Macaron (2021)

To celebrate King Louis' birthday, royal pâtissiers are busy preparing macaron gift boxes for the royal family and guests. At the end of the celebration, the pâtissier who has made the most boxes will win and become the most prestigious pâtissier in France — so you must be watchful for dark currents underneath the cheerful pâtissiers and colorful macarons as an allergen might slip into your box and ruin the pastry. Are you ready to make some macarons?

In the 1-5 player trick-taking game Macaron, players are French pâtissiers preparing macaron gift boxes. In every game, a number of rounds will be played, and each round ends when thirteen tricks have been played or a player has prepared at least eight boxes. Players receive victory points (VPs) at the end of the round based on the number of boxes prepared.

In more detail, the deck will contain 5-7 suits of macarons based on the number of players, and these macarons are put together into 3-4 groups, e.g., almond and pistachio are in group A, while strawberry and blueberry are in group B. Each round, one group will be determined to be "royal", and the 1-2 suits in that group are trump for the round. In addition, one flavor (not group) of macarons will be the allergen for the round.

Standard trick-taking rules are used, with the leading player being allowed to play anything and with other players needing to follow suit. Whoever wins the trick scores 1 box — or 3 boxes if the trick was won with a 1. If a trick contains an allergen, then no boxes are scored, except if the trick also contains a 2, which negates the allergen. Players track boxes won on a scoring track, and they also use this board at the start of a round to bet on the number of tricks they expect to win, with players winning or losing points based on how well their bet matches reality.

Macaron lasts a number of rounds until someone passes the VP threshold established at the start of the game. The solo rules have you compete against an AI player, Emma, who follows particular rules for deciding what to play.