アクマトリツク (Akuma Trick)

アクマトリツク (Akuma Trick) is a shedding / ladder game from Japan. Players are trying to play cards in sequence, but not to actually empty their hand. The game ends when one player clears their hand, but they cannot win the game. Instead, the winner is the player with the lowest total value of cards still in hand. In Japanese folklore, Akuma are malevolent demons that afflict humans. In the game, you are possessed by the demons. The game has a deck of cards numbered 0 to 9 (zero is treated as higher than 9), in six colours. The deck is shuffled, and players are dealt a hand (according to the number of players). Players take turns to play cards from their hand to the table in sequence. A player can place a single card, or a pair of the same value, or a run of numbers in the same colour. In addition, some cards have special effects, such as the 5 card reverses the direction of play. When a player cannot play a card at all, the current tableau is discarded and a new one started. But that player must discard cards adding up to a value determined by the tableau. As the game progresses, players are trying to stay in the round playing cards to the table, but not emptying their hand, but also not keeping their hand value high. user summary