Boardgames

Arcs 😅

i don't know what this is, is it like Tic Tac Toe with more rules?

I actually usually feel the same way as you about most trick-taking games, so I usually avoid them.

I did play "Scout" with my group a couple months ago, and found it to be pretty good, so you could give that one a try.

六虎/Six Tigers. The most common (eponymous) game is suitable for 3-player or 4-player games. 六红牌/Six Red Cards (link is in Chinese). Several games are played with these in a variety of styles (rummy, climbing, and trick-taking among them, as well as a summing game similar to Pai Gow or Blackjack). The trick-taking game most commonly played ranges from 2 to 4 players.

My family always played a variation of "oh hell" that we named "oh blueberry" because no one ever saw grandma say a negative word. Basically same rules but instead of going 1 up to 7, back down to 1, we went 1 up until we ran out of cards, which varied depending on players. If the table was large we would add a deck which altered the rules, I think first played was higher for ties.

The biggest gap I see in your picture above is Robotrick!

Absolutely awesome game for exactly 3 players, where a 4th robot player follows a card of instructions. The scoring is built off of what cards you win from the robot, or what cards the robot wins off of you, but with fairly “standard” rules for following, trump, etc.

It’s just brilliant, and always the game I suggest if we have 3 people and are looking for a filler card game.

I did go on a bit of a purchasing bender over the last couple of weeks:

• Scout
• Ghosts of Christmas
• Sluff Off!
• Potato Man
• Fox In The Forest
• The Crew: Mission Deep Sea
• The Crew: The Quest For Planet Nine
• Cat In The Box Deluxe

Not to mention Arcs, but while that uses trick-taking for it's action selection mechanism, it's not really the same family as these card games.

I have the new version of Bottle Imp preordered, and I'm hunting Hund and Nokosu Dice, but some of these Japanese publications can be tough to find.

I really like The Crew due to how it turns whole concept on it's head. Shamans is also great in my opinion, it combines trick-tacking and hidden roles.

Not usually a big fan of trick taking games, but I got the opportunity to play Cat in the Box the other day and thoroughly enjoyed it. To the point that I actually intend to add it to my collection at some point.

Another vote for the crew being excellent, and with a completely different puzzle feel than other trick taking games I've played. It's as much about the other people as the card strategy.

The Dutch version of Black Lady, a hearts type game with some trick avoiding elements.

Rook