Trickarus

About this board game

Trickarus is a trick-taking game for 2–5 players, played in about 40 minutes, where handmade-winged adventurers compete or cooperate to fly higher without soaring into the hot sun.

In competitive games, players win tricks to climb the scoring track. The winner of each trick moves to the next open space above them—but flying into the sun sends that player plummeting below the bottom-most player, creating dramatic reversals and difficult decisions.

Every card has two different values. Whenever a 5-card is played, the values alternate, along with the trump suit, so the strength of the cards can shift throughout the game. The changing information rewards careful timing and gives experienced trick-taking players plenty of strategic possibilities.

• Competitive mode: Play with 2–5 players.
• Co-operative mode: Work together with 3–5 players.
• Stormy Weather: Lightning cards can swap the Day/Night chip with the chip currently out of play, changing the strongest suits from Sun and Moon to Clouds and Raindrops, or back again.
• Two-player game: A face-up, three-card dummy hand for Icarus gives both players information while they pursue different scoring-track goals.

The updated English edition adds two Lightning cards for Stormy Weather and introduces the new two-player experience. With rules simple enough to teach in a few minutes, Trickarus is approachable for newcomers while offering a shifting puzzle for seasoned trick-takers.