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Thricewise

a fast paced Decktet game for 2-5 players

Summary of the game: Every turn, players select and reveal cards simultaneously. In rank order, cards are added to the grid. Players score each time they make three in a row : in rank order, of the same rank, or of the same suit symbol.

Setup

Deal four cards face up to form a 2x2 grid. Deal three cards to each player.

Game play

At the beginning of each turn, every player selects one card from their hand and places it face down in front of them. Once everyone has made a selection, cards are revealed.

Provided all the cards are of different ranks, players may place their cards in increasing order of rank. A player with an Ace would go first, then a player with a two, and so on; a player with a Crown places last.

If two or more players play cards of the same rank, their cards are deferred. Leave deferred cards face up on the table; they may be played in a later turn. If your card this turn is deferred and you have deferred cards left over from previous turns, keep them together. Any players whose cards are not deferred play normally, lowest rank first.

When you play a card, you may place it adjacent to any card in the grid (orthogonally or diagonally). You may not play a card on top of another card.

Scoring: If you play a card that makes three in a row (either orthogonally or diagonally) then you score points. The three cards may be a flush (three cards that share a suit symbol), a set (three cards of the same rank), or a straight (three cards in rank order). You may score multiple times with a single card if it makes threesomes in different directions or of different kinds.

Each threesome is worth the rank of the lowest number card in of the three. Aces and Crowns are not number cards, so a threesome is worth as few as 2 or as many as 9 points. Since three Crowns or three Aces have no number card, these sets are worth no points.

The edges of the grid: If the grid of cards is already six cards wide, then cards may not be played to make it any wider. Similarly, if the grid is six cards tall, then cards may not be played to make it taller. Until the grid reaches six cards in a direction, cards me be played to extend it on either side. As a result, the starting cards may ultimately be anywhere in the grid: in the center, on a side, or in a corner.

Deferred cards: If you have deferred cards on the table when you are able to play, play them along with your new card. You may play the new card and any deferred cards in any order you please.

Drawing cards: After everyone has played their card (or set it aside because it was deferred) each player draws a card. After the deck is depleted or if there are not enough cards left for everyone to get one, then nobody draws.

Game end: Ordinarily, the game continues until the cards fill a 6x6 grid and ends immediately when the 36th card is played. If players have deferred cards in the final turns or if the card do not deal out evenly, then the game ends after the turn in which players play the last cards from their hands.

Credits

Design: P.D. Magnus

Playtesting: Cristyn Magnus, Joe Levy, Jason Mutford, Karen Traite, Gil Hova, Maya Kiehl, Josh DeBonis, Joe Fritz, Dan Purdy, Doug Hoover, Dean Howard

Links

• The Thricewise entry at BoardGameGeek
• The Thricewise page at the Decktet wiki
• Discuss Thricewise at the Decktet wiki

The Decktet is presently available either as a digital document or as a printed deck. The Decktet Book is available in several formats.

• Download free stuff
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• Get the Decktet Book

The Decktet is ©2008-10 P.D. Magnus. Some rights reserved. The contents of this page and a version of the deck are offered as open content under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 3.0 License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be negotiated.