Regicide

If you own a standard deck of playing cards, you already own this game. All you need are the rules, which are free to access from the designers’ website (www.badgersfrommars.com), where you can select the ‘Learn To Play Regicide’ tab to watch a succinct 9-minute video that will teach you how to play (there is also a link to the written rules to print or refer to as needed). But, to give you a quick rundown, your game objective is to defeat the 12 royal cards by dealing damage with the standard pips in your hand, each suit being assigned a unique ability such as drawing, healing, blocking, and doubling your damage. It is tough, but fair, and a whole lot of fun.

I heavily encourage, urge, and borderline insist you give this one a go. Everyone has access to a deck of playing cards, whether brand new, battered and worn, or simply borrowed, this game is consequentially made completely free, so you have no excuse! But also, more importantly, Regicide is possibly one of the best card games I’ve ever played. This 1-4 player co-operative puzzle is swiftly becoming one of my top 10 favourite games, taking 10-30 minutes depending on how well you do/long you last, and I cannot sing its praises enough. I’d happily teach this to anyone, and the rules of limited communication can be played more causally depending on age, games literacy, or merely preference. I love that the rules mention this option since the difficulty of the game definitely has me leaning more causal during play.

A big part of my excitement for this one is definitely due to how classic and timeless it feels by using only one deck of playing cards, matched with a co-operative design to also make it super modern. I’ve wanted a game like this to exist for years. Plus, if you’re anything like me and find yourself absolutely smitten by this clever, portable little game, you can change the skin/aesthetic of your play experience by buying yourself a pretty deck of playing cards. The official Regicide cards (yes, you can actually buy this if it pleases you to do so, and it pleases me very much) are superb, but I also personally really enjoy the Bicycle Aviary, Bicycle Brosmind’s Four Gangs, and Bicycle Emotions (if you're feeling moody) decks. You can style this to whatever strikes your fancy, creating some eye-candy for this wonderful new additional to your games collection. Enjoy, and good luck committing regicide!