Sneak (card game)

[geoo]

I can definitely recommend it. It's a fun game, and even after many rounds, I still don't know what's the best strategy. You need to adapt to how the other players are playing.

I tried the simplified version (game ends when the pile is depleted, -1 for each remaining card) three weeks ago. They dynamics are definitely different near the end of the game, which is not necessarily a bad thing. What felt unsatisfying to me was that if you have something decent on your hand, you might not get another turn to play it (it's rather unpredictable when the game ends), so you either rip it apart to respond to some other player's sneak, or not play it at all. Counting 0 instead of -1 per card makes makes the latter option slightly less painful, but still not satisfying. But I'm curious how the scoring change affects the dynamics, maybe it simply becomes more predictable when the game ends.

Either way, this simplified version might be a good starting point for new players to get the hang of the game, and the final flaunting round can be introduced after one or two games. (Emphasizing "round": I'm not convinced by simply scoring the flaunts, as e.g. a flush and a straight flush get the same points then. The flaunting round is more strategic than it sounds and often brings interesting surprises as you have no clue what other players have left.)

[Simon]

Ste, yes, try Sneak in your group! Happy to hear feedback.

geoo has a strong point with the feeling at the end. If you have good cards in hand, you want to sneak/flaunt those cards, or challenge with them. If your current turn ends up being your last, you should know during this turn that it really is your last. Reason: The end of the game shouldn't catch you off-guard when you still have good cards. My recent rule ideas (end the game immediately when the final card has been drawn) violate this.

I'm still on the quest to simplify, and now my idea for the next playtest is:

• After the last card has been drawn, there will be one final round of turns. On your turn, you must sneak or pass. The sneak card limit is in effect as usual: At least one opponent must be able to challenge. You sneak face-down as usual. You may sneak garbage. Regular challenging rules apply. After that final round, leftover cards are worth 0 points per card. (Not −1 per card.)

I.e., we play one more round with all the normal rules from the main part of the match, except that we replace drawing with doing nothing (because the stock is empty). Sounds simple and natural.

geoo, are there obvious concerns with this?

• Playing good cards is better than hoarding. You can't put 20 hoarded cards onto your pile at once.
  
• You can't sneak all your garbage home in the end because of the sneak card limit.
  
• If you sneak garbage, you'll give points to a random opponent; this is worse than keeping the garbage in hand and scoring 0 for it. And if nobody challenges, you gained only 1 point per card. (You haven't gained 2 points for going from −1 to +1 per card.)
  
• How big is the problem if the final player (in the final round of turns) can't play his long flush? But he was the player to draw the final card, so he has had some control over this situation.
  

-- Simon