Fools and Angels

Description

This is a "beating game", inspired by existing games like Panjpar and Durak.

The name "Fools and Angels" neatly alludes to the quote "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread", though the name was actually derived from its two influences: the game "Durak", which means "fool", and the Marvel Comics character Angela, who is said to be "a believer in the cosmic balance of debts repaid".

Setup

This game uses a standard French-suited card deck (52 cards, no Jokers).

Create three stock decks for players to draw from: one stock for each player, and a common "pool" stock from which both players can draw.

Players' Stocks

The two players' private stocks consist of specific cards by color:

• Player 1: Black A2378J, Red 24556K
• Player 2: Red A2378J, Black 24556K

The Pool Stock

Let the "pool" stock consist of:

• the remaining A,3,4,6,7,J cards
• one red Q and one black Q
• one red 9 and one black 9

Remainder

Put away all other cards, such as the 10s and the remaining 8s, 9s, Qs, Ks. They will not be used.

Rules of Play

Players take turns either attacking by playing cards from their hand or regrouping by drawing cards into their hand.

The main concern of the players is to expend their hand and private stock until one player has no cards in either.

Cards

Aces are worth 1.

The black and red pip cards' values subtract from each other:

• [black 7 + red 5] together have a value of 2 (black)
• [black A + red 2 + red 4] together have a value of 5 (red)

Face cards have special effects, described below in descending order of precedence.

• J: Switches the color of a group of the player's own cards (pip and face) of the opposite color.
• Must be played with cards of the opposite color.
• Player must specify which cards are affected by the J card by clearly grouping them with it. It doesn't have to affect all cards of the opposite color.
• Q: Halves (rounded up or down, minimum of 1) the sum of all other cards of the same color from both players (after any color switching).
• When rounding is necessary, the defender chooses whether to round up or down.
• K: Equals the sum of the opponent's pip cards of the opposite color (after any halving and color switching).
• Must be played as the only card of its color.
• Must be played alongside one or more pip cards of the opposite color.
• 💡 Tip: You can play this as an attack to force the defender to not be able to use subtraction.

Face cards must always accompany pip cards. A player with only face cards in their hand cannot attack, and loses when attacked.

Player Turn

Players start with no cards in hand, and no player may attack a player with fewer cards in hand than them, so everyone's first turn of the game will always be to draw.

The active player shall either:

• Attack with the cards in their hand
• Regroup by drawing cards from their own stock and/or the pool, in any combination, until they have a hand of 7 cards (stocks permitting).
• The pool stock contains cards not found in either player's starting stock: Queens and 9s.
• If the player's own stock is empty, the player is not obligated to draw from the pool stock.
• However, if the player has only face cards in a hand fewer than 7 cards, they must draw from whatever stock is available to them, or forfeit. (See "Forfeit" below.)

An exception: If the opponent is empty-handed and the player's own stock is empty, the player may instead pass.

Attacking

A player "attacks" by laying down a combination of cards which must total a non-zero value.

The attacker may use up to 4 cards — plus 1 more if it is a face card — but never more cards than the defender holds in their hand.

Defending

The other player then "defends" by playing any number of cards from their hand to either:

• balance the whole equation (bring the sum of all played cards to 0), and take no cards, or
• zero out the sum of one color of the attack, and take all cards of the other color.

For instance, if the attack is [3♦, 6♥, 2♣, 2♠], the defender would need cards that total either 9-black (to zero out the red), 4-red (to zero out the black), or 5-black (to balance the whole).

There's no other partial defense. It's pass/fail for all of one color or for the whole attack.

💡 Tip: Players may — and are encouraged to — use subtraction to arrive at attack or defense values. For example, if a player attacks with [4♦], the defense could play [6♣ + A♣ + 3♥] to balance it.

Surrendering

The defender is not obligated to defend an attack at all; they can just "surrender" and take all the cards.

Sometimes this is advantageous, such as when the attacker uses a powerful card that the defender wants.

End of Turn

At the end of a player's turn:

• Cards that successfully battled, from both players, get discarded until the next game.
• Cards that remain get taken by the defender.
• The defender may immediately replenish their hand from cards they take, up to a hand of 7. The rest of the taken cards must go to the bottom of the defender's stock.
• If the defender won (took no cards), they become the active player.
• If the defender lost (took any cards), they lose their turn.

Forfeit

If a player has a hand of only face cards at the start of their turn, and they are unable to draw additional cards into their hand (for example, they already have 7 cards, or all available stocks are empty), they must show their hand and forfeit the game.

Winning

The first player to get rid of all cards in both their hand and their own stock wins.

FAQ / Errata

Q: Given an attack of [J♦, 2 ♣], can you defend with a 2♥ to discard both 2s, and pick up the J♦?

A: No, face cards cannot be separated from the cards they affect.

Variants / House Rule Ideas

Infusion: Whenever you start to regroup with 5 or fewer cards in hand, as long as you have a private stock, draw the first card from the pool.

Asymmetry: At the start of the game, divide the pool stock into four equal piles of four cards each, and divide each player's stock into three equal piles of four cards each. Each player may exchange one of their three piles for one of the four "pool" piles. Then, collect and reshuffle the three new stocks.

Exchange: At the start of your turn, you may exchange any number of cards in your hand for the same number of cards in the pool, before taking your normal turn. You do this by putting the cards you'll exchange face down on the bottom of the pool stock, then drawing the same number of cards into your hand.

Temptation: After each player's first turn, if you draw any number of cards from the pool, your opponent may discard one of their cards, from their hand or from the top of their private stock.

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