Imagine a mix of poker and super-fast deckbuilding, with a tableau of powerful jokers helping you win bets.
Deckbuilding
Players start with the same simple deck. The cards you buy from the central area all have zany special rules—double cards, cards that destroy other cards, and so on.
Burning cards
Every round, you get to burn one card, permanently removing it from the game. This allows you to shred down to a small, refined deck very quickly.
Jokers
Throughout the game, players may buy jokers from six different joker decks, each linked to a part of the game sequence. Raise jokers trigger when you raise a bet, Fold jokers when you fold a bet, and so on.
Joker strategy
As you acquire jokers, they’ll likely make you adjust your strategy. You might call more bets rather than raise because of your joker, or even fold several bets to use your fold joker for deckbuilding.
wild rounds
Players must plan for two rounds of the game with special rules and a bigger pot. You have to find a balance between building a deck for the ten normal rounds and these two high-paying special rounds.
The flow of the game
The game is structured like twelve hands of poker. While winning is great, losing also presents interesting choices—only the losers of a round get to buy new cards and jokers.
how the game feels
The game has the excitement of poker, yet it’s much more controlled and less random. The special cards and jokers allow players to do wild things like betting on other players, seeing another’s hand, drawing extra cards, and more.
Progression
The game offers a strong sense of progression, as players burn almost all their starting cards, replace them with exciting new options, and build a cabal of jokers while stacking up poker chips.
Catch-up and endgame
The leading player often changes midgame as players who were behind now win with the stronger decks they built while losing. The game usually ends when someone has created an almost unbeatable deck, triggering the end of the game by accumulating over sixty poker chips.
Who is this game for?
If you enjoy card games where you compete more against other players than against the game itself, and engine-building games that let you go wild with crazy powerful combos, you will love DECKO.
Deluxe for everyone
This game will only come in a deluxe version, with hefty clay poker chips, a luxury playmat, and high-quality cards with gilded edges. It will remain affordably priced and come in a small box.
