• The card that first touches the target card decides the lead suit of that trick.
• The highest-ranked trump card wins the trick. If no trump card was played, the highest-ranked card of the lead suit wins the trick.
• The winner of the trick takes all cards touching the target card and places them face down in front of themselves.

Example: The yellow 3 is the first card touching the target card, so yellow is the lead suit of this trick. There is no trump suit in this trick, so the yellow 5 is the highest card of the lead suit and wins the trick.

Multiple tricks on the target card: Each set (group) of cards is resolved as a separate trick.

• The card that first touches the target card in each set decides the lead suit of that trick.
• If a trump card is present, the highest trump card wins the trick. If no trump card was played, the highest card of the lead suit wins the trick.
• The winner of the trick takes all the cards touching it and places them face down in front of themselves.

Example: The green 3 is the first card touching the target card in the first trick, so green is the lead suit. There is no trump suit, so the green 5 is the highest card of the lead suit and wins that trick.

The yellow 1 is the first card touching the target card in the second trick, so yellow is the lead suit of that trick. Since it is the only card played in the second trick, the yellow 1 wins that trick.

Each winner takes all the cards touching the target card in their own trick and places them face down in front of themselves.

Example With No Trump Suit

The green 2 and the pink 5 are both the first cards touching the target card. Next, the blue 5 and the yellow 7 are touching them, so they form one trick. The yellow 7 is the highest-numbered card touching the target cards, so it wins the trick. The winner takes all the cards touching the target card and places them face down in front of themselves.

Cards Connected to the Target Card Form One Trick

When cards touching the target card are connected to each other, they form one trick.

• Resolve them as one trick.
• If two or more cards touch the target card separately but are connected to each other through other cards, that trick has no lead suit.
• The highest-numbered trump card wins the trick. If no trump card was played, the highest-numbered card regardless of suit wins the trick.
• The winner of the trick takes all the cards touching it and places them face down in front of themselves.
• If two or more cards share the highest number, the trick is shared.
• Each player who won a shared trick takes an equal number of cards and places them face down in front of themselves. The remaining cards are discarded.
• The numbers printed on the cards are irrelevant.

Cards Not Touching the Target Card

• If a player's clown card does not touch the target card, that card does not contribute to the trick.
• If your clown card is the only card that does not touch the target card, the suit of that card becomes the trump suit for the next trick. This card replaces the trump card that was already in use.

Only one card not touching the target card: If there is one card that does not touch the target card, that card does not contribute to the trick.

• The cards touching the target card are resolved as usual.
• That one card is placed beside the play area, where all players can see it. Any existing trump card from play is moved to the discard pile and replaced.
• The trump suit can be changed by the next single card that does not touch the target card, during a later trick.

Example: In this example, only the blue 5 is a card that does not touch the target card. This card is placed beside the play area, and blue becomes the trump suit in the following rounds until it is changed. (Flag: the source says "following rounds" here; the preceding bullet says "next trick". Both are transcribed as printed.)

Multiple cards not touching the target card:

• The cards that do not touch the target card are not part of the trick.
• The player who played each non-touching card takes that card and places it face up in front of themselves.
• The cards touching the target card are resolved as usual.

Example: In this example, the blue 5 and the yellow 7 do not touch the target card.

• The player who played the blue 5 takes this card and places it face up in front of themselves.
• The player who played the yellow 7 takes this card and places it face up in front of themselves.

Resolving Face-Down Cards in a Trick

Cards that were played face down during a trick do not compete for the chance to win the trick. The winner of the trick collects these cards and places them in front of themselves.

If there are several winners of a trick, the face-down cards are divided equally. Any remaining cards are placed in the discard pile.

If every card played in a trick is face down, all of the cards are discarded. No player receives any card, and the trick ends.

Lead Player of the Next Trick

The first player card passes clockwise to the next player, who becomes the first player of the next trick. This is done after every trick.

End of Round

The round ends when all players have played all of their cards.

Score the round as follows:

• 1 point for each face-down card
• -2 points for each face-up card

Record each player's score, then prepare for the next round. The turn order moves clockwise, and the next player leads the first trick of the next round. The player to the right of that leading player becomes the dealer of the next round.

The dealer collects all clown cards, including the discard pile, and follows "Round Setup" to prepare the next round.

End of Game

After 3 rounds, add up each player's round scores. The player with the highest total score wins. If players are tied, they share the victory.