The Bottle Imp

Get ready for a card experience that's pure adrenaline and a touch of dread! In The Bottle Imp, you're playing a trick-taking game inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's short story, where the goal is to accumulate points until you reach a target, usually 200. The cards range from 1 to 37, divided into three colors (red, blue, and yellow), which function like traditional suits, and the number 19 is special: it sets the 'bottle price.'

The twist here is that the bottle, containing a demon, is passed from hand to hand. Whoever ends the round with it gets the short end of the stick and negative points! The magic (or the bad luck) happens when determining the trump: any card with a value lower than the current 'bottle price' becomes trump. If more than one card qualifies, the one closest to the bottle price wins the trick AND the bottle. Then the bottle price changes, and things get increasingly tense because fewer cards will be trump in subsequent rounds. Bottle ownership changes hands constantly, and with each round, the chance of ending up with it increases. Play your cards wisely, try to win tricks to score, but avoid the bottle like the plague! In the end, whoever has the most points (and didn't get stuck with the bottle at the last second) wins.