Date: Mon, 19 Jan 98 09:53:14 GMT
From: Wolfgang Werner ([email protected])
Subject: TWILIGHT - short description
Dear Sir,
I was reading The Game Cabinet today and found a short description of the games published at Essen 97.
As nothing is written about the card game TWILIGHT (Bambus-Verlag), and, incidently, I am its author, I decided to write a short description for you in English:
TWILIGHT is a trick taking card game for at best four (if four cannot be found, three are also okay, but they should be familiar with the four-players' game).
Let us begin with the cards. There are 28 cards, 14 for the sun cult and 14 (identical) cards for the moon cult. The cards are identifiable to which cult they belong by the front side as well by their back side.
Before the game starts, the players decide, which two players represent the sun and which two players represent the moon cult. The goal now is to convert as many souls as possible to ones cult. The team which has 1000 or more souls converted wins (what occurs after about 10 to 15 dealings).
There are five cards (for each cult), which represent souls numbered 3 to 7. Considering the trick height, all "Souls" are equal and if the highest cards in the trick are souls, the first played soul wins the trick. The numbers on the soul cards are only important for counting after the game (the 3 counts as 3 souls, etc.).
Then you have the trumps (the "clerics"). They are also five for each cult, named Hierarch, High Priest, Priest, Adept and Novice. Each of them is higher than the souls and they have the order given before, i.e. the Hierarch is the highest card, followed by the High Priest etc.
Then, you have the "Purgatory", which is the absolute highest card in the game and therefore can trump everything with one exception: another already played Purgatory (remember: for equal cards, the first card played gets the trick). But the Purgatory card has one disadvantage: The winner of the trick is not yet decided. It remains on the table, until the next trick has been played (the player who played the Purgatory begins the next trick). The winner of this next trick gets both. If the last trick of the game contains a Purgatory, the trick remains neutral and is not counted for any team.
To complete the card stock there are the three Sanctuaries, that are: the Obelisk, the Temple, and the Altar. These are the lowest cards of all and are once again equal to themselves. But, they have the most effect in earning souls, because they multiply all souls a team has converted. The Altar gives a x1, the Temple a x2 and the Obelisk a x3 to all souls that could be converted. If a team didn't build at least one of its sanctuaries, all converted souls are lost and their result is 0. For the counting, the soul cards count what is printed on them, and each cleric has one soul and thus counts 1.
Whereas the souls can be of the one or the other cult (sun or moon, converted is converted !), only the teams own sanctuaries give any multipliers.
Well there are 28 cards alltogether and four players, so each player is dealt 7 cards. These are a mix of sun and moon cards.
If it is a players turn, he can do one of two things:
(1) Play a card of his hand of his team's cult, or
(2) Choose another player (his partner or one of his opponents). The chosen player must then play a card of the first players cult. The card played is now considered to be played by the player, which turn it is (the choosing player), and if it makes the trick, it is the choosing player's trick. Logically only players that have cards of this cult may be chosen.
So, in each trick there are two sun and two moon cards. It is natural that the players have a different number of cards in their hands, but this doesn't matter. If a player has no more cards in hands, but it is his turn, he only has option (2) from above: he is free to choose another player to play for him.
Well, that's about it. If you have more questions, feel free to contact me at: [email protected] or check the (german) Bambus-Website at: http://www.snafu.de/~bambus
Best regards,
Wolfgang Werner
Thanks for the description! I considered buying Twilight at Essen since I have enjoyed the card games that Bambus has published in the past. Now I wish I had!
ken