Codenames
You can create a codenames game on this website.
Codenames consists of all kinds of cards that may look a bit difficult in the beginning, but actually it’s simple. There are word cards that you have to put on the table. You put the cards in five rows of five cards. Then the rolls are distributed. It can be seen with how many players you are, are you with a lot then everyone is divided into 2 teams. But you can also play the game with 2 or 3. So you have to form a blue team, a red team and a head of the secret service. The head of the secret service can be the third player, or one person of each team.
The head of the secret service keeps the colored cards where the positions of the spies are (blue boxes for the words the blue player must guess and red boxes for the red team to guess). It is therefore important that this card cannot be seen by any other player of each team. Don’t worry too much about the colored cards, because they will be used later in the game. Of course you can put them in stacks.
When everyone knows what their role is in the game and the cards are on the table in the right order, it’s time to play the game!
The boss of the secret service indicates which color may start. He can read this from his card in front of him. It is first the turn of the head of the secret service of the color that may begin. He will have to take in all the words that belong to the color of his group.
For example, the card of the head of the secret service of the blue color indicates that the third and fifth cards are both blue cards. He will have to come up with a word that includes both cards. If the third card shows for example cat and the fifth card shows for example dog, then the head of the secret service can give animals as a domed word. The head may only say one word. As head it is your task to use one word to make as many words as possible clear to your team, because afterwards the spies have to guess which words have to do with the word he just mentioned.
He also has to be careful not to use an overarching word that could include words from the red team or the hitman. If the blue group guesses correctly, they may guess again and so on until they guess wrong. And if they guess wrong, there are two options. Either you choose a color of the other team and you give your turn or you choose the assassin. And that’s the last thing you want as head of the secret service, because when your team has drawn the assassin, the game is over and the other team will be the winner anyway!
The colored cards come on the word that is indicated. Also when a spy of the red team guesses a word of the blue team. This makes it easier to see who is in the lead!
Take 5
In Take 5!, a.k.a. Category 5 and many other names, you want to score as few points as possible.
To play the game, you shuffle the 104 number cards, lay out four cards face-up to start the four rows, then deal ten cards to each player. Each turn, players simultaneously choose and reveal a card from their hand, then add the cards to the rows, with cards being placed in ascending order based on their number; specifically, each card is placed in the row that ends with the highest number that’s below the card’s number. When the sixth card is placed in a row, the owner of that card claims the other five cards and the sixth card becomes the first card in a new row.
In addition to a number from 1 to 104, each card has a point value. After finishing ten rounds, players tally their score and see whether the game ends. (Category 5 ends when a player has a score greater than 74, for example, while Take 5! ends when someone tops 66.) When this happens, the player with the fewest points wins!
UNO
“Each player gets eight cards. The player who is the first one to put all his cards on the table is the winner. But Beware! There are peculiar action cards which can turn everything upside down. SOLO is a new variant of Mau-Mau with special action cards, that will guarantee a lot of fun.”
Each turn, a player can put a card with the same colour or number or action symbol as the card played previously. The special action cards allow players to:
* Miss a turn – next player misses their turn
* Change direction – the order of play is reversed
* Take 2 – next player draws two cards
* Choose a colour – can be named as any colour, changing the colour in play
* Take 4 + choose a colour – you choose a colour, next player picks up four
* Swap cards – choose another player and swap cards with them
* Change all cards – all hands move round one space in play direction
The Miss a Turn, Change direction, Take 2 and Swap cards are colour coded and must be played following a card of the same colour, the Choose a colour, Take 4 + choose a colour and Change all cards actions are colour independent.
Saboteur
Players take on the role of dwarves. As miners, they are in a mine, hunting for gold. Suddenly, a pick axe swings down and shatters the mine lamp. The saboteur has struck. But which of the players are saboteurs? Will you find the gold, or will the fiendish actions of the saboteurs lead them to it first? After three rounds, the player with the most gold is the winner.
With the help of Dwarf Cards, the players are assigned their role: either miner or saboteur. The roles are kept secret- they are only revealed at the end of the round.
The Start Card and the three Goal Cards are placed onto the table, each seven cards away from the start and one card between each Goal Card. The Goal Cards are placed face-down. The gold is on one of the Goal Cards, but nobody knows which.
Players have cards in hand. On a player’s turn, he must do one of three things: place a Path Card into the mine, play an Action Card in front of a player, or pass.
The Path Cards form paths leading to the Goal Cards. Path Cards must be played next to an already-played Path Card. All paths on the Path Card must match those on the already-played cards, and Path Cards may not be played sideways.
The miners are trying to build an uninterrupted path from the Start Card to a Goal Card, while the saboteurs are trying to prevent this. They shouldn’t try and be too obvious about it, however, lest they be immediately discovered.
Action Cards can be placed in front of any player, including oneself. Action Cards let the players help or hinder one another, as well as obtain information about the Goal Cards.
Once a player places a Path Card that reaches the gold, the round is over. The miners have won and receive cards with gold pieces as their reward.
The round is also over if the gold could not be reached. In that case, the saboteurs have won and receive the gold pieces.
Once the Gold Cards have been distributed, the next round begins. The game is over at the end of the third round, with the player with the most gold pieces being the winner.
Oh seven
Players and materials
Oh-Seven is a 30-minute trick-taking game for 2 to 9 players. (Specifically, it’s a variant of Oh, Hell!)
Oh-Seven uses one or two decks of 32 cards, numbered 0–7 in four suits. (With standard playing cards, use Q to represent 0.) Five or more players must use two decks. Also needed are either pen and paper or score tokens to track bids and scores.
The object of the game is to score points.
At the start of each of seven rounds, each of which consists of seven tricks, each player bids the number of tricks they intend to take. At the end of each round, each player who matched their bid exactly gains points equal to their bid plus two; each player who missed loses points equal to how many too high or too low they bid.
At the start of each round, shuffle the deck and deal each player seven cards
Each player chooses a card from their hand and places it down in front of themself, facedown. Once each player has committed, the chosen cards are revealed. The number on each card is the number of tricks the player is bidding to take.
The top bid’s suit becomes the trump suit for the round, and its bidder leads the first trick. To break numeric ties, Spades beat Hearts beat Diamonds beat Clubs. (With two decks, if two players bid the same top card, a rebid is forced, described at the end of this section.)
Record the bids, then return the cards to their players’ hands for use in play. (With standard playing cards, set the Kings aside and flip the appropriate one to indicate the current trump suit.)
If the bids sum to 7, then rather than permit the possibility that everyone gets what they want, a rebid is forced, as follows. First, whoever had the top bid immediately scores one point. (With two decks, if two players bid the same high card, they each score one point.) Then the players bid again, using the remaining cards in their hands. The new bids replace the previous bids. Repeat until the bids don’t sum to 7. If the players run out of cards, redeal (but players keep their bonus points).
The player with the lead plays any card from their hand. The other players then play in clockwise order. They MUST follow the lead if possible, by matching the suit of the lead card. If they have no cards of that suit, then they may play any card from their hand.
After each player has played a card, the winner of the trick is whoever played the highest trump card, if any, else whoever played the highest card of the lead suit. (With two decks, if there is a tie with the same card, the one played first beats the one played second.)
The winner of the trick takes the cards and piles them facedown in front of themself, then leads the next trick. Continue until all seven tricks are taken.
Each player who matched their bid exactly gains points equal to their bid plus two; each player who missed loses points equal to how many too high or too low they bid.
Secret moon
Secret Moon is Seiji Kanai’s interpretation of a Werewolf-like team deduction game, and a sequel to Love Letter. He is not very fond of stories of killing, thus the more romantic background. Also, he claims to be horrible at chatting and bluffing, so Secret Moon is a game that can be enjoyed by people like him, with less need to bluff and deduction based more on game flow and rules.
This was posted on an Italian gaming website (excuse the poor translation, my Italian is very poor):
(Edited with help from the English rules.)
A game published by Kanai Factory
Drawings by Noboru Sugiura
Up to three players will be part of “Team Princess” (Princess, Wanderer and Priestess), and the rest are “Team Minister” (Minister and four Guards). The Priestess can pretend to be part of the Minister’s team, all in the name of helping the Princess.
Team Princess wins if the Minister is captured or the third round ends. Team Minister wins if the Princess is captured or BOTH the Princess and the Wanderer are revealed.
At the table you cannot speak except to make or answer questions permitted by the rules.
The game lasts three rounds, and each round turn order cards are dealt. On their turn, you may:
– Inspect: look at another player’s character card.
– Inquire: ask another player “who goes there!”, and the appropriate response is on their character card.
– Accuse: guess another player’s character. If correct, they reveal their card. Otherwise, reveal yours.
– Hide/protect: defend yourself or another player for the rest of the round. (Cannot be done in third round)
– Disrupt: cause another player who hasn’t taken their turn yet to lose their turn this round. You are then captured.
– Capture: “capture” a revealed character. A captured character is out of the game, but still wins if their team wins. (Guards may not capture)
Jackbox
Note: To play these games you need to have the purchased game. Bram from the board owns this, so try and see if he can set a game up to play with you!
Most games in The Jackbox Party Pack are designed for online play, requiring only one person to own and launch the game. Remaining players can be local and thus see the game via the first player’s computer or console, or can be remote, watching the game be played through streaming media services. All players – whether local or remote – use web-enabled devices, including personal computers and mobile or tablet devices, to enter a provided “room code” at Jackbox’s dedicated servers to enter the game. Games are generally limited to around 8 active players, but any other players connecting to the room after these players are connected become audience participants, who can impact how scoring is determined and influence the winner.
Each game generally has a period where all players are given a type of prompt. This prompt appears on the individual devices and gives players sufficient time to enter their reply or draw as necessary, and can be set to account for forced streaming delays that some streaming services require. The game then collects and processes all the replies, and frequently then gives players a chance to vote for the best answer or drawing; this is often where the audience may also participate by voting as a group. Games proceed for a number of rounds, and a winner, generally with the highest score at the end, is announced.