Kabuki Tricks

About this board game

Kabuki Tricks is a 2–5-player trick-taking game with an approximately 30-minute play time, in which players produce Kabuki performances and compete to win tricks and score points.

Each round, every player receives a joker and seven random cards from four actor suits. The dealer arranges the actor cards to establish the suit ranking and determines whether high or low cards are best. Since each player gets a chance to be dealer, the conditions for winning tricks can change from round to round.

The dealer leads the first trick, and players must follow suit when possible. However, one non-lead player may play their joker instead of matching the lead suit. Playing the joker lets that player place a player card face down above an actor card, creating two important bets: how many tricks they will win and the color of their final card.

A joker play can also alter the game. The player may flip the High/Low card, changing whether high or low numbers are favorable, or swap two adjacent actor cards to change the suit ranking. The highest or lowest card in the highest-ranked suit wins the trick, depending on the current setting, and the winner leads the next trick.

• Win tricks while managing a hidden bid for 1, 2, or 3 tricks.
• Bet on the color of your final card.
• Use the joker to change high-or-low play or adjust suit ranks.
• Score for tricks, accurate bids, and a matching final card.

After seven tricks, players reveal their bets and score one point per trick captured, plus bonus points for correctly predicting their trick total and final-card color. A player whose final card is the joker and who won no tricks instead earns 5 points. After all rounds are scored, the player with the highest total wins. Kabuki Tricks is the second title in the Shiba Senpai game series.