Dracula vs Van Helsing

Dracula vs Van Helsing is a two-player battle of cardplay, deduction and bloodletting. One player is Dracula, whose mission is to turn every citizen in one of five areas on the (tiny) board into vampires. The other player, Van Helsing, must prevent this by sapping the Count of all of his health.

Each player has a card stand into which you’ll place five randomly-drawn cards at the start of each round. Note that you place them from left to right, and must keep them in that order: each card occupies a ‘lane’ and at the end of the round these lanes will be contested with your opponent, the strongest card winning.

Players take turns drawing a new card and choosing one to discard: it could be the card you picked up, or it could be another, in which case the new card takes the old one’s place in the card holder. But! Each discarded card triggers an action of some kind: reveal one of your own cards, or an opponent’s, or switch the places of two of your cards, and so on. You can also change the trump suit, which – as in trick-taking games – always beats a non-trump card. The round will end either when the cards run out, or – more likely – when either player passes. If they do their opponent gets one final turn before all the cards are revealed.

When the cards are revealed, the strongest number will win (exception: a trump of any number will beat a non-trump suit). If Dracula wins, they flip a citizen token from its uninfected side to the infected side on the board. If Van Helsing wins, they take one of Dracula’s health points.

Van Helsing’s goal is to take all of Dracula’s health before the end of five rounds. Dracula’s goal is to infect all four citizens in any one of the regions on the board, but the vampire also wins if they survive until the end of round five.

Sam says

We’ve put ages 10 and up as a nod to the dark theme here, but the rules are simple so kids unfazed by vampiric infection could easily play as well. What may need a play or two is appreciation of the powers in the discarded cards and how best to use them. Discarding an 8, for instance, may feel foolish as it’s the highest number. But its special power is ending the round without allowing your opponent their ‘one last turn’, so if you’re in a strong position it can be an excellent move. For all it’s slightly mechanical-feeling play (the theme could be anything, really) this is a strongly engaging game for those who like a tactical battle.

Take That!

The game is a battle for supremacy, with both sides trying to eliminate each other. And one of them's a vampire.
Fidget Factor!

Very low. It only plays two and each turn is a relatively simple choice.
Brain Burn!

There's some reading of your opponent, but the feel of the game is one of tactical warfare: reacting to the current situation with the limited options you have. Timing can be critical too: you can go from a weak position to a very strong one by changing the trump suit and ending the round as soon as you can.
Again Again!

There's enough in the four suits and eight powers to give this game engaging longevity.