Is the Rage deck the Omni-deck?

 As I blitz my way through the solitaire options  of Mysticana, I have been looking at the wider world of game systems. Specifically game systems designed to either build on or 'replace' a regular deck of cards.

And what immediately comes clear is that that is a vast topic. Someone, someone who is a better scholar than me, could devote a long running blog on just the subject of card-based game systems.

There are plenty variations on the standard deck of cards. The 52 card French deck probably is the global standard (Note that I don't feel confident to say that it is for sure) However, there are other regional variations that are still in use and production.  I've always assumed that was why the version of Euchre that I've been taught only uses 24 cards but I don't even know that for certain. 

But designers have been trying to intentionally come up with alternatives. There have been more than one deck than just adds another suit, for instance. But the real test is if you can play a game that you want to play with the alternative that you can't play with a regular 52-card deck.

It is interesting when a game system develops accidentally, even though I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case for the regular deck of cards.

Rage was published in 1983. It has six suits, ranked 0 to 15. It is basically the conventional deck blown up in every direction. And it's an Oh Hell variant that is also expanded, including special cards.

And when I first got into board gaming, I definitely saw it referenced a lot. And not because of the game itself but the possibilities it had as a gaming system.

Gamers listed 188 (and growing) different games that you could play with a Rage deck. That number is actually low since you can functionally play any game that uses a traditional deck of cards with a Rage deck. Game designers were known to buy Rage decks in bulk as prototype parts.

https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/1907/games-playable-with-rage-deck-not-the-ccg-please-a

So I made sure to get a copy. And promptly did nothing with it.

The Rage deck has vast mechanical possibilities. For instance, I could easily play Lost Cities with a Rage deck, However, I would lose the vibrant pictures and the easy visual clarity of the handshake cards. Elements that aren't mechanically necessary but add to the enjoyment and engagement.

As I've discussed more than once, theming isn't just about making things pretty. Theming can create a visual shorthand that enhances the accessibility and engagement of a game. Theming can help you process a game easier. And the Rage deck is entirely abstract.

(Not that I'm knocking abstract. Sticheln is one of my favorite trick taking games and it is also entirely abstract. The sheer sadism of the game carries it without the need for theme)

Rage seems to have lost some of its luster. I haven't seen it discussed as a game library in one small box in a long time, although people do keep adding to the list. It also seems to be less available than it used to be but I doubt that that has anything to do with its role as a game system.

As I have become more DIY in my gaming in recent years, I wonder if I would do more with a Rage deck now. However, the game systems I have explored, like the Decktet or the Pairs deck or Mysticana, step farther away from the model of the standard deck of cards.

Game systems can be versatile tools. They can be powerful tools. Just look at the cultural impact of traditional playing cards. But they have their limits as well.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - a character driven study of memory and mortality

The themes of the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab are mortality and memory. However, the hook is the character studies and relationships of the three main characters.

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I wont give away the ending but I will talk about twists

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In 1714, Adeline LaRue makes a deal with an ancient power that gives her conditional immortality but with the price that she cannot be remembered. Three hundred years later, having spent centuries as a ghost in history, she encounters a young man named Henry who can remember her. Because he has made a deal of his own, to be seen as whatever people need him to be.

And that meeting changes everything for Addie, Henry and Luc, the name Addie gives the ancient power who made the deals with both of them.

Not being able to be remembered isn't an uncommon conceit. Heck, the Silence from Doctor Who is an alien race where that's their hat. However Schwab goes into much greater detail than I have seen before in explaining how Addie's situation works.

She is unchanging. Not only does she not age, she cannot starve and immediately recovers from any injury. Mind you, she still experiences the injury and starvation. They just can't physically affect her. She also has a perfect memory, starting from the beginning of her deal. However, she cannot change anything. She cannot hurt someone or write anything down or even leave footprints. There are loopholes. She can steal and she can inspire and give ideas that will linger when memory does not.

Schwab does a good job making Addie sympathetic, even while making it clear that she can be very amoral and selfish. Of course, those are traits that she needs to function.

Henry is her opposite, his deal making him unforgettable. He also suffers from severe depression, which many reviews note is realistically displayed. While Addie is portrayed as a survivor, Henry is not. Like Addie, a large part of what makes him sympathetic is making his more difficult traits relatable.  

It takes a good chunk the book to reveal that Luc is actually one of the main characters. In many ways, he reads like an homage to Neil Gaiman's Morpheus. (I'm not sure if that is the compliment it once was) He is capable of great cruelty but his work also makes the world a richer place. And his relationship with Addie brings him for an impersonal force of nature to something not quite human.  

The characters and their connections are not healthy. However, they are compelling. And while none of them are entirely human anymore or ever, they are believable.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a fantasy that works by being grounded in human nature.

Cave of Djinns is an addictive introduction to Mysticana

If there is one thing that I have found as I’ve started exploring the Mysticana system, it’s that Button Shy is making a real effort to make sure there’s some variety.

Mysticana is a game system with a base 18-card deck with three suits that have a rock-paper-scissors dynamic. The hook is adding small expansions (usually six more cards) to make a distinct game. 

At some point, when I’ve played enough of the games, I’ve promised myself to give Mysticana as a concept a good write up.

(Transparency time: I wasn’t part of Cave of Djinns play test group but I was part of the group to look over the rules copy editor style. I didn’t contribute much, to be honest)

Cave of Djinns is a solitaire game with a real puzzle feel. And if you want to argue all solitaire games are really puzzles, well, Cave of Djinns is extra puzzley.

You add six double-sided Djinn cards to the game. Each one has an element/suit, a riddle and a reward along with a strange name and an eldritch illustration. You’ll shuffle them up and place them in a pyramid with space to play a card on all four sides of each Djinn.

Riddles are actually the conditions needed to capture the Djinn. They can be all low cards, all even cards, sequences with numbers and so on. Rewards are bonus actions that you may use if you capture a Djinn. Rewards include moving, removing or switching cards.

Shuffle the base deck up. Each turn, you draw and place two cards. And keep in mind that some of the spaces count for more than one Djinn. You capture a Djinn if you surround it on all four sides and the cards match of its rules. If at least one of the four cards is the suit/element the Djinn is weak to, you flip it over and cover the Djinn. If no card has the stronger suit, you use the top card of the deck. Which is actually a big deal because you only have eighteen cards to work with. 

After you capture a Djinn, you get to use its reward to rearrange the tableu. And if you potentially capture more than one, you have to choose the order you resolve them since the tableu might change enough that the second (or more) capture doesn’t take place.

Depending on the difficulty level, you win when you capture four, five or all six Djinn.

Cave of Djinns isn’t what I would have thought would be to my taste in games but I actually quite enjoyed it. A large part of that is because it just makes sense. Gameplay is very intuitive. You understand what you are trying to do.

At the same time, because many of the same spaces will have different requirements for different Djinn, the game doesn’t play itself. You are going to have to priorize and actively use the Djinn rewards to try and win. And the small size of the Mysticana deck is going mean the game is going to be tight.

Cave of the Djinn, if memory serves me correctly, was one of the earliest Mysticana games . (I know, the system is less than a year old) And I think it was a good choice to introduce people to the system. It’s easy to learn, has a good scaling of difficulty and shows off the potential versatility of the decks. And it’s a banger. I want to just keep playing it one more time.

My April Gaming

I learned a number of games in April. That included a couple Roll and Writes and a game online via Yucatá. But looking at the month, Mysticana was my real focus.

I learned:

Dice and Divination- Palm Reading

Hyperstar Run expansions (playtest)

Wayfarer

A Year In…

Mysticana - Wild Magic

Mysticana - Harbingers 

Mysticana - Cave of Djinns

Instinkt

Mysticana - Curse of Dragons

Magic Rabbit

Mysticana - Conjuror’s Tome

I have been interested in game systems for most of my time in the gaming hobby. Icehouse Pyramids, now Looney Pyramids, were a very early fascination. Frankly, I’m surprised it took me this long to really check out Mysticana. So many games, so little time.

I already thought that Mysticana was an interesting system but my opinion is definitely even higher now. Two words that I think highlight the game family’s strengths are accessible and intuitive. Knowing how to make good decisions doesn’t always click but knowing how to play the games does. 

I am also amazed at how many of the games are either solitaire or have solitaire options. That clearly was a major goal in its development plan. Which, to be fair, works well for me.

I try and always learn at least one Roll and Write a month. And Flip and Writes count. While Palm Reading and A Year In… count, the good one for April was the Wayfarer. Simple but a lot of choices in every game.

I still have some Mysticana to try and I’ll work on doing that in May. I am not expecting a crazy month for learning new games, but I didn’t expect April would be either.

My April PnP

April was a busier month for making Print and Play projects than I expected. Playtesting, as often has become the case, played a major role in it but not in quite the usual way.

I made:

Stunt Kites

Hyperstar Run

Hyperstar Run expansions (set one and playtest)

A Year In…

Tou Shi

Inkalam

The Prefect 

Mysticana - Cave of Djinns

Mysticana - Curse of Dragons

Mysticana - Element of Surprise

Mysticana - Harbingers

Mysticana - Wild Magic

Mysticana - Realmseekers

13 Sheep

Mysticana - Conjuror’s Tome (playtest)

I had thought I had already made a copy of the final version of Hyperstar Run but I couldn’t find it so I made a fresh copy. At that point, I decided to make copies of the final versions of the first two expansions. And some months, that would be my big build. (I’m not that ambitious a crafter)

However, since the other playtest I’d signed up for was a Mysticana game, I decided to make copies of all the solitaire or solitaire friendly Mysticana expansion/games. I actually was able to learn some of them before the playtest. Taken as a single group, Mysticana expansions was my actual big project. 

And beyond those two, playtesting influenced projects, I made enough other games that I would have considered a decent month.