Onstage (2024)

Onstage is a trick-taking game where you play as a theater company competing for the best performers to join your troupe. It is a must-follow style trick-taker, where you claim the performers onstage when winning tricks. The trump suit is determined by the most valuable performers currently onstage and will change throughout the game as you recruit & manipulate the line of performers.

The deck consists of 36 cards, numbered 1-9 for each of the 4 suits. There are 3 performers for each suit, for a total of 12 performer tokens. Each suit has a 1-, 2-, & 3-point value performer token representing the Featured, Supporting, & Lead actors respectively.

The values 1,4, & 7 of each suit have effects to manipulate the performers onstage & in line, which can change the current trump and scoring opportunities each hand.

If at the end of the round you are the only player with no performer tokens, you claim all the performers currently on stage as your score for the round. Keep 1 card between each round and put all used performers back in line behind the current line before starting the next hand in the new turn order.

Play equal rounds per player, high score wins. In the 2 vs 2 teams’ variant, you add your partner's score at the end of each round but may not discuss your hand during play.