Here’s a page on various game-play options that I’ve found work with various experience levels of players. They are ordered from easiest to more complex.
Let’s get into it.
QUARK MECHANICS FOR EVERYONE – LEVEL ZERO
Game Setup:
- Build a deck with all quark cards in the deck.
- Shuffle the deck and deal 3 cards per players in the game.
- After dealing, flip the next card over for the 1st players turn. This is the discard deck.
- Place the remaining deck face down next to the discard deck. This is the draw deck.
- Game play begins. (In North America we usually deal clock-wise and give the first turn to the player on our left.)
Game play:
- The player begins their turn. They have the option to pick up from the discard deck or draw from the draw deck. The player should now have 4 cards.
- If the player can ‘play’, they may do so. For example, and in this simple version, if the player has either a proton or neutron combination of quarks in their hand they may play it down on the table and continue their turn. Good job, human!! You have built a piece of matter! Your goal is to build a single molecule of Helium! Keep going. 😉
- If the player could play and has less than 3 cards, then they just pick up to make 3 cards in their hand.
- If the player could not play, then they would have 4 cards at this point (and thinking about discard strategy I hope). If they cannot play then they must discard to have 3 cards only in their hand.
- Note that a players turn ends only when they cannot play further, and then must either draw or discard to have only 3 cards in their hand.
- Player’s turn ends, and it’s off to the next player. It’s nice to say “pass” or “next” when you are thinking but cannot play further to let the next player know.
Game win:
The player (whose turn it is) can win the game when they can create 2 proton and 2 neutrons, placed down for all players to see on the table (like Rummy). See the photo below for an example of a win by the current player.
Nothing more is needed except a good feeling for the winner and the game is now over for all players. Feel the glory of having built Helium!!!
QUARK FUNDAMENTALS with SPECIAL CARDS – LEVEL 1.0 – “Add the Telescope”
Game Setup:
- Build a deck with all the quark cards AND all the Telescope cards
- Shuffle the deck and deal 3 cards per players in the game.
- After dealing, flip the next card over for the 1st players turn. This is the discard deck.
- Place the remaining deck face down next to the discard deck. This is the draw deck.
- Game play begins. (In North America we usually deal clock-wise and give the first turn to the player on our left.)
Game play:
- The player begins their turn. They have the option to pick up from the discard deck or draw from the draw deck. The player should now have 4 cards.
- If the player can ‘play’, they may do so. In this version with the Telescope card added, the player can look into any opponent’s hand and steal/replace a card of their choosing. Very sneaky!! You have used the Telescope to your advantage! Your goal is still to build Helium so get crackin’!
- The rest of the game-play unfolds in exactly the same way as in version zero, only there is the twist of the Telescope. 😉
Game win:
The player (whose turn it is) wins by creating Helium, as in most basic and advanced versions of this game. Well done! Hopefully it wasn’t too annoying of you to swap cards from other players to win using the Telescope card!
QUARK FUNDAMENTALS with SPECIAL CARDS – LEVEL 1.1 – “Add the Black Hole”
Game Setup:
- Build a deck with all the quark cards, all the Telescope cards, AND the Black Hole card.
- Shuffle the deck and deal 3 cards per players in the game.
- After dealing, flip the next card over for the 1st players turn. This is the discard deck.
- Place the remaining deck face down next to the discard deck. This is the draw deck.
- Game play begins. (In North America we usually deal clock-wise and give the first turn to the player on our left.)
Game play:
- The player begins their turn. They have the option to pick up from the discard deck or draw from the draw deck. The player should now have 4 cards.
- If the player can ‘play’, they may do so.
- In this version with the Black Hole and the Telescope cards added, the player can not only swap cards with the Telescope, but they can also absorb a proton or neutron from any opponent’s universe (on the table). Very powerful!! You have used the Black Hole to gobble up matter from the collective universe into your own! This helps immensely in your goal is to be the first player to build Helium! And it really sucks for your unfortunate opponent!
- The rest of the game-play unfolds in exactly the same way as in version zero, only now we have the terror of the Black Hole to contest with.
Game win:
The player (whose turn it is) wins by creating Helium, as in most basic and advanced versions of this game. Well done! Hopefully it wasn’t too terrible of you to steal matter from other players to win using the Black Hole card!
FUNDAMENTALS with SPECIAL CARDS – LEVEL 1.2 – “Add Energy”
Game Setup:
- Build a deck with all the quark cards all the Telescope cards, the Black Hole card, AND as many Energy cards as you like (be reasonable!).
- Shuffle the deck and deal 3 cards per players in the game.
- After dealing, flip the next card over for the 1st players turn. This is the discard deck.
- Place the remaining deck face down next to the discard deck. This is the draw deck.
- Game play begins. (In North America we usually deal clock-wise and give the first turn to the player on our left.)
Game play:
- The player begins their turn. They have the option to pick up from the discard deck or draw from the draw deck. The player should now have 4 cards.
- If the player can ‘play’, they may do so.
- When Energy cards are added to the deck, the players can amplify their attacks. (Just foreshadowing here, note that in more advanced versions of game-play to follow below, players under attack can also amply their defenses using energy cards.)
- As an example, and for the player whose turn it is, if you play the Black Hole card with energy, you not only get steal one proton or neutron with the B-H attack, you can also add Energy cards to steal two or more protons/neutrons!
- The rest of the game-play unfolds in exactly the same way as in the previous version, yet now we have the energy in the game! It definitely spices things up a notch!
Game win:
The player (whose turn it is) wins by creating Helium, as in most basic and advanced versions of this game. Well done! Hopefully the chance of the draw and the playing field wasn’t too coincidental for you to win using Energy cards to amplify your attack on competing universes!
PLACEHOLDER – LEVEL 2.0 – “Build your Offensive and Defensive Universe”
Game Setup:
- [UNDER CONTSTRUCTION]
Here be ways to attack and defend. The goal is always to build Helium for the first time in any Universe.
Game play:
- [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]
Game Win:
[UNDER CONSTRUCTION]
LEVEL 3.0 – “Require the Forces”
Game Setup:
- Build a deck with ALL cards in the deck.
- Shuffle the deck and deal 3 cards per players in the game.
- After dealing, flip the next card over for the 1st players turn. This is the discard deck.
- Place the remaining deck face down next to the discard deck. This is the draw deck.
- Game play begins. (In North America we usually deal clock-wise and give the first turn to the player on our left.)
In this game, you cannot build matter without the Strong Force, nor can you peer into opponent’s Universes to uncover their secrets, without the E-M force. The black hole is useless without the Gravitational Force. We digress into the rules [under construction].
Game play:
- The player begins their turn. They have the option to pick up from the discard deck or draw from the draw deck. The player should now have 4 cards.
- If the player can ‘play’, they may do so.
The Particle Physics Card Game 