kaleiDOS

kaleiDOS is a ladder-climbing game for 3-5 players using many of the rules from the public domain game Big Two.

You can play singles, pairs, trips, and 5 different 5-card combinations into a trick. When all players pass, the highest combination in a trick wins and leads the next trick.

Hierarchy of suits: There are 4 suits in the game, triangles, squares, pentagons, and hexagons. Triangles are the weakest suit while hexagons are the strongest (easiest way to tell is the number of lines/sides in the shape). Suits are used to determine highest strength when the numbers match. For example, a pair of 8s whose strongest suit is a pentagon, can be beaten not only by a higher pair but by another pair of 8s containing the hexagon.

Hierarchy of 5-card combos: Straights, flushes, full houses, 4 of a kind plus 1, and straight flushes can be played against any 5-card combo played into a trick. A 5-9 straight can be beaten by a higher straight (ending in a 9 with a stronger suit or a higher number), or a flush, or any of the other aforementioned 5-card combos.

1s and 2s are the strongest: These numbers are stronger than the 15s! 1s can be used to wrap at the end of a straight and 2s are just very strong. But don’t get caught with 2s in your hand as they will multiply your opponents’ scores!

If you like trick-taking and ladder-climbing games, this one is for you!

—description from the publisher