CVLT: Preview of a Trick Taking Card Drafting Game
In CVLT players bring offerings of earth, water, air, and fire. In return the gods bless the players with visions. CVLT is a trick taking game with a twist. The twist is card drafting. This is the first time that I have seen a trick taking game add in the element of card drafting. I was really excited when I heard the concept of this game and had to get it to the table so we could share it with you.
Setup
Setup for trick taking card game is pretty easy. There are two kinds of cards in the box Vision cards and Offering cards. The Vision cards have an indicator on them for player count. Depending on player count players might have to remove some of the Apollo and Athena cards and set them aside for when more folks are over for game night. The vision cards then get shuffled. The Offering cards then are pared down also depending on player count, for example for a 3 player game players will use the 1-12 numbered cards and 13-16 are again left out of the game. This is the point where I mention that I lied earlier, there is another set of cards these are the 4 suit cards. The suit cards are just there to help keep players organized. Deal 8 offering cards to each player.
Game Play
Players will randomly choose what player goes first. I like using Chwazi (its a phone app) to choose who goes first in cases like this. Before the first turn draw 2 plus the number of players vision cards and put them out for everyyone to see. Each player except the first player then choose one of the vision cards to discard. There will be three vision cards left on the table. The vison cards are bonuses that are bestowed at the end of the had. There are some Vison cards that can be claimed during the hand also.
The game plays like a standard trick taking game. The first card played sets the suit and the highest card in that suit wins. Wait another twist! If a player plays off suit and the number matches exactly the number of the first card played that turn they win the trick. I should mention that you have to play the suit first played if possible. If a player meets the requirements for a vision card for example "Win a trick with a fire card" then the player can take the Vision card even if another player has it.
There are a lot of layers to this game and the layers add to the potential depth of play.
So after the tick is won the drafting begins. Starting with the trick winner each player drafts one of the cards played in the trick. There are 2 things a player will do withthis drafted card. First they can place it face up for an offering. Secondly the player can place card face down in their dream pile. Both the offering and dream piles have a maximum of 4 cards in each. This drafting is what makes the game so unique. There are a lot of layers to this game and the layers add to the potential depth of play.
So what happens next is that each player will take their offering cards and place them in the temple in number order slipping them inbetween previously played cards if needed ( if the 1 and 3 of fire are played you can slip the 2 inbetween). This is done one suit at a time starting with the lowest card of the suit and working their way up. Players will score the card value if every card of a lower value in that suit has been played. For example if a player put the 5 of earth on top of 1,2,3,4 of earth then they would score 5 points. The Offering cards will remain for the entire game increasing the potential for higher scores each turn.
The game lasts 3 rounds and on round 2 and three players will draw the 4 cards they have placed face down (Dreams pile)from the previous turnand take them into their hand then the dealer will give each player 4 new cards. The vision cards are new each round also. The player with the most points at the end wins.
Thoughts
CVLT is a really interesting game that can have a lot of depth of strategy. The drafting and scoring mechanics deployed create a very interesting series of choices that players will have to make. The Scoring of the game is quite unique and may take players a minute to figure out and implent into their round playing but over all the game starts with a very familiar style of play that makes it eaiser for people to dive into the deeper strategies of CVLT
CVLT is a great game for players familar with trick taking games. Its also would be a little bit of a barrier of entry but not hard to over come for those who have never played a trick taking game. The drafting and scoring offer a unique twist on the traditional trick taker card game and add a lot of depth of play and strategies.
Players: 2-4
Year Published: 2024
Recommended Ages: 10+
Time to Play: 15 minutes / player
A preview copy of CVLT was provided to Bert's Tabletop Games for this review by Long Tail Games. This is a prototype and the final version of the game may vary from what is depicted here.
