Dense Board games using 60ish cards
Brian Bankler
United States
San Antonio
Texas
Modified Limited Rampage!
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I'm coming to realize that there's a decent genre of dense little board games that come with a pack of ~60 cards, rules, and nothing else. These aren't really card games (in the sense of being like Bridge, Tichu, Poker, Rummy etc), but only use cards (and maybe a scoresheet or somesuch) as a component. I started to think about all the ones I'd played (or owned) ... You could get quite a nice little collection of games into a very small space.
Please add any games. Remember the criteria --
1) Cards only, and capped at 60-75 cards (& maybe some generic tokens)
2) At least moderate complexity
3) Not a 'standard' card game (Trick taking, set collection, etc).
4) A reasonably good game. .
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Brian Bankler
United States
San Antonio
Texas
Modified Limited Rampage!
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Is Verrater the first game like this? Offhand I can't think of any that are older, but that's probably just me. I enjoyed this the few times I played it, but haven't played often.
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Brian Bankler
United States
San Antonio
Texas
Modified Limited Rampage!
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Sort of a sequel to Verrater. May people claimed it improved the game, although I haven't tried it. I just noticed these are both by
Marcel-André Casasola Merkle.
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Brian Bankler
United States
San Antonio
Texas
Modified Limited Rampage!
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Probably my favorite of the 'dense' card games. A tight little deduction (induction) game with no table-talk (if player by the rules). Also works with a wide range of players (so the box claims) although we usually just play with 6.
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Brian Bankler
United States
San Antonio
Texas
Modified Limited Rampage!
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Proving that not every title on this list is by Adlung (although the majority of them are). I just got this for a deep discount and there's a lot going on here. Maybe too much. But it certainly fits. I hope to play this soon. I think this goes slightly over 60 cards, about 75 or so.
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Brian Bankler
United States
San Antonio
Texas
Modified Limited Rampage!
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One of the latest by Adlung. Played once and liked it, but not enough to purchase it.
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Brian Bankler
United States
San Antonio
Texas
Modified Limited Rampage!
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A cute little auction game, using paper (or poker chips) for keeping track of money. Played this a half-dozen times before the shine wore off; not bad for a $10 game.
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Preston Fuller
United States
Ashland
New Hampshire
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This certainly fits.
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Preston Fuller
United States
Ashland
New Hampshire
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Another by "Its Your Move'
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Preston Fuller
United States
Ashland
New Hampshire
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This plays like a minutres game but it is just a deck of cards and you need only one dry marker pen.
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Preston Fuller
United States
Ashland
New Hampshire
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Citadels
Cold War CIA vs KGB
Mag Blast 3rd Edition
All are cards. Citadels has some generic markers for money. Cold War two scoring markers.
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United States
Swarthmore
Pennsylvania
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Kind of like Mall of Horror, without a board.
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United States
Swarthmore
Pennsylvania
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Multi-role game along the lines of Verrater/Meuterer/Citadels, although more complex and meant for larger groups.
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United States
Swarthmore
Pennsylvania
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Sort of like Republic of Rome without a board.
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Ron K
United States
Marcellus
New York
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I think this fits the specs. Nice game with a couple of twists.
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15.
Board Game: Monad
[Average Rating:6.52 Overall Rank:2676]
Huzonfirst
United States
Manassas
Virginia
For the second time in five years, the G-Men are Super Bowl champs! Woo hoo!!!!!
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Here's an oldie that fits. It isn't a standard card game because it isn't even a standard game. It was totally unique for its time (late sixties) and it's still pretty unusual today.
It's a trading game, with three types of trades possible. Like just about all of Sackson's trading games, the trading is done exclusively with the bank (outside of I'm the Boss, Sid was not the king of player interaction). Using some simple rules, the players trade up, taking advantage of the known order of the different types of cards. The first player to obtain a set number of Monads (the highest valued "card") wins. It's a nice little cerebral affair.
Sackson was incredibly ahead of his time when it came to exploring the boundaries of card games. Venture is another card game of his that fits all of your requirements, except it has too many cards. But when it was published 40 years ago, it was probably the closest thing we had to a "card game that plays like a board game".
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Brian Bankler
United States
San Antonio
Texas
Modified Limited Rampage!
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Really just a werewolf variant, but you have more than just the one card for role ...
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Brian Bankler
United States
San Antonio
Texas
Modified Limited Rampage!
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This does have a nice board and a few wooden bits, but these are all either placed on cards or just counting hit points...basically just a card game.
(OK, I forgot the dice....)
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Brian Bankler
United States
San Antonio
Texas
Modified Limited Rampage!
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OK, a good game, but not as dense. Part of the "Werewolf" family, but has voting and special actions via card play.
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19.
Board Game: Gosu
[Average Rating:6.99 Overall Rank:469]
Jack Timbledum
New Zealand
Auckland
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I'm a little hesitant to post this game as it's a bit over 60 cards... as in 100 cards exactly (plus a few tokens). It also comes in quite a large box for the contents. However it does allow for a fairly deep strategic card based game in a small package.
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Guido Gloor
Switzerland
Ostermundigen
The statement below is false.
The statement above is correct.
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Nothing but cards indeed. I'm not sure if it's actually just 60, but definitely not a lot more.
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George Leach
United Kingdom
Salford
Greater Manchester
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A really tough deduction game with 81 cards (54 if you play the simpler game). Can use the cards from three standard card decks to construct it though.
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