Designed by: Muneyuki Yokouchi,yio
Previously published as both 7 Symbols and 7 Nations, Yokai Septet is a partnership trick-taking game designed for four players, although the game provides alternate rules for three as well.
The deck of cards is made of seven suits with seven numbers each. No suit has the same numbers, however: green cards are 1-7, purple are 2-8, pink 3-9 and so on all the way up to the blue suit which numbers 8-13. Players team up (with your diagonal opposite around the table) and once cards have been dealt, swap three cards with their partner. Then play begins, following standard trick-taking rules: whatever card is led, you must follow suit if you’re able to, and the most valuable card wins the trick. One suit will be trump: this is the strongest and can win tricks even when not the highest number played.
Each team’s goal is to claim four number 7 cards (the only number that appears in every suit) with the caveat that if you win your seventh trick without claiming a fourth 7 in the process, you lose the round! So you need to be careful about what you play when, and use the limited knowledge of your partners’ hand (the three cards you handed them) along with what they know of yours, to your advantage. Be aware also of the one special card – the green ‘one’ (actually an ace) trumps everything when played and is an automatic win. But it must still obey the rules of following-suit.
Yokai Septet’s simple scoring system is the first team to win two rounds wins the game. But it also provides a more subtle, complicated scoring system to try once familiar with the basic game.
Trick taking and partnership, they're like tuna and mayo to me - made to go together. Yokai Septet has some similarities to Tichu, including the passing of cards to your partner at the beginning of the game. Though in this instance it seems harder to infer anything concrete from what they've passed. It is probably a game with a lot of luck, but enough skill for experienced players to win out in the end. I like it a lot.
Trick-taking games definitely have "Oh no" moments, but they couldn't really be construed as personal attacks.
Low.
The shared information (remember what cards you exchanged with your partner!) is really key here: what you choose to pass over and what you receive will influence your decisions on the tricks. It's not luck-free, but it's not a lottery either - there's some real subtlety at play here.
For fans of trick-takers, this is a good 'un. The only caveat is that it really needs four players to shine.
3-4
Players
10+
Years
30-60
Mins
Sam says
I do like trick-taking games and Yokai Septet is a neat iteration of them; a partnership game with nuance and subtlety that really rewards repeat plays.