In FORK, players/animals want to have a fork full of food, but it is unclear which terrain they are in and what other beasts are hiding there. Are you at the top of the food chain? It’s a fox eat fox kinda world.
Goal
FORK stands for Fox Owl Rabbit Kale. That indicates which cards this game contains (which players can score points with), but this title is also a handy reminder of the order in the food chain of this game. The fox is the obvious overlord in this food chain and kale is just… kale. Nutritious though, so possibly worth a lot of points!
Gameplay
FORK is basically a trick taking game. Each round, the leader of the battle indicates which terrain (suit) cards are to be played. The other players must ‘follow’ and play cards in the chosen suit, unless players cannot follow, in which case they may play a different colour. Foxes, by the way, count as any kind of suit.
Players all play one card (or two cards in the two-player variant). All cards, except for kale, are played face-down. After all players have played a card, they look at the outcome of the trick, which is where the reminder comes in handy as players need to look at the food chain.
Have several foxes been played? Then these cards cancel each other out and otherwise the fox may eat an owl or rabbit in the chosen suit. If there is another owl in the chosen suit, then this owl may eat a rabbit in the chosen suit. Remaining rabbits eat, in descending order, kale and rabbits with a value of 2 or 3 may even eat kale in another suit.
Cards that have been eaten go to the eater’s personal score pile. All kale cards that have not been eaten go to the score pile of the player who played the kale card. All other cards are discarded and players move on to the next turn. This continues until the cards run out or a player has enough cards in his or her scoring pile.
Conclusion
There are many trick taking games, but FORK has a distinct and very fun twist. Most cards are played face down, so there is a definite bluffing element to it. Amazingly refreshing just like a nice crop of kale! The way of scoring also feels very unique, making this small and short game well worth playing. FORK will release on Kickstarter soon.
