Pairs: Muses Deck

Phil and Kaja Foglio, creators of the web comic Girl Genius, bring us the Muses deck. This deck comes from the Girl Genius universe, but focuses on a bygone collection of automata called the Muses, who were created as companions and advisors to royalty.

The deck contains the variant game Regent, which is a sophisticated bluffing game based on the basic Pairs mechanic. Regent was invented as a 2-player game, but there are variant rules to handle as many as 4 players. 

• Theme: Gaslamp Fantasy
• Art by: Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio, and and Cheyenne Wright
• Variant Game: Regent
• Download the Muses Deck Rules (PDF, 1.2 Mb), including the rules for Regent
• Download the Pairs Companion Rulebook (PDF, 5.6 Mb)

Pairs is a "New Classic Pub Game" featuring an unusual deck of cards. The deck has only the numbers 1 through 10, with a different number of each card: 1x1, 2x2, 3x3, and so on, up to 10x10. 

In the basic game, points are bad, and you score points by getting a pair. So, if you have a 10, there are 9 other cards that could pair it up, and you'll get 10 penalty points if you do. Players take turns deciding whether to take another card, or fold, trying to avoid scoring points. When you fold, you have to take points, but only the smallest card in play.

Regent is a traditional game of the high court, a sophisticated bluffing game for 2 to 4 players. Players are trying to catch each other with pairs, but their hands are partially concealed. Although it's played for money, it's not called "gambling" by its devotees. Just "keeping score." 

Pairs was designed by veteran game inventors James Ernest and Paul Peterson, and released in October 2014. There are many different art decks to choose from, but they all work for the same game (and many variant games!)