Overview

Icarus & his friends have crafted handmade wings. Day and night, jubilant with their newfound freedom, they fly higher & higher…

With competitive (2-5p) and co-operative (3-5p) modes, players win tricks to fly higher in the sky. The winner of each trick moves to the next open space above them on the scoring track unless they fly into the sun, in which case they will plummet to below the bottom-most player.

Quick summary

In this must-follow trick-taking game, every card has two sides: a Day side and Night side.

When it is Day, Yellow is the trump color. When it is Night, White is the trump color.

Whenever a number 5-card is played, the active sides of all cards held and on the table are immediately flipped.

The winner of each trick will fly up to the next open space on the scoring track. If the trick includes the Lightning Card, the winner of that trick will instead fall down to the next open space below.

When a player flies into the sun:

1. They immediately fall down to just below the bottommost player
2. The current round will be the last. Whoever is highest in the sky at the end of the last round wins.

Setup

Rounds

Trickarus is played over a number of rounds, until 1 player flies into the Sun whereupon the game concludes at the end of that round (exception: A 2 player game is always only 1 round).

The cards

The playing cards have 4 different colours (suits)

• Yellow (sun)
• Pink (cloud)
• Blue (rain)
• White (moon)

Every playing card has a day half and a night half. At the beginning of the game, everyone starts with the cards arranged so that the day half is at the top.

Three of the cards are of value 0 and consist of a different suit in each half:

• Cloud / Rain
• Sun / Cloud
• Rain / Moon

There is also a single Lightning card in the deck.

Dealing cards

At the start of a round, the cards are shuffled and dealt. The number of cards selected + dealt is dependent on the number of players:

The day marker

The day / night marker shows whether it is “Day” or “Night”, and which side of the cards is currently “active”:

• The Day side has a light background
• The Night side has a dark background

The day marker is placed in view of all players.

Gameplay flow

Each new “trick” starts with the Leader playing any card with the active side of the card pointing towards the center of the table. The color they’ve played becomes the “lead color.” Going around the table in a clockwise direction, players must play the lead color if they are able, with the same active side. When all players have played a card into the center, the winner of the trick is determined.

The Strongest Color during the Day or Night

Depending whether it is Day or Night, one of the colors becomes more powerful than the other colors. During the Day, Yellow (sun) cards are more powerful than the other cards: Even a low Yellow card will win over higher cards of the other colors. During the Night, White (moon) cards are more powerful: Even a low White card will win over a higher card of another color.

Changing Between Day and Night

Whenever a number 5 card is played, the Day/Night Marker is immediately flipped over signifying a change from Day to Night, or vice versa. As soon as a 5 card is played, all cards in players' hands and those currently in play on the table are immediately turned around so that the other side of each card becomes active - beware that this can change the lead suit!

Advancing Along the Scoring Track

The winner of the trick advances their Player Piece up the Scoring Track to the next open space towards the sun. Only one player can fit on each space of the scoring track. If the space immediately above isoccupied, the winner of the trick will swoop up around to the next open space towards the sun.

Flying Into the Sun

If a player wins a trick and flies into the sun, their wings are damaged and they fall to the space just below the bottommost player on the scoring track.

The Lightning Card

The Lightning Card can be played if a player is unable to play the lead color, or by the Leader. If the Lightning Card has been played, the winner of the current trick will move down to the next open space below the winner of the trick on the Scoring Track.

Playing the Next Trick

After the trick winner has moved along the Scoring Track, discard the played cards face down to the side of the table. The trick winner becomes the next Leader and begins the next trick.

Playing the Next Round

When all cards have been played, it is the end of the round. If no player has yet flown into the sun, deal another round. The player who won the last trick will be the first Leader of the next round. *Reminder: in 2 player mode, the game always ends after exactly 1 round.

End of Game

When a player flies into the sun, the game ends at the end of the current round! Once the remaining cards in the current round are played and the last trick winner’s player piece moved, the player highest on the Scoring Track is the winner of the game.

Cooperative Mode

All players are on the same team with the shared goal of landing everyone safely back down on the ground within the limited number of rounds:

• 3 players - 2 rounds
• 4 players - 3 rounds
• 5 players - 4 roundsOnce any player has flown into the sun, winners of all following tricks will now move downwards on the Scoring Track to the next open space below them back towards the ground.

When the Lightning Card has been played, the winner of the trick will move to the next open space below regardless of whether the players are currently flying up to the sun or already heading back down to the ground. The team collectively scores 1 million points for every player who lands safely back down on the ground before the last round ends.

Lightning Card Variant

The Lightning card is stronger than non-trump cards: During the Day, the Lightning card loses to Yellow cards, but wins over all other cards; During the Night, the Lightning card loses to White cards, but wins over all other cards. The winner of the current trick will move down to the next open space below. (Credit & thanks to Cardboard East!)

Frequently asked questions

What is the lead color if a Leader plays the Lightning Card?

The lead color is determined by the next card played.

What if the lead color changes because of a 5-card?

If the Leader plays a zero card and then a 5 is played by another player in the same trick, the lead color will change.Players who have not yet played into the current trick must play the same color of the newly active side of the Leader’s card.

Can you go below the ground level?

You cannot go below ground level. And you cannot plunge into the sea and die a mythic death.

Who is Icarus?

In the Greek myth, Icarus and his father craft handmade wings to escape from an island prison. Things do not end well.