“Piquet is an arithmetic and memory test under fire. A two player duel where every point count toward a traditional target of one hundred. Counting pips in your hand while trying to remember what just happened, which was the last trick? Mistakes is made quickly. “The maths are done by the calculator. Plug in result … Read more

Scopa is all about margin, about a single coin that makes all the difference between winning and losing, and a forgotten coin means nothing unless you remember it when counting up the money. And now the deck is empty and everyone’s at the table, but no one wants to be the one to add it … Read more

In a heated match of Briscola, it’s not uncommon to start forgetting how many cards you have as you frantically try to get rid of them. To avoid an argument that lasts for next twenty minutes (you’ll be splitting hairs), you need a concrete system of scorekeeping. That way arguments can be resolved quickly. The … Read more

By about round ten, something happen in a Wizard game: you feel it in the air. At that stage, the chit-chat ends; it’s no longer casual. If you see potential for five tricks, then what? What do you see when you look down at your hand? There is a potential for five tricks, yes. But … Read more

If you play Hearts (or any other card game), this is a card scoring calculator that will keep track of all your points for you. When someone doesn’t think they caught somebody’s card, it can turn in to an argument. It turns in to a long conversation where everyone else sits there waiting. With this … Read more

Most people remember a round of pitch as an argument around the kitchen table about scores and whose card was trump. How does one keep score? Pitch balances between chaotic family fun and structure of contract bridge. The bidding feels serious for thirty seconds until someone forget whether they bid three or four. And by … Read more

By the end of Red Rising, it doesn’t feel much like a board game at all. It’s more like taking an accounting test in a firefight. Hours have passed as you’ve shuffled ships around, brokered deals with politicians, and secured contract. And now everybody sits down for the hard part. Scoring in this game is … Read more