Who doesn’t love a good trick-taking game on the table with friends? If you are anything like me you grew up on them with everything from spades to euchre and everything in between being popular games on a game night between family and friends.
Today we are going to take a look at a game coming from Eagle-Gryphon Games called Faux Diamonds. It is designed by Mike Fitzgerald and developed by Ralph Anderson and Matthew Mayes. Art and design by Alex Colby. It is designed for 2-6 players and plays in approximately 10 mins per player.
Overview
Faux Diamonds is a trick-taking game where players accumulate wealth through selling diamonds. Over a number of rounds the player with the most the money will be declared the winner.
Gameplay
The game is played with any number of players between 2-6 and begins with selecting a diamond track rule set. There are ten total to pick from and each have various rules and settings for the different diamond tracks. Players will set up the tracks and place the rule car in-between the tiles.
There are three different diamonds and each has a value of either $1k, $5k or $10k. These are gained through the rounds and reset after each hand. There are a set number of hands played based on the amount of players in the game.
In each hand players will play all of the cards from their hand trying to sell diamonds at the value on the track. Let’s look at gameplay and how each round will go through.
1-Each player is given 10 cards and then the dealer chooses 1-3 cards to pass to a player on their left or right. Then before the game begins each player will pick one of their diamond cards and place it face down as their end of hand bonus card.
2-Playing tricks involve the leader of the hand playing any one card from the different suits down to lead the trick. Subsequent players will play a card from their hand that either matches the suit or is a faux diamond if they have a matching card. If they do not have a matching card they may play and sell any other diamond card or sell a faux diamond.
Faux diamonds played are sold for the value listed on the diamond value track and then the track is advanced one space forward to the new number. Players collect their diamonds and the play continues. If you sell off-suit you are given the value of that diamond track and it advances as well.
3-At the end of the trick, the winner is given the value of the track they played on in diamonds and that track is advanced as well. Any faux diamonds played give that winning player an extra 1K in diamonds also.
4-Once all cards have been played each player will sell their bonus diamond for the value on the track. That track does not advance and anyone who had a faux diamond will sell it for nothing.
5-Players score their hand total in diamonds and this is tracked from round to round until the end of the game. The player with the most money is declared the winner!
There are 2 player variant rules, different rule sets and partner rules for 4-6 players as well.
Impressions:
Faux Diamonds is a fun adventure into trick-taking that I was pleasantly surprised with. It was easy to learn and get to the table for any level of experienced players, we found it to be a quick lesson once you plaed a few hands. I especially liked it at the higher player counts as it got the tracks moving quite a bit on the diamond values.
The strategic play of this game is wonderful-it is fun watching players move the track around at just the right time to make other players frustrated with the picks they end up with. I enjoyed moving the tracks around quite a bit during the game also and seeing where you could line them up for the best collection of diamonds.
Trick-taking games often focus exclusively on winning the tricks and moving forward but I appreciate the way this one has so many other moving parts to determine how and when you can best score diamonds. The game moves quickly as well, making it a great game for a quick match or two when players are looking for something that isn’t going to overstay its welcome on the table.
This is a game you will want to pick up if you are looking for a new addition to the trick-taking genre to add to your collection. Faux Diamonds is going to be my go-to trick-taking game the next time I get a group together! You will enjoy this one with family and friends who are into simple card games or who are looking to branch out in the games they already like. I would highly recommend that you check this one out for a new and fun take on trick-taking!
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