as i was looking for a use for some spare cards in another game i came up with this simple game that can be played with a standard deck.
luminary is a game for 2-4 players (but i think i can figure out a solo).
each player has 3 bulbs in front of them (j,q,k) worth 1,2 and 4 points. these bulbs can be on (face up) or off (face down), they all start off, any that are on at the end of the game score points.
the other cards are called switches. use 1 suit of 1-10 per player. deal 1 to each player and put the rest in a draw pile.
each turn draw a card and play a card. you must flip bulbs of equal value as that switch. ie if you play a 4 you could flip one 4, or two 2s or a 2 and two 1s.
when you run out of cards the game ends and the player with the highest value of on bulbs wins.
in 2 player games you can use the jokers as a fourth bulb of 8 value.
i hope i explained that well enough to play. feel free to try this and give me feed back, or use the idea for somthing else.
luminary
Is there strategy to that before, say, the last couple of cards?
This looks like a light-weight, quick game to pass the time. I just wanted to clarify a quick question here. For explanation purposes, I'm using the terms "bulb card" and "toggle card".
- Bulbs are switched on and off based on the value of the toggle card that the active player draws.
- Once all the on-off toggling is done, then the player puts the toggle card next to or under the bulb of their choice.
- At the end of the game, when all toggle cards are exhausted, the player earns points based on the toggle cards under any bulb that's still on.
So, does this sound right?
If that's the case, here are a couple other questions for you:
- What's the composition of the draw decks? Does each player have their own deck, or is one deck shared?
- Is there some way to end the game earlier? Or will it always be played-out to the exhaustion of the deck? What other ways can you think of to end the game? I'm gently prodding you into "multiple paths of victory" here... :)
I'm also concerned about players "flooding" a single bulb with cards, only flipping others when absolutely necessary. But this is the kind of dynamic that's best checked via playtesting.
Thanks for the explanation. Based on what you explain, it makes me think of a combination of Lost Cities (the two-player card game) without the point accrual and Can't Stop (a dice game) without the push-your-luck element. These are both "classic" games with plenty of information available should you not be familiar and think it useful to research them.
Also, I do think it would be interesting to see a real-time version of this game, and how that plays out. With only 10 cards per side, I imagine rounds would go quickly.
Are you familiar with a wide variety of real-time games? Some research in that area can help you determine if that's the direction you should go.
probably not a lot. but there are only 10 turns each so you know what is left to draw. i am going to try having the bulbs hidden so you can vary set up.
i might also try it as a real-time game and or making the draw piles separate.