As some of you might know I am now officially unemployed since january 1st. I decided to end my career as a freelance illustrator and I’m looking to shift into a completely different career. While I’m looking into going back to university or learning a new trade, I thought I could easily take on some logistics work in supermarkets, warehouses etc. in the meantime. But alas, all my applications have been declined. Hence why I’m now starting this card game project. It’s one of several ideas I want to pursue to keep myself busy, to learn something new and also show people how I do things when I do them.

Here’s the current document for the card game.

Fantasy Contract Rummy – Game Design Document

Overview

A fantasy-themed contract rummy variant designed for two players. It combines traditional rummy mechanics with special abilities and contracts.
Players aim to score points by forming sets, fulfilling contracts, and utilizing action cards to influence the flow of the game.
The current card values and scoring system requires players to have a calculator at hand.

Components

Total Cards: 156 cards, including character cards, companion cards, weapon cards, action cards, and contract cards.

Card Types

1. Character Cards (28 cards):
   • Represent the heroes of the game.
   • Each character has special abilities
   • Examples: Paladin, Bard, Trickster, Mage, Druid, Rogue, Ranger
2. Companion Cards (28 cards):
   • Animal allies that support the characters
   • Examples: Weasel, Wolf, Raven, Bear, Phoenix, Spirit
3. Weapon Cards (45 Cards):
   • Essential for forming sets and fulfilling contracts.
   • Examples: Sword, Shield, Lute, Mirror, Tome, Staff, Dagger, Bow & Arrow
4. Action Cards (18 Cards):
   • Provide strategic advantages or disrupt the opponent.
   • Examples: Rewrite Destiny, Thievery, Tax Collector, Reinforcements, Espionage, Helping Hand, Hostile Action, Pestilence
5. Contract Cards (20 cards):
   • Objectives that grant bonus points upon completion.
   • Can be played openly or secretly
   • Examples: Warrior’s Arsenal, Just a friendly Troubadour, Trickster’s Run, Barrier Mage, Wild Druid, Unseen Actors, Thinning the Herd

Detailed Card Descriptions:

1. Characters:
   • Paladin (Quantity 4; Value 10): Any Shield cards played with the Paladin count triple in value.
   • Bard (Quantity 4; Value 10): Any Lute cards played with the Bard count triple in value.
   • Trickster (Quantity 3; Value 12): Can substitute for any one character card.
   • Mage (Quantity 4; Value 10): Any Tome cards played with the Mage count triple in value.
   • Druid (Quantity 5; Value 8): Can subsitute for any one companion card.
   • Rogue (Quantity 4; Value 10): Any Dagger cards played with the Rogue count triple in value.
   • Ranger (Quantity 4; Value 10): Any Bow & Arrow cards played with the Ranger count triple in value.
2. Companions:
   • Weasel (Quantity 6; Value 3)
   • Wolf (Quantity 6; Value 5)
   • Raven (Quantity 5; Value 3)
   • Bear (Quantity 4; Value 7)
   • Phoenix (Quantity 3; Value 12)
   • Spirit (Quantity 3; Value 12)
3. Weapon Cards
   • Sword (Quantity 6; Value 5)
   • Shield (Quantity 6; Value 4)
   • Lute (Quantity 4; Value 2)
   • Mirror (Quantity 3; Value 2)
   • Tome (Quantity 4; Value 3)
   • Staff (Quantity 5; Value 3)
   • Dagger (Quantity 6; Value 4)
   • Bow & Arrow (Quantity 5; Value 3)
4. Action Cards:
   • Rewrite Destiny (Quantity 2; Value 5): Flip any played contract card (yours or your opponent’s) from open to secret or vice versa.
   • Thievery (Quantity 3; Value 4): Steal any one card from the discard pile but must also take the card above and below it. If thera are no cards above or below, draw from the draw deck until you’ve added three cards to your hand. Temporarily allows for larger hand size until end of next turn.
   • Tax Collector (Quantity 3; Value 6): Both players must discard cards totaling a value of 20
   • Reinforcements (Quantity 3; Value 4): Add up to five cards from your hand to any already played set (yours or your opponent’s). The additional cards must complement the set.
   • Espionage (Quantity 3; Value 2): Opponent must show their current hand for three seconds.
   • Helping Hand (Quantity 3; Value 4): Add up to three cards from your hand to your opponent’s played sets. The additional cards must complement the set.
   • Hostile Action (Quantity 3; Value 5): Remove up to three cards from up to three different sets in your opponent’s played sets. Cannot outright destroy a set.
   • Pestilence (Quantity 2; Value 7): Remove five character cards from the table permanently, starting with the discard pile or draw deck. Remove in order: one from discard, one from opponent’s sets, one from your sets, one from discard, one from opponent’s sets. Sets affected count for zero points until completed again through a play in a future turn.
5. Contracts:
   • Warrior’s Arsenal (Quantity 3; Value 10): Play Paladin plus at least four different weapon cards.
   • Just a friendly Troubadour (Quantity 3; Value 12): Play Bard, Lute, Mirror and Helping Hand Action card
   • Trickster’s Run: (Quantity 1; Value 22): At game’s end, have played at least one Rewrite Destiny action card, one Helping Hand, and one set with the Trickster.
   • Hoarder (Quantity 4; Value 8): Play a set of at least six weapon cards. Must be played openly. Permanently increases your handsize by one until the game’s end (or until the contract is nullified via Rewrite destiny).
   • Companion Mastery (Quantity 1; Value 22): Complete a set of all 6 companion type cards.
   • Trickster’s Kingdom (Quantity 1; Value 22): Have played all Trickster character cards and all Mirror weapon cards.
   • Slippery Beasts (Quantity 2; Value 11): Play Spirit or Phoenix plus three Weasel and two Raven cards.

Gameplay Mechanics

Setup

1. Seperate the decks:
   • Shuffle the contract cards into their own deck.
   • Shuffle the remaining cards (character, companion, weapon, and action cards) into the main deck.
2. Deal Cards:
   • Each player is dealth 12 cards from the main deck.
3. Starting the game:
   • Place one card face-up to start the discard pile.
   • Place the remaining main deck face-down next to it as the draw deck.
   • The eldest player begins the game.

Turn Structure

Each player’s turn consists of the following phases:

1. Draw Phase:
   • Option 1: Draw one card from the top of the draw deck.
   • Option 2: Draw the top card from the discard pile.
   • Option 3: Draw three contracts from the contract deck, keep at least one or all three. Return unkept contracts to the contract deck and reshuffle. Play kept contract immediatly either openly (face up) or secretly (face down).
   • If you draw the last available card from the draw deck, reshuffle the discard pile into a new draw deck.
   • If you draw contracts and there are only 2 or less contracts available after you return unwanted contracts, this is the last turn in the game.
2. Play Phase:
   • Option 1: Play any set from your hand onto the table in front of you. Sets must meet specific criteria (see Sets below).
   • Option 2: Play an action card from your hand and perform its action.
3. Discard Phase:
   • Discard one card from your hand onto the discard pile.
   • Note: After the last turn of the game, discard the remaining cards from your hand. They don’t count towards scoring.

Sets and Scoring

Forming sets is crucial for scoring points and fulfilling contracts:

Set types:

1. Formation (Bonus Value 5): Only character cards, at least three, no duplicates.
2. Class Formation (Bonus Value 10): Only character cards of the same motiv, at least three.
3. Armory (Bonus Value 4): Only weapon cards, at least three.
4. Weapon Specialist (Bonus Value 5): Only weapon cards of the same motif, at least three.
5. Animal Kingdom (Bonus Value 6): Only companion cards, at least three
6. Master of Arms (Bonus Value 5): One character and at least three different weapon cards (duplicates allowed)
7. Friend of Animals (Bonus Value 6) : One character and at least three different companion cards (no duplicates).
8. Multiplets (Bonus Value 9): Equal number of card types & motifs (e.g. two druids and two daggers and two wolves)

Scoring:

1. Completed sets: Add the sum of the card values plus any set bonus
2. Contracts:
   • Openly played contracts: If fulfilled, add double the contract’s value modifier to your score
   • Secret contracts: If fulfilled, add the contract’s value modifier to your score.
   • Unfulfilled contracts: Subtract double the value modifier for open contracts and quadruple for secret contracts.
   • Any set can fulfill multiple contracts, but contracts cannot be assigned to multiple sets.
3. Special Abilities: Include any additional points from character special abilities.
4. Action cards: Include all played action cards

Hand Size:

Maximum Hand size: 12 cards
Exception: Hand size can be increased via contract Hoarder, and temporarily increased for one turn via action Thievery.

Game End Conditions:

The game ends when one of the following occurs:

• Deck Depletion: The draw deck has been exhausted twice.
• No more contracts: Less than three contracts remain to be drawn.

End of Game Scoring:

1. Calculate the total points from all completed sets.
2. Add or subtract points from fulfilled or unfulfilled contracts
3. Add points from played action cards
4. The player with the highest total score wins.
5. If scores are equal, the player with more fulfilled contracts wins.

That’s a snapshot of the game’s current state. I’m still tweaking card values, and coming up with additional cards. I hope that in the end the game will be a fun combination of strategy and luck.

I hope to build a prototype with the game engine Godot, just for fun and practice. We’ll see how it goes.

Any feedback is welcome. If you have ideas on how to improve this Fantasy Contract Rummy game please let me know.