Once upon a time, behind the dark forest and the icy mountain peaks, there was a valley. And in that valley there lived a vole, known far and wide as the most adventurous rodent in the land…
Welcome to The Vole in the Valley, a trick taking card game for 2 players. Our little adventuring vole is exploring the valley: can you guide her to the most interesting discoveries? But be careful: exploring too many places at once will exhaust our rodent friend!
The Vole in the Valley is played over a number of rounds. At the start of each round, both players are dealt a hand of 13 cards. Every card has a rank (1 through 11) and a suit (tower, key, or moon). One additional card is drawn from the deck and set aside as the trump card. A player is selected at random as the leading player and starts the first trick by playing a card.
During a trick, if possible, the following player must follow suit, i.e. play a card of the same suit as the leading card. If the following player does not have a card of the matching suit, they may play any card from their hand. The card from the leading suit with the higher rank wins the trick. Note that any card in the same suit as the trump card counts as a higher rank than any card of another suit. The player who wins the trick leads the next trick.
Once all 13 tricks in a hand have been played, points are awarded to both players according to the table below. The first player to reach 21 points (or 16 for a short game) wins the game. If no player accumulated enough points at the end of a round to be victorious, a new round is dealt.
| Tricks won | Score |
|---|---|
| 0 to 3 | 6 points |
| 4 | 1 point |
| 5 | 2 points |
| 6 | 3 points |
| 7 to 9 | 6 points |
| 10 to 13 | 0 points |
All cards with an odd rank offer special abilities when played. Use them wisely to guide the little vole on her adventure!
If you lose this trick, you lead the next trick.
You may exchange the trump card with a card from your hand.
Draw one card from the deck and then discard a card from your hand.
At the end of the game, the winner of this trick receives 1 extra point for each rank seven card in the trick.
When determining the winner of a trick with only one rank nine card, treat the nine as if it were in the trump suit.
When you lead with a rank eleven card, if your opponent has a card of the same suit, they must play either the one of this suit or their highest ranked card of the suit.