Aurum

Alright, transmutation enthusiasts! Get your notebooks ready, because in Aurum, you're alchemists on a quest for the perfect formula for the purest gold. After years of experiments and a successful transmutation, the challenge now is to refine this art. This is a trick-taking game for 3 or 4 players, with the option to play in teams of two when the table is full.

The dynamic goes like this: at the start of each round, after the cards are dealt, there's a bidding phase. You and your team (if applicable) will bid on how many tricks you think you'll win. In a team game, the higher bid from one of the partners becomes the team's official bid. During the round, you can lead a trick with any non-gold card. The golden rule is: if a suit has already been played, you must follow suit, unless you have a gold card in your hand – then the game changes! Gold is our supreme trump and always wins, regardless of the number. The highest-valued card played (that isn't gold) wins the trick, but the magic happens with the lowest non-gold card: whoever played it can take a gold card of the same number from the supply, if available, for their personal collection. Gold cards used in the trick return to the supply, keeping the game's economy fluid.

The round can end quickly if a player cannot play a valid base metal card and either doesn't have (or chooses not to play) a gold card. Scoring is a spectacle: if you win more tricks than you bid, you get the bid value in points. But if you hit it exactly, meaning you win precisely the number of tricks you promised, you double your points! And of course, your collected gold cards are also worth a fortune. The first player or team to collect two gold nuggets (earned by having the most points in the round) is the master alchemist and wins the game! Get ready to bluff, calculate, and perhaps transmute your luck into victory!