Buttle

Insert flavour text here!

Buttle is based on the card game Cuttle (Pagat, BGG) and was inspired by a reimplementation of it for the Decktet by Oshojabe at Reddit. Cuttle is of uncertain origin; see Pagat for more details.

I posted my version (1.0) to BoardGameGeek in March 2018. These rules differ slightly and so are dubbed Version 1.1.

This game has not yet been playtested.

Setup

A Myrmex deck is recommended, but you can also take your chances with a single extended deck. To create a Myrmex deck from a double Decktet, remove one set of Aces and Crowns, and two each of the Pawns and Courts (leaving six each). The Excuse is not used.

To begin, the dealer deals six cards to himself and five to the start player.

Rules

On each player’s turn they either draw a card or play a card. When playing a card, they either play it for points or for its effects. The Ace and numbered cards are the only point cards; the Pawns, Courts, and Crowns can only be played for effects.

The list of effects is mostly the same as in Cuttle:

Effects of One-Offs

• Aces: Scrap every point-scoring card on the table.
• Twos: Place one royal on the table into the scrap pile.
• Threes: Sort through the scrap pile and pick any card you like.
• Fours: Your opponent discards two cards.
• Fives: Draw two cards from the draw pile.
• Sixes: Every royal card on the table is placed in the scrap pile.
• Sevens: Draw and play one card from the draw pile.
• Nines: Return all Royal and Point cards matching a suit of the nine to its owner’s hand.

Note that nines affect both players, but don’t affect any cards hidden (under a Pawn) at the time it was played.

Whenever a Pawn is removed from a point card, that card reverts to its previous owner (and is moved across the table).

Permanent Effects (Royals)

• 8: Opponent must play with an open hand.
• Pawn (Jack): Transfers control of a point card.
• Court (Queen): Protects most cards from effects that target single cards.
• Crown (King): Reduces the number of points required to win (21/16/12/9/7/5/4).

When playing an 8 for effects, turn it sideways.

When playing a Pawn, move the affected card(s) to the player’s side of the table, keeping the Pawn on top.

Game End

The game ends when one player has accumulated 21 points (or the appropriate reduced number of points); that player wins.

Variants

Many Cuttle variants can be applied to Buttle; see Pagat for some possibilities.

Credits

The Decktet is an alternative deck of cards created by P.D. Magnus and released under a CC license.