Tricks and the Phantom

Tricks and the Phantom is a simple deduction game using only ten (or eleven) cards with a little bluffing element. You are investigators for the police and your goal is to discover who is the criminal. Each round two crimes are committed. Investigators that can correctly deduce and report who the criminal is will earn points. Rounds will continue until a player reaches 10 points and the player with the most points is declared the winner. Deduce the culprit from among the four persons. However, there may be a "phantom" who attempts to confuse you. In the base game, ten cards are dealt to four players, so players have hands of only two or three cards. As in a trick-taking game, each player plays one card face down in turn order. While doing this, each player forecasts who has the highest card (that is, the culprit). Each card has a color (suit), and you have to show that color when you play the card; this allows opponents to narrow down the number of your card, but some cards have a special effect, so big numbers don't win automatically. Points are awarded to whoever played the highest card (the culprit) and to whoever correctly forecasted that player winning. Tricks and the Phantom is not just card luck. It is a strategy inference game that requires you to read each other's psychology.