OBJECTIVE OF TUSSIE MUSSIE: The player with the most points at the end of the third round wins
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 – 4 players
NUMBER OF CARDS: 18 cards
TYPE OF GAME: Set Collection
AUDIENCE: Adults
INTRODUCTION OF TUSSIE MUSSIE
Tussie Mussie is a card drafting and set collection game designed by Elizabeth Hargrave. She is best known for the medium weight strategy game, Wingspan. In Tussie Mussie, players take turns drawing and offering their opponent’s cards while keeping what is not chosen. As players draft cards, they will build a bouquet of flowers with the goal of scoring as many points as possible. This is done by completing sets of flower types and hearts. The player with the highest score at the end of the third and final round wins the game.
A print and play edition can be purchased from PNP Arcade, and the game can also be found on Button Shy Games as part of their line of wallet games.
THE CARDS & THE DEAL
Utilizing 18 cards, Tussie Mussie’s deck is composed of five colors: purple, grey, yellow, pink, and red. Each card within the colors is host to a different flower, and most of the cards have a special scoring condition that should be considered while drafting.
Shuffle all 18 cards and place them face on the table leaving space for a discard pile.
THE PLAY
A complete game is made up of three rounds.
OFFER
The player who most recently smelled flowers goes first. They begin their turn by making an offer to the opponent on their left. To make an offer, that player draws two cards from the stock. After looking at the cards, they choose one to offer face up and one to offer face down.
RECEIVING THE OFFER
The player who is being made the offer, chooses one of the two cards. Whichever card is chosen begins that player’s arrangement. If the facedown card is chosen, that card is kept face down and the player may not look at it until after they have chosen it. The chosen card is placed as the card farthest right in the arrangement. Cards added will build the arrangement to the left.
The card that was not chosen is kept by the player making the offer. Again, if it is the facedown card, that card is kept face down. It becomes the first card (furthest right) of the arrangement.
Once the offer is complete, play passes left. Offers are made until each player has four cards.Cards are added to the arrangement from left to right. Do not mix up the card order.
SCORING
Once a round is complete, each player will have four cards in their arrangement. Some of them may be face up, and some of them may be face down. The faceup cards are referred to as the bouquet and the facedown cards are called keepsakes.
Players slide their facedown cards (keepsakes) down to create a second row without changing their order in the arrangement. Flip the keepsakes over and reveal what they are. At the same time, each player completes any Before Scoring action on any of the cards in their arrangement. Players may choose to complete their actions in any order. Even though the cards may not be in the same row, the cards positioned on the left and right are still considered adjacent when scoring.
Arrangements are then scored from left to right. Each heart is worth 1 point. Also tally up any points for the additional scoring conditions on the cards.
Continue playing rounds with the first player passing left each round. The game ends at the completion of the final round.
WINNING
The player with the highest score at the end of the final round is the winner. If a tie occurs, the player with a flower with a name that comes first alphabetically wins the game. For example, if one tied player has the Snapdragon, and the other player has the Hyacinth, the player with the Hyacinth breaks the tie.
- TRIPLE SNAKES - February 15, 2021