This is an original game somewhat inspired by Gin Rummy (Pagat link), made for the fantasy deck. I have never played it with a human so take it with a grain of salt.
In fact, I am not sure the rules I had noted down are complete. I am still presenting them here to at least have this part noted down.
The name is a "moonshine" mixed with "dragon", made to sound like a fantasy alcoholic drink.
You need one "fantasy deck" and 2 players. The rules could easily be expanded to more players, and can probably be tweaked to use a real-life card deck.
The goal is to assemble 3 "melds" and try to have them be worth the most points.
Each player is dealt a hand of 10 cards. The rest of the deck is placed face down on the table. Next to the deck is a discard pile that starts empty.
Players alternate taking turns. During their turn, a player starts by drawing a card, then they may put a valid meld they have from their hand on their side of the table face up.
Then finally, the player discards a card from their hand into the discard pile (unless their hand is empty).
When a player puts down their 3rd meld, the game ends on their next turn. This means each other player has one last turn before the game ends.
If a player draws the last card of the deck, then the game immediately ends after their turn.
Once the game ends, players count the points of their melds, then either whoever has the most points wins, or points get accumulated and players play until one gets a decided number of points (like 100 for example).
Here are the valid melds and their value in points. Suits are S (Star), L (Leaf), W (Sword), and C (Coin). B stands for Blank, F for Flower, and D for Dragon.
Meld | Points | Example |
---|---|---|
Three number cards with the same number | 3 | 4S 4L 4W |
Four number cards with the same number | 8 | 4S 4L 4W 4C |
Three consecutive number cards of the same suit | 3 | 6L 7L 8L |
Four consecutive number cards of the same suit | 8 | 6L 7L 8L 9L |
Two number cards with the same number and a Blank of any suit | 2 | 4S 4L BL |
Three number cards with the same number and a Blank of any suit | 6 | 4S 4L 4W BC |
Two consecutive number cards of the same suit plus a Blank of any suit acting as a joker | 2 | 6L BC 8L |
Three consecutive number cards of the same suit plus a Blank of any suit acting as a joker | 6 | 6L BC 8L 9L |
A flower and two cards of the same suit | 4 | FS 2S 6S |
A flower and three cards of the same suit | 10 | FS 2S 6S 10S |
Two dragons | 2 | DW DC |
Three dragons | 6 | DS DW DC |
Four dragons | 16 | DS DL DW DC |
The highest score possible is 29, by having four dragons (worth 16), a flower with three cards of the same suit (worth 10), then any 3-points 3-cards meld (worth 3).
The lowest score possible with three melds is 6, by having three 3-cards meld each with a Blank (each worth 2). You can have a lower score if you don't get three melds before the game ends.
Given there is no way to interact with the discard pile, placed melds, or that the melds are all worth almost all the same points, I'm pretty sure the notes I had for this game are not complete.
I might revisit it at a later date to see if I can make this game more complete. For now enjoy those notes.