Tales, the Card Game
Five cards each, a three by three board and four numbers on every card. Lay a card next to one of theirs, and if your touching number is higher, it's yours. Most cards on the table at the end wins.
The rules
- Each card has four numbers: top, right, bottom and left, from 1 to 9 and A (which is 10).
- Lay a card on an empty square. Every enemy card it touches with a lower number on the touching side turns over to your colour.
- When the board is full, count the cards on the board in your colour, plus the one left in your hand. Five each is a draw.
- Some tables add rules. Open shows both hands. Same and Plus turn cards when numbers match or add up. Sudden Death replays a draw.
- Every homeland has its own board: the Bell in Sunvale, the Roots in the Thornwood, the Tide on the Moonmere Coast. The realms have theirs too.
Card highlights
116 cards in all. A card's level sets its numbers, and rarity follows level. A few to look out for:
MosslingCommon
Dot MarrowUncommon
Feral Cloud SheepRare
Sky RayRare
Greywind WolfRare
- Nan Gulliver: Epic, level 8
- Oolen Calf: Uncommon, level 3
- Oolen: Rare, level 5
- Oolen Elder: Epic, level 7
Who plays, and where
| Who | Where | Skill | Rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dot Marrow | the Common House in Brightwell (the Bakery's dining room) | Plain | |
| Kip | the scaffold by the Bell House, inside the Town Gate | Open | |
| Ben | the fountain in Brightwell Square, in the evening | Open | |
| Lamplighter Tomas | Brightwell Square, after the lamps are lit | Open, Bell | |
| Watchman Ollie | his watch round in Brightwell Square, in the evening | Open, Sudden Death | |
| Night Owl Pip | Brightwell Square, after midnight | Open | |
| Mara Fen | the Bell House, inside the Town Gate | Open, Same | |
| Hester Croft | the Wheel & Kettle, on the road out of Brightwell | Open, Plus | |
| Nessa Veil | the Old Mill (the harbour Warehouse in Brightwell) | Same, Plus | |
| Old Moss Tibb | the Elder Tree Hall in Elderglade | Plain | |
| Twig | the Root Bell under the Elder Tree | Open | |
| Auntie Bryony | the Mossy Cap on Elderglade's Green | Open | |
| Rowan Fen | the Root Bell under the Elder Tree | Open, Plus, Roots | |
| Sable Thorne | Highbough Rest, up the Thornwood stair | Same, Plus, Roots | |
| Saffi Brightwhisker | the Crescent Inn in Lanternport | Plain | |
| Minnow | the Tide Bell at the keep in Lanternport | Open | |
| Ama Fen | the Tide Bell at the keep in Lanternport | Open, Tide | |
| Mapmaker Tobiah | the Gull & Lantern on the Moonmere Coast | Open, Sudden Death | |
| Vix the Fair | the Night Market hall in Lanternport, after dark | Same, Plus, Sudden Death | |
| Dena Flint | the Lift Yard in Stonewake | Open, Same, Lift | |
| Hollis Reed | the Dead Letter House in Reedfen | Open, Same, Plus | |
| Wren | the festival stage on Reedfen's Green | Open, Sudden Death, Current | |
| Hesper Toll | the Bell Foundry in Kitehaven | Plus, Wind | |
| Nan Gulliver | her counting pool in Keelhollow, under the sea | Open, Same, Plus, Elemental, Sudden Death | |
| Dusty Hale | Lampwick, under the mountain | Same, Sudden Death, Lamplight |
Tips from the table
- Corners are safe. A card in a corner can only be attacked from two sides.
- Save your biggest card for last. The last card laid can't be taken.
- Play the night: after dark, night creatures get +1 on every side.
- Your Oolen sits at the table with you once it's yours, and brings one trick a match.
Pro Tip
If you lose a card you love, go and win it back. That's not sore losing. That's a plan, lu.