“Drakestail journeys to see the king looking to collect on an extravagant loan to the monarch. “Quack, quack, quack! When will I get my money back?” On his way, he invites various friends to ride in his magic gizzard: a fox, a ladder, a river, and a wasp’s nest. When he arrives at court, the king tries every method he can think of to dispose of his creditor, but Drakestail is always prepared to pull a friend out of his gizzard at just the right time. In the end, the discerning Drakestail is made king.”
The intro to the simple ruleset of Drakestail has an ‘Old English’ feel, and the art work certainly strengthens that connection - in particular the ‘Fox’ and ‘Hens and Geese’ cards.
Oh yes, I best mention Drakestail is a card game, one created just this year for the ‘9-card Print’n’Play Contest’ at one of my favourite websites www.boardgamegeek.com
As the contest title suggests games entered may have a maximum of nine cards. They are a minimalist’s dream in that regard.
And since they are PnP games, they are rather easy on the pocketbook and printer ink to try. The latter is especially true of Drakestail which utilizes black and white art for the cards.
What first attracted me to Drakestail was that it has at least a passing similarity in theme to cribbage. Cribbage being one of my all-time favourite games, I was intrigued how a designer might carry the core idea down to so few cards.
In the case of Drakestail there are eight cards, numbered one-to-nine, the ninth card here being a score track.
So onto the game itself.
The dealer gives each player (it is two-player game) three cards (placing the remaining two cards face-down as the deck). From the dealt cards, each player will choose only two to keep. Both discarded cards will go face-down into the “gizzard”, a new, third hand (think the crib).
The gizzard will be scored by the dealer (in addition to his own hand) during the second phase of the game.
Flip the top card of the deck face-up.
Players then take turns playing their cards in front of them until their hands are exhausted, adding their card to the previous card and saying the cumulative sum of all played cards out loud. Players score points as they go. The non-dealer will begin play.
Points can be obtained in two ways, and here is where the crib connection is obvious although the target number being sought is unique.
A player can earn (2) points by playing the number that comes after the number played by his opponent (a one-up). Ex: 6, 7. If the next player can play the next number after that, he will earn (3) points (a traditional run). Ex: 6, 7, 8. Play of 7, 8, 6 will earn nothing. A run of 4 sequential numbers will likewise score (4) points.
“A player can earn (2) points when the running sum of all played cards, including his own, make a multiple of 10. (Ex. 6, 4 or 7, 8, 5). If, after playing his card, a player can make a multiple of 10 by adding the card on top of the deck to the running sum, he may do so, scoring (2) points. If he does this, he captures the flipped card and may place it in front of him. He may use this card for future scoring in the second phase, but his opponent may not,” explains the rule set.
A second phase follows, where again like crib, players score their hands.
“Both players may use the flipped card to score in whatever ways they can, unless the card was captured during play. If it was captured, only the capturing player may score using this card.
One-up (sequential numbers) score 2 points.
Runs (3 sequential numbers) score 3 points.
Sums of 10 score 2 points.
Lastly, the dealer will score the gizzard hand, also using the flipped card (if it is available to him).
The goal is 20 points over a number of hands.
The game is intriguing in its simplicity, and does push players to think about the cards played in a unique way in terms of target numbers and runs. Crib players should like the stretch, and at nine cards it so easy to take to the coffee shop for a few hands.
It won’t replace standard crib, but it is a fun addition to the cribbage family.
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