Canyon

About this board game

Canyon is a 1997 trick-taking game for 3–6 players, with play lasting about 45 minutes. Players try to predict exactly how many tricks they will take, then guide their markers along a scoring track depicted as a river running through a canyon.

Each hand changes the shape of the game: the number of cards in a hand first increases and then decreases. Before playing through a hand, players make their predictions, creating a continuing challenge to judge how many tricks they can claim.

A correct prediction awards movement points around the river track. The goal is to make accurate calls and advance toward the finish line, where the track’s most notable feature awaits: a section of rapids.

• Predict the exact number of tricks you will take.
• Move your marker when your prediction is correct.
• Manage the changing hand size as it grows and then shrinks.
• Avoid going too many hands without a correct prediction.

The rapids add a memorable risk to the final stretch. If you go too many hands without a correct prediction, your marker is caught in the current and sent back a few spaces, potentially undoing hard-won progress near the finish.

With its combination of trick-taking decisions, exact bidding, and a river-themed scoring track, Canyon turns every hand into another chance to move ahead—or be pulled backward. It re-implements Bid & Bluff and was expanded by Grand Canyon.