Wizard

Rules Overview

Summary

Wizard is a trick-taking card game for 3 to 6 players.
It is played over multiple rounds.
Each round adds one more card per player.
The goal is to correctly predict the number of hands you will win in that round.
In one round, the players play one card from their hand in turns until all cards are played.
The score is determined based on the number of hands won per round.

Objectives

Score the most points by correctly predicting how many hands you will win in each round.

Components

60-card deck:

• 52 standard cards (1 to 14 in red, green, yellow and blue)
• 4 Wizard cards (highest special card, wins the round instantly)
• 4 Joker cards (lowest special card, loses the round instantly)

Game Flow

1. Setup

Shuffle the deck.
Deal N cards to each player in round N (1 card in the first round, 2 cards in second round, etc.).
Reveal the top card from the deck to determine the dominant color (Wizard = dealer picks; Jester = no dominant card).

2. Bidding Phase

Players take turns estimating how many hands they will win this round.
The estimate is based on the cards in hand and the opened dominant color.
Bids are declared before any cards are played.

3. Playing phase

The player to the dealer's left leads.
Follow the dominant card's color if possible. If not possible, play any card.

Card strength order:
Wizard > On-color Card > Off-color Card > Joker
Between on-color cards, the card with the highest numeric value wins.

Highest card wins the hand.
Winner leads the next hand.

4. Scoring

Scores are kept per round played. The total score wins.

• Correct bid: 20 points + (10 x bid) points.
• Incorrect bid: -10 * (bid - hands won) points.

Flow chart