- Publisher: Grandpa Beck’s Games
- Players: 2-6 players
- Time: 20 – 30 minutes
- Ages: 7+
Toil and Troublez is a spooky card game from Grandpa Beck’s Games for 2-6 players. It plays in about 20-30 minutes and is targeted for ages 7+. Technically the game says it is for ages 7-99 but I am sure if you are still allowed to play if you are 100. Players are battling it out in an enchanted forest to find and collect magical items. There are action cards to help assist and the stakes get higher as more cards are played. Players will have to choose between playing it slow and steady or taking bigger risks as they work their way towards victory!
What’s In the Box?
- 60 Talisman Cards
- 23 Master Magician Cards
- And a recipe card from Grandma Beck. We got Banana Slush in out game!
Setup
The area in the center of the table is the Enchanted Forest. One player will shuffle all of the cards together and put them facedown to create a draw pile, leaving space for a discard pile. The area in front of each player is called their trove. This is where they will put their collected sets of talisman cards, which will help them score points. The first player is the one who last ate mushrooms. You are now ready to play Toil and Troublez!
Gameplay
On a turn in Toil and Troublez, the active player will draw a card from the draw pile and try to place it in the Enchanted Forest. After the card is placed, the active player can choose to continue to draw cards until they are unable, or they may choose to pass.
The Enchanted Forest can only have a maximum of 3 rows. Each row must be horizontal and is unaffected by the row above of below. Cards in the Enchanted Forest may only be placed at the beginning or end of a row, and never between other cards. Each row can only contain a maximum of one of each of the talisman cards, as well as one of each vanish, summon, or poison cards. All talisman must be placed in ascending numerical order, lowest value to highest. If needed, a number may be skipped. Cards with the same background colors cannot be placed next to each other.
If the active player chooses to pass, they must choose one of the rows in the Enchanted Forest and perform any vanish, summon or poison actions. These cards will then go into the discard pile. The active player will then place all the talisman cards in that row in front of their trove. This completes their turn.
After the active player finishes their turn, every other player will then choose a card from the Enchanted Forest in clockwise order. These cards must be taken from the outside of the rows, and if the card is a vanish, summon or poison card, it must be played on the next player in order. If a player picks up a cloak card, this card is discarded and the player gets to take the talisman from underneath and place it in their trove. Keep going in a clockwise order even if there are not enough cards for everyone to pick up. If the Enchanted Forest is empty, skip this step. The next player in a clockwise order from the active player can now begin their turn.
As payers collect talismans in their trove, they should be placed face up in numerical order. Players are working to complete collections. Each time a collections is complete, one of the cards should be turned upside down. This card now counts for 10 magic marks, while the other cards are discarded.
Objective
The objective of Toil and Troublez is to earn the most magic marks by collecting sets of Talismans and putting them in their trove. Players are working to create collections of either one of each of the 5 talisman cards or four of the same talisman cards. Players will earn magic marks, which are the points earned for the collected talismans and put them in their personal trove. Players can also use master magician cards to aid them in their quest to gain talismans. These are the vanish, summon, poison, and cloak cards. The vanish card allows the active player to pick one type of talisman card, and if the other players have at least one matching talisman in their trove, they must discard it. The summon card allows the active player to move a talisman card from another player’s trove to their own. If a player draws a poison card, they must discard a talisman card of their choice from their own trove. Finally, there is the cloak card. Cloak cards do not have to follow the color placement rules that the other cards must, and there may be two cloak cards in the same row, which may be placed next to one another. If used, the cloak card becomes an invisibility cloak that covers a talisman card. Players are not allowed to peek underneath to view the talisman it is covering. These extra cards enhance the game play and can add new strategies to player objectives.
Final Thoughts
Toil and Troublez is a small box game allowing for easy travel. We took ours to play on a beach side vacation. The box art is foiled and looks stunning. The artwork on the individual cards is immersive and adds to the enchanted forest theme of the game. Our initial play through was with only 2 players and went by pretty quickly. I honestly think this game plays best with 3 or more players at the table. The beautiful artwork and ease of gameplay makes Toil and Troublez approachable for almost any age! If you are looking for a great way to engage your family, I recommend Toil and Troublez!
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