Cvlt: Review
Introduction:
Cvlt is a core trick-taking game turned on its head. The main gimmick that a lot of mechanisms stem from is that players draft cards from the trick in clockwise order starting with the winner. The player can put their drafted card in one of two piles. Each pile will contain only four cards by the end of the round (eight cards for each player). There is a face-down pile, which is the dream. This will make up half of your hand next round and also respond to some scoring objectives. Then there is the offering. There is a lot to understand with the offering, but essentially, it removes the cards from the game and also builds a sequential scoring column, which, if planned right, can net the players' large points.
Game Anatomy:
Laurel Card:
This card is used to denote the trick winner during the game. As the winner of the trick is the player who will lead the next turn, this can help players keep track, especially between rounds.
Offering Cards:
There are four suits in the game earth, fire, wind, and water.
None of the colours will work as a trump during the game. Each suit is numbered 1 to 16 with no repeating numbers.
8, 12, or 16 will be the highest card used in a 2, 3, or 4 player game, respectively.
Vision Cards:
Each round will use three vision cards. These are scoring objectives. Visions will either rely on cards in a player's dream or be the last player to achieve the vision, winning tricks, shown by visions with a laurel icon (triangle).
Then players will gain four points for every vision they have met at the end of a round. If a vision relies on a particular suit, the symbol will be shown on the card.
Temple:
To the side of the board are four cards, one of each suit. At the end of every round, the four offering cards a player has will go into the offering column for each suit.
At the end of each round, starting at the left-most offering, each card that belongs to this suit will be placed by all players in numerical order. If a player places an offering and all prior numbers of that suit are played, they will gain the value of the card as points.
For further example, 7 water is placed. If 1 - 6 are already placed in the offering, then that player will gain seven points.
Setup:
- Give the laurel card to a random player. They will lead the first trick.
How to Play:
Cvlt is a trick-taking game where players aren't simply trying to win or lose tricks (though winning tends to be more beneficial). They are trying to draft the card that will score them points through meeting visions or through offering the right cards. Cvlt has three rounds, in which there will be different vision cards and offering cards will slowly be removed to the temple.
Cvlt follows standard trick-taking norms where if a player has the same suit as the player who started the trick, they have to match that suit. Otherwise, they can play any suit. There is no trump suit in this game. Instead, the value on the starting card of each trick will count as trump. So the last player to play that value, will win the trick.
At the start of each round, vision cards will be revealed equal to the player count + 2. Each player, except for the first (leading) player, will remove one vision from this round. This is done after players look at their hands to best determine what visions they have no chance of succeeding in. Players will receive eight cards at random in the first round. The two following rounds, each player will receive four random cards, and the other four cards will come from their dream pile last round. Each trick is played in clockwise order starting from the leading player. Starting with the player that wins the trick. The winner is determined by playing the highest value card in the leading suit or by playing the trump value last. They will select one card in the trick to keep. Every other player clockwise will now choose a card to keep from the trick.
The cards that are drafted from a trick will either be played face down in the dream pile. This pile will make up half of the player's hand next round and will also often have conditions that players will need to meet to score visions. The other pile a player can select is the offering. These cards will be removed from future rounds and also score players' points in the temple if planned successfully. Each of these piles will have exactly four cards in it at the end of the round.
At the end of a round, players will score four points for each vision they have won or were the last to achieve. Each column in the temple will also add each number in the matching suit sequentially to the offering. As the number is added, the player placing the offering will gain points matching the number on the card if each number sequentially below this number is already offered. After the third round the player with the most points at the end is the winner.
Final Thoughts:
- Where players place the cards is an interesting puzzle. Dreams go into the next hand and also meet the vision requirement. The offering can score players a good amount of points if they plan properly.
- Very thought-provoking game back and forth at two players.
- Brings the core essence of trick taking games, but for players that don't favour trick taking games, there are a lot of other nuances going on with the means to score that will keep players engaged.
I didn't grow up on trick taking games, so i find trick taking games don't always click with me. Especially when higher player counts are needed. I find that if trick-taking is a mechanism of a larger game, then i can still enjoy the game. Cvlt is a trick taking game i enjoy. It has the easy entry of how the game is played, a lot like a basic trick-taking game. However, through the winner drafting the card per trick they want to keep, the game leads to a clever choice of placing that card in a dream pile which will build the players hand next round while also being used to meet round goals called visions. The alternative option is the offering pile, which will remove the card from the game, but if timed well, can gain the player large points by having every other card sequentially before the card already in the offering pile. The logistics of these two piles lead to a lot of decisions for each trick, which makes the value and suit for the cards matter much more than simply winning or losing the trick. For players that are daunted by trick taking games or simply don't enjoy the core loop like me. Cvlt is at its core a trick-taking game, but for me the decision space of collecting the right cards makes it feel more like a mechanism of a larger game. Which for me means I can recommend and enjoy this one.
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