NecronomiCards (2016)

Match magic symbols to summon elder gods, demons, and mythological monsters, then use them to attack your opponents.

You start with two decks of cards: SPELLS and SUMMONS. Spell cards each have 4-6 different magic symbols on them. Each player starts with 2 Spell cards and then draws 1 new card every turn. You can never have more than 6 Spell cards in your hand at once though. The goal is to pair up matching symbols across your Spell cards to create hands, sort of like a weird, alternate universe version of poker. Once you've matched up a complete Spell hand, you trade it in to draw Summon cards. How many Summon cards you can draw in a turn depends on the complexity of the hand you trade in for it.Summon cards depict a deity, demon, or monster from a variety of mythological, religious, literary, or just plain made-up sources. Each Summon card has an ability that you can play against your competitors to make them lose turns, discard spell cards, or other nefarious setbacks. Each and every Summon card you play puts you one step closer to victory, until...

For a 30-45 minute game, the first person to play 7 Summon cards wins! Want a longer game? Really challenge yourself and play to 13 Summon cards. That's the basics. Pretty simple, huh? Oh, one little twist I forgot to mention...

Included in the Summon deck are the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse. They're extremely powerful cards by themselves, but if by some unholy fluke you manage to draw and play all four of them in a game, you win instantly, no matter how many other Summon cards you've played.

And... shuffled into the Spell card deck are also Curse cards, which can totally throw off even the best player's strategy. They can make YOU lose turns, give other players cards, or other setbacks, so watch out! The tables can turn at any time and nobody is ever safe for long.