Forecasts

In Forecasts, 2–4 chief meteorologists clash in a high-stakes battle for broadcast dominance. Every round begins with an unhedged commitment: before you ever touch the market, you must publicly declare your Station Forecast—exactly how many storm fronts (tricks) you will capture when the weather breaks. Bidding on a raw deal is only the beginning. Once your forecast is locked, you step into the Market Phase. Spend your finite Market capital to run blind draws, execute precise trades from the public Market, or trigger massive 5-card Market Sweeps to strip suits from your hand and dump unwanted high cards in full view of your rivals. Every card left sitting on the Market is public intel—and an invitation for the next player to harvest your discards. Once the Market closes, the storm hits in a ruthless, standard-deck trick-taker where Diamonds are permanent trumps. Will you play it safe with modest contracts to steadily build your station's credibility? Will you declare Clear Skies (Bid 0), stripping your hand of high cards to dodge every trick while the table fights to force lead after lead onto you? Or will you call a high-risk Extended Forecast (Bid 5 or 7) for double Reputation, risking brutal miss penalties to blow the score wide open? You can even burn your hard-earned Reputation pre-deal to buy extra Market capital, sacrificing short-term leads to guarantee complete hand control. Equipped with compact Player Boards, crisp resource tracking, and a fast 2-player Rival mode, Forecasts strips away thematic clutter to deliver a pure, highly tactical trick-taker where precise hand-sculpting meets cold-blooded contract calculation. —description from the designer