Hickory, dickory, dock, the mouse ran up the clock. Just like the mouse in the English nursery rhyme, two players race around the clock to be the first to get rid of their cards. Players climb with cards, but only one of them will reach the top — or, in less poetic terms, victory.
Hickory, dickory, dock,
The mouse ran up the clock.
The clock struck one,
The mouse ran down,
Hickory, dickory, dock
This old English nursery rhyme was probably used as a counting-out rhyme, for instance to randomly choose who would start a game of tag. Think of it as the cousin of eeny, meeny, miny, moe — only with more clockwork and slightly fewer decisions made by committee.
Dickory is a climbing game. That means players play sets and runs of cards in ever-higher values. The goal is to be the first to get rid of all your cards. The concept is hardly new: plenty of traditional card games do something similar with a standard deck. A bit like a nursery rhyme, then: familiar, rhythmic, and nicely traditional. Dickory, however, adds enough twists to this classic system to make it feel fresh — like a hip-hop remix of a bedtime rhyme.
The theme of Dickory fits the game surprisingly well. It is not only a climbing game; the theme also neatly supports the twists the game introduces. Sooner or later, the penny will drop — or rather, the little clock will tick. In the game, players play sets and runs, meaning sequences of cards in ascending values, in order to get rid of their cards first. There are no suits, only cards numbered from 1 to 12. The starting player of a round plays a set or a run. That can be a single card, a set of two, three, or four cards of the same value, or a run of three cards in ascending order. The next player must then play the same type of meld, but higher in rank.
Rank is determined by the clock. The hand of the clock shows which card value is currently highest. Moving clockwise, the values go from low to high. If 4 is the highest value, then 5 is the lowest value, and so on, with 3 becoming the second-highest value. The mouse keeps running around the clock throughout the game, because the highest value on the clock is determined by the rightmost card in the card market.
The card market consists of up to six cards, and before a player plays a new meld, they may take cards from the market from right to left. This can shift the clock hand and quite literally — and figuratively — turn the game on its head. Hickory, dickory, dock: one small grab from the market, and suddenly the mouse has rewritten the clock.
If you cannot play, you must pass. A new round then begins and the market is refreshed. First to get rid of all their cards? Then you are the winner of Dickory.
Dickory is a wonderfully elegant card game. It feels traditional, but at the same time very modern thanks to the way the clock and card market add a new twist to a familiar game concept. If you enjoy tight two-player card games such as Gin Rummy, Dickory is well worth your time. One thing I have not even mentioned yet is the lovely artwork — although the glossy cards sometimes make you inspect your hand twice under a bright lamp. Time is money, but in Dickory, time is mostly an excuse to play one more round before the clock mercilessly ticks toward bedtime. Also charming: the box itself works as the clock, thanks to the rotating dial that moves the clock hands.
