Brew Potions, Stack Penguins, and Avoid Vampire Hunters with Playte

The deck in Vampire Queen consists of cards numbered 1-13, four vampire queens that have variable value, and two vampire hunters. Players start with a hand of 9-13 cards depending on the player count, and the start player for a round plays from their hand either a single card, multiple cards of the same value, or a vampire hunter. Vampire queens on their own (or in a pair, triplet, or quartet) are valued at 14, but they can be played with other cards and adopt the value of those cards. For a single card or a set of cards (e.g., three 6s), each other player in turn can either pass or play the same number of cards but of a higher value (e.g., three 9s). Whoever plays the highest card(s) wins the round and leads off the next round.


If the round's start player leads a vampire hunter, it counts as value 0 and each other player must play exactly one (non-vampire hunter) card of whatever value they want. Whoever plays the highest card takes all played cards into their hand, then leads off the next round, but they cannot lead with the same vampire hunter they just won.

When one or more players have emptied their hand at the end of a round, the round ends. Players then score points for all cards still in hand, with number cards being worth their face value, queens being 14, and vampire hunter cards being 15 or 20, as indicated. Players with vampire hunters in hand keep them, then shuffle all cards and deal new hands to all players, with the player who holds the 20 starting. After five rounds, whoever has scored the fewest points wins.

Mit List und Tücke ("With Cunning and Treachery") is a trick-taking game with quite a few twists. The deck consists of cards in four suits, and the deck is adjusted based on the player count so that everyone receives a hand of 14 cards to begin a round. At the start of a trick, the lead player plays any card, setting trump for that trick. Each other player plays any card that they like — except that once three colors of cards have been played, the fourth color cannot be played. Whoever plays the highest trump card wins the trick and collects two of the cards played (or three cards in a game with five or six players), placing these cards in front of them. Whoever plays the lowest non-trump card collects the remaining cards; this player leads to the next trick.


Once a player has cards of all four colors in front of them, they must choose two colors and leave cards of this color face up, placing all other cards face down. As they collect more cards, they place them face up or face down based on their colors. The round ends after 14 tricks or when a player would be forced to play a card of the fourth color to a trick; in this latter case, the round ends immediately. Each player then scores the cards they've collected. For their two face-up colors, they multiply these numbers together; they then divide this product by the number of cards that they placed face down, rounding this number down. For example, if you have 6 yellow cards, 4 red cards, and 2 blue cards, then you have (6 • 4)/2 = 12 points. If you collect cards of only one color, then you score 0 points!

Play as many rounds as the number of players. Whoever has the highest total score wins!

In Glastonbury, the players are witches and wizards who shop for ingredients for their magic potions. Your token moves around the perimeter of an array of ingredient cards, and you pick one from the row or column where you stop. The number on the card you pick dictates how many spaces you move on your next turn.


To score points, you need to collect sets of four matching ingredients; if you have only one of a particular ingredient, you'll score penalty points instead. The scoring rules can be made more complicated if the players desire, but for most the basic rules are satisfying. A touch of memory is involved since you can see only the most recently chosen ingredient on your stack of cards.

In Penguin Party, players collectively build a pyramid of penguins, trying to empty their hands of cards along the way. The deck consists of 36 penguin cards: 8 green and 7 each of red, blue, yellow, and purple. Deal the deck out as evenly as possible, with the final card in a five-player game starting as the first card in the base of the pyramid.


On a turn, you either play a card to the left or right of the base of the pyramid, which can be at most eight cards wide, or play a card on a higher level of the pyramid so long as it's supported by two penguins, at least one of which is the same color as the card being played. If you cannot play a card, discard your hand face down and take as many penalty markers as the number of cards you didn't play. If you empty your hand, you can return two penalty markers previously collected to the supply.

Play as many rounds as the number of players, with each player starting one of the rounds. Whoever has the fewest penalty markers at the end of the game wins. (With two players, deal each player 14 cards, remove the other cards from play without looking at them, and build a pyramid with a base only seven cards wide.)

Venice Connection is a river-building / tile-placement game for two players. Your goal is to complete the canal in a loop. The game consists of 16 identical tiles, each with a straight section of canal on one side and a bend on the other. All the tiles are available for either player to use, and on a turn you place 1-3 tiles connected in a straight line adjacent to at least one other tile already in play (except on the first turn when you just place these tiles on the table).


If during the course of the game, one player notices that the canal is now impossible to complete, they say "impossible" to the challenged player (who placed on the previous turn), who now must try to finish the canal alone. If the canal can be completed, the challenged player has won; if not, the challenger has won!