Voodoo Prince

Designed by: Reiner Knizia

Voodoo Prince is a trick-taking game following the basic rules of the classic card game whist: one player leads a card, everyone must follow suit if they can, and the highest card wins the ‘trick’. But with a name like Voodoo Prince, you know there will be something else going on…

The deck is made up of five suits of cards numbered from 0-12. Players are dealt a hand of cards and five rounds are played. In each round, as soon as any player takes their third trick, they are out of that round – and their score is the number of tricks all the other players have taken at that point. The exception is the last player standing will only score their own tricks – so really the key here is to ideally be out second-last, but definitely don’t be last!

There is a trump suit (a trump suit beats anything, though you must still keep to the follow-suit rule if you’re able to) and there’s an extra twist in that if you win a hand with a 5 or a 7, that wins you two tricks instead of just one. Handy at times… sometimes not. Additionally playing a zero – which can only beat the 12 of it’s own colour – when you don’t want to win the hand can be risky, because if someone else dumps the 12, you go from being the lowest card to the highest!

When the fifth round ends, the player with the most points wins.

Sam says

This is a bona fide favourite. I like trick-taking games and the twist in Voodoo Prince really appeals to me. Simple rules, but enough depth in play means this gets a big tick from me – we return to it again and again.

  • Take that! icon

    Take That!

    A little. It's more interactive than a standard trick-taking game because there are many times you don't want to win the trick, but are forced to.

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    Fidget Factor!

    Minimal. It's a fast-moving game.

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    Brain Burn!

    Low, but you definitely need to think about how you play your cards here.

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    Again Again!

    Not a huge variety in play, but rather more-ish all the same if you like speedy card games. Best with 4 or 5 players, we think.