Betting and Bluffing

Hot Streak

Hot Streak is a game for hard luck gamblers who love to bet on and scream at the racers, who in this case happen to be mascots who may (or may not) keep running in the right direction.

At the start of the game, set up the racing deck with one card for each mascot and a number of random cards based on the player count. Reveal these cards to all players, after which players draft a betting ticket from those on display, then in reverse order draft a second bet. For each bet, you can play it safe — or flip it to the risky side, which might pay out more - or cost you money if you lose. After betting, each player chooses one of three cards in their hand to secretly add to the racing deck.

Shuffle the deck, burn three cards, then reveal cards one by one from the deck, moving the mascots along the track, with them sometimes swerving into another lane and knocking over another racer, sometimes turning around, sometimes all moving at once, and sometimes just going backwards! If a racer runs off the track or would be knocked over while already fallen, they're disqualified. If needed, shuffle all cards in the deck, burn three cards again, and keep racing until all four spots on the box podium are filled. Pay out bets based on these results.

For races #2-3, first deal each player a random card from the deck, then place bets again, then have each player contribute a card from their hand to the deck. After race #3, everyone tallies their money.

Psychobabble

A social deduction game in which one player is a psychotherapist trying to discover what shared dreams their patients suffering from mass hysteria have been having. The game uses large cards with surreal dreamlike images set out in a grid. The Patients all know which card they’re discussing but the psychotherapist does not. The problem is that one of the patients is genuinely insane and has been give the wrong card to talk about. This patient needs to remain anonymous to win the game.

The beauty of this game is that nobody knows who that one insane patient is, not even themselves. This means that everyone has to be really cagey about their communication until they work out (if they work out) who it is. But with all this vague and obtuse communication going on how can you be sure that it’s not you who is insane?

A game of real suspense and paranoia it will have you questioning who you can trust, and even if you can trust yourself.

—description from the designer

I'm Kind of a Big Dill

A hilarious party game where you describe traits like your thirst for revenge, bedside manner, and ability to cut your own hair, but with a catch: You also draw a secret token that tells you how much you have to exaggerate your abilities, making them sound better or worse than you are in reality.

After they hear your description, everyone else guesses the number on your secret token. They score based on how close they guess to its actual value. But you only score if some — but not all — of the others guess correctly.

Are you kind of a Big Dill? Make sure everyone knows!

-description from designer

Camel Up (Second Edition)

In Camel Up, up to eight players bet on five racing camels, trying to suss out which ones will place first and second in a quick race around a pyramid. The earlier you place your bet, the more you can win — should you guess correctly, of course. Camels don't run neatly, however, sometimes landing on top of another one and being carried toward the finish line. Who's going to run when? That all depends on how the dice come out of the pyramid dice shaker, which releases one die at a time when players pause from their bets long enough to see who's actually moving!

This 2018 edition of Camel Up features new artwork, a new game board design, a new pyramid design, engraved dice, and new game modes, including crazy rogue camels that start the race running in the opposite direction! You never know how a race will end!

Coyote

One day Coyote crossed the river with his friends, but he was carrying too many things and almost drowned before Bear pulled him out of the water. Poor Coyote had lost everything.

They sat down by a fire to dry off and rest. Coyote became jealous of the other animals because they still had all their things, so he challenged them to a bluffing game to win their belongings. The other animals agreed to the challenge as they thought Coyote would never win. After all, he is known to never tell the truth — but in this game everybody has to lie because no one knows the truth...

In the bluffing game Coyote, you always see the cards of the other players, but never your own. When it's your turn, you must announce a number that is less than the total of all the cards in the game, yet higher than the previous number given. Alternatively, you can challenge the number previously announced. Finally, when all the cards are revealed, you'll see who has the cunning Coyote on their side.

Coyote is in the same game line as Spicy, with the game box and card backs being decorated with a special metallic print in copper. As in the tradition of the Northwest Coast Tribes, copper is a symbol of prosperity and cultural wealth.

The artist Zona Evon Shroyer (Yupik Alaskan Native) is a master of the traditional Northwest Coastal art, whose richness of detail and complexity requires years of study and practice. For the cover illustration of Coyote, she designed a modern silhouette for the coyote, which she then filled in a classical manner with other animal motifs: turtle, beaver, and bear — the animals that he is sitting around the fire with and playing a game, in our little story.

—description from the publisher