games of the genre.CONTROL
NUT!
(James
Miller, 2-4 players, ages 10 and up, 45 minutes; $9.99)
What?
Another trick-taking game? With all the trick-taking games out there, you'd
think you'd have
to be a nut to bring a new one to the market. Except James M. Miller, who
definitely shows sign of sanity, is not a nut
but a "control nut". He has created and self-published Control Nut!,
a
new trick-taking card game offering a different slant to games of the genre.
The 60 card deck consists of four suits of cards which, in keeping with the theme, represent different types of nuts (acorns, buckeyes, peanuts and walnuts) ranging in values of from 1 to 13. In addition to the number, some of those cards have stars on them (two on the 1 cards, one star on the 3s and 7s). The remaining 8 cards are specials. More on them later.
The basic flow of the game follows the standard play of trick-taking partnership games. (Although the game may be played with 2 or three players, it really works best with four.) A player plays a card from his hand, the other players follow suit if they can, may play trump if they cannot, with high card winning the trick. But it's those special cards, how you get them and what they can do, that sets Control Nut! apart from the pack.
The 8 special cards are called "Control Cards" because they offer players opportunities to control (or at least "warp") the gameplay. Control cards allow a player to select trump, automatically win a trick, add stars to your score, randomly pluck a card out of each of your opponents' hands, sit out one or more tricks, declare a bonus, alter a card value, adds points to your partnership score. And getting them is part of the fun (and strategy) of the game.
The 52 cards are shuffled and dealt out to all four players so that each player has a hand of 13 cards. Before regular card play begins, the auction phase of play must occur. Four of the eight Control Cards are randomly chosen. These are the cards that will be in play during this round. As each one is revealed, all players, in turn order, bid for them. A bid consists of placing, face up, three cards from your hand. The total number value of all three cards is your bid. A player may bid higher or lower than a previous bid but may NOT bid the same value. High bidder gets the contested Control Card. Then, the three cards that were bid are distributed! The high bidder must give one of his bid cards to each of the three other players. When all four Control Cards have been auctioned off, the player who won the most Control Cards determines trump. (If the Control Card that controls trump was auctioned off, trump will be determined by the player controlling that card.)
During regular card play, a Control Card may be played on a trick, regardless of suit led. However, Control Cards have no value and do not win tricks on their own. Because of the auctioning mechanism, players may end up with unequal numbers of cards in their hands. No problem. Cards remaining in a player's hand (once other players have played out their cards) count as tricks with a conversion rate of 4 held cards (rounded up) equaling one trick. Now we score.
A partnership's score is determined by adding up the stars captured in tricks and multiplying them by the number of tricks. In addition, each captured Control Card is worth 5 points. (For example, capture cards bearing 8 stars when you've taken in 10 tricks and you've earned 80 points. Have 2 Control Cards in your stash and you've bumped your score for the round to 90 points,) The first team to meet or exceed 300 points is the winner.
Despite its self-published status, Control Nut! shows every evidence of professionalism. The box and cards are of a quality equal to (or surpassing) any card game around. The high quality of the graphic design is also notable and well worth mentioning. Although the same color family (browns, yellows, oranges) is used throughout, it is still surprisingly easy to differentiate the different suits. The high quality continues through the nuances of the game design.
Miller has created a tasty "sandwich", flanking basic trick-taking with a clever use of auctions and unusual ways to score. Control Card auctions create a variable dynamic as regular cards get re-distributed while the powers of those Control Cards can potentially and radically change the flow of the game. Scoring shakes out differently from the standard trick-taking experience as, quite often, players end up with unequal amounts of cards in their hands. These features keep Control Nut! fresh, exciting and, even more impressive, different. Right now, Control Nut! is only available through Funagain games (www.funagain.com). But this card game is worthy of a larger print run and more extensive distribution. Hopefully, some company with a savvy business sense will take the hint and give this nutty little treat the wider audience it truly deserves.- - Herb Levy
