Shin Cucco

Shin Cucco is a new take on the classic game Cucco. Players will have to be mind full of a shifting power balance and what cards their opponents may have or else they risk losing all their heart tokens and getting knocked out of the game. Each player starts the game with 3 heart tokens, and at the start of each round, every player is dealt a single card. After everyone checks what card the have, the Start Player chooses if turn order should go clockwise or counter clockwise. Then on each players turn they decide to do ONE of the following: Stay: Keep their current card OR Change: Switch their current card with the card held by the next player in turn order. (The last player in turn order would discard their card and draw from the deck.) Once all players have had their turn, it is time to reveal the card they hold in their hand. The player left holding the lowest numbered card is determined to be the loser of that round and must remove one of their heart tokens. In the simple version of the game, players simply compare the numbers on their cards, which can range between 1 and 18. However, when playing Special Mode the abilities on the cards are also taken into consideration. These abilities allow players to turn the tide back into their favor, or inconvenience other players. It is even possible to change the power balance mid-round and make lower value numbers stronger than higher value ones. Gameplay continues until one player has lost all 3 of their heart tokens. At the end of the game, remaining players reveal the point value on the back of their tokens for a final point total. The value on the heart tokens are random and unknown even to the players until the end of the game, so even if you end up with less total tokens than other players at the end, there is still a chance that luck will be on your side and you can end up with enough points to be the winner.