ECK an abstract solo trick-taking card game, by John Burton 1

OVERVIEW:
ECK is an abstract solo trick-taking game where the you play against the AI opponent ECK attempting to collect
trick cards by winning exactly the number of tricks shown on the available trick cards.

CONTENTS:
GAME CARDS (42):
Shapes (Ranks): Line, Triangle, Square, Pentagon, Hexagon, Octagon (from weakest to strongest)
Colors (Suits): Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple
Circles (Trumps): Black x 3, White x 3

TRICK CARDS (7 + 1 counter):

Numbered 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13/0, 1 counter (0,1 on front, 2,3 on back)

SETUP:
Place the TRICK CARDS in order color-side up off to the side of the main play area with the counter close by.
Shuffle GAME CARDS.
Draw 13 game cards for yourself (in hand or face-up on table) organized by color is suggested.
Place remaining 29 cards face down in a pile (this deck/pile is referred to as “ECK”, your AI opponent).

PLAYING AREA

ECK (29 cards)

counter
Your Hand (13 Cards)
TRICK cards (7 Cards)
ECK an abstract solo trick-taking card game, by John Burton 2
GAME PLAY:
ECK utilizes mechanics that are familiar to traditional trick-taking games such as leading, following suit(color) and
taking a trick, which are explained below. In this game, either you or the ECK leads a single card, then the other
follows with a single card from their hand/deck, with a result of the trick decided based on the cards played. Each
ROUND is 13 tricks, one for each card in your hand. The CIRCLE cards are like trump cards that either always win
or always lose. There is no bidding or declaring in advance how many tricks will be taken in a round.

During Each Trick:

The first card played in a trick is the LEAD card:
❖ ECK always leads the first trick of a round
❖ The winner of a trick leads the next trick
❖ If you lead, you may play any card in your hand
❖ If ECK leads, the top card of the ECK pile is ECK’s lead.
The second card to be played in a trick is the FOLLOW card:
❖ If you are following, you must play a card of the same color as the lead card if possible. Otherwise you
may play any card in your hand.
❖ If ECK follows, turn over the top card of the ECK pile repeatedly until one of these cards is found to play:
▪ A card of the same color as the lead card
▪ A card of the same shape as the lead card
▪ A circle card
❖ ECK cards turned over while looking for a playable card (called HOLD cards) are held in your hand until a
suitable card is found.
▪ After finding a card to play, place the HOLD cards face-up at the bottom of the ECK.
▪ If you come to these face-up cards while playing, turn the ECK over, shuffle, and continue playing.
If two of the same shape card are played, that is a “tied trick”:
❖ Both cards of the trick are temporarily moved to the side to be won later.
❖ Play another trick with leader of tied trick leading the next trick.
❖ The winner of that trick takes both the trick won and the tied trick (this counts as winning 2 tricks).
❖ If another tie occurs, push those cards aside and repeat until a winner is found. That winner will take all
the tied tricks.

After all the tricks are done, the number of tricks you won determines result of the game.

In this scenario, the Player led a purple

hexagon. The first two cards turned over from
the ECK were neither purple nor a hexagon, so
those two cards were left as hold cards. The
third Eck card turned over was a green
hexagon, which made the trick a tie, so the tied
ECK’S cards were pushed off to the side. Then the
ECK HOLD NEXT Player lead a blue octagon. The next ECK card
CARDS TIED HAND CARDS
CARD was a green pentagon, so it was left as a hold
CARDS
CARDS card, and the next card was a blue triangle, so
PLAYER’S it was played since it was the same color as the
NEXT card the player led. In this case, the player wins
CARD both the current trick and the tied trick because
CARDS octagon is stronger than triangle.
ECK an abstract solo trick-taking card game, by John Burton 3
Determining Trick Winner:
At the end of each trick, the winner of the trick collects the cards and they are placed near them (either near you
or near the ECK). It is important to show the number of tricks won by both you and ECK. Cards won in tricks must
stay face down for the remainder of the round and cannot be looked at. Trick winners are determined as follows:
❖ If the follow card is same color as the lead card, the card with the highest value shape will win. The more
sides a shape has, the higher its value.
▪ From weakest to strongest: Line, Triangle, Square, Pentagon, Hexagon, Octagon
❖ If the follow card is a different color but is the same shape as the lead card, the trick is tied.
▪ If the last trick of a round is a tie, the leader wins the trick.
❖ If the follow card is a different color and a different shape than the LEAD card, the follower loses the trick.
▪ This can only happen to you, not the ECK.
❖ CIRCLE cards are exceptions to the above rules, see below.

Circle Cards:
The black and white circle cards are trump-like cards that either always win or always lose tricks when played. The
ECK can lead or follow with a circle card without restriction. You can lead a circle card without restriction but you
can only follow with a circle card if you cannot follow with a card of the same color as the lead card. Any time you
lead with a circle, ECK's top card is the follow card. Tricks with circles win/lose as follows:
❖ A black circle always wins against any color/shape card
❖ A white circle always loses against any color/shape card
❖ 2 black circles in the same trick or 2 white circles in the same trick is a tie.
❖ When a white and a black circle are played to the same trick, the white circle wins

TRICK EXAMPLES:

LEAD: red triangle LEAD: blue triangle

FOLLOW: a red octagon FOLLOW: blue line
Trick Winner: FOLLOW Trick Winner: LEAD
Why? same color, octagon > triangle Why? Same color, triangle > line

LEAD: green pentagon LEAD: white circle

FOLLOW: blue octagon FOLLOW: green line
Trick Winner: LEAD Trick Winner: FOLLOW
Why? follow not same color as lead Why? color/shape beats white circle

LEAD: green hexagon LEAD: white circle

FOLLOW: purple hexagon FOLLOW: black circle
Trick Winner: TIE Trick Winner: LEAD
Why? same shape Why? White circle beats black circle
ECK an abstract solo trick-taking card game, by John Burton 4
WINNING THE GAME:
You win the game by collecting four different TRICK cards. You collect a trick card any time you win the number
of tricks on a remaining trick card. For example, if you win 6 tricks in a round, you collect trick card 6. If you win
the number of tricks on a card that has already been taken, then you collect no cards. If you do not win a trick
card three rounds in a row, the game is over and ECK wins the game. To keep track of this, use the COUNTER card.
It starts with the 0 on top. Once you play a round without winning a trick card, rotate the counter card to have
the 1 on top. If in the next round you don’t win a trick card, turn the card over leaving the 2 on top. If you fail to
win a trick card again, rotate the card to have the X on top and you have lost. If you win a trick card, return the
COUNTER card to the 0 position.

rotate flip rotate LOSE

Trick cards start color-side up, but if ECK wins the number of tricks on a trick card, the corresponding card is turned
gray-side up. If ECK wins the number of tricks on a trick card that is gray-side up (meaning ECK won that number
of tricks twice without you having won that card yet), then ECK wins the card and you lose the entire game.
However, if you win the number of tricks on a trick card that is gray-side up, you collect that card and ECK can no
longer win that card even if ECK wins that number of tricks again. Any time you win or lose all 13 tricks, you collect
the 13/0 card. ECK cannot win the 13/0 card. If you win four different trick cards, you win!

EXAMPLE GAME:
Round 1: You win 6 tricks. You take trick card 6.
Round 2: You win 6 tricks again. You take no trick cards. Turn the counter from 0 to 1
Round 3: ECK wins 8 tricks. Turn trick card 8 over to the gray side. Turn the counter from 1 to 2
Round 4: You win 8 tricks. You collect trick card 8. Turn the counter back to 0
Round 5: ECK wins 4 tricks. Turn trick card 4 over to the gray side. Turn the counter from 0 to 1
Round 6: You win 12 tricks. You collect trick card number 12. Turn the counter back to 0
Round 7: ECK wins 4 tricks. Trick card 4 is already gray, so you lose and ECK wins.

GAME DIFFICULTY LEVELS:

The standard number of trick cards needed to win is four, however you may adjust this number to vary the
difficulty level and the length of the game. Beginners may want to set the number at two for a short easy game.
To increase the challenge, you may choose to try to win five, six, or even all seven trick cards.

Another way to adjust the challenge of the game is to only use certain trick cards at the start of the game. For
example, if you only put out the 2,4, 12, and 13/0 cards (removing the 6,8,10 trick cards). Even if you set the
number of tricks needed to win at three, this is much more challenging because the trick cards available are more
difficult to win.

If you come up with your own variations to make the game interesting, I would love to hear about them.