Enchanted Plumes

By Brendan Hansen
Players: 2‒6 / Ages: 8+ / Play Time: 30 minutes
Components
•100 Feather cards (10 cards, numbered 0‒9, in
each of the following 10 feather colors): red, white,
yellow, green, orange, teal, blue, pink, purple, black

1 Peahen card

Game rules

Object

In Enchanted Plumes, players strive to complete magical Peacocks by assembling plumes in sparkling rows from top to bottom, using multiple colors of Feather cards while matching cards of the same color from row to row. The player with the most valuable plumes wins the game and is bestowed with the luck of the Peacock!

Setup

Set aside the Peahen card. Next, prepare the Feather deck to contain the appropriate values of cards in each feather color, as determined by the number of players:
• Two players: Remove all cards with values of 7, 8, and 9 and return them to the box
• Three players: Remove all cards with values of 8 and 9 and return them to the box
• Four players: Remove all cards with a value of 9 and return them to the box
• Five or six players: All cards are used

Shuffle the Feather deck once it is prepared for the correct player count. Deal every player nine cards; from those, each player chooses six cards to keep as their starting hand and returns the remaining three face down to the Feather deck.

After players have chosen their hands, reshuffle the Feather deck with the cards that were just returned to it. Then, without looking at them, take the top seven cards from the deck, shuffle the Peahen card into them, and return this short stack of eight cards to the bottom of the Feather deck.

Place the Feather deck face down in the middle of the table where all players can easily reach it. Flip and place the top five cards of the deck in a line extending to the right of the deck; this lineup is called the Train.

The player who last saw a peacock takes the first turn, or you can determine the first player randomly.

Gameplay

On your turn, you must play cards and then replenish your hand, in the order described below.

1. First, play one or two cards either to start a new plume or add to one of your existing plumes; the cards may be used together in the same plume or split up among plumes (see Building a Plume).

2. Next, replenish your hand by performing one of the following three actions:
(a) Draw exactly two cards from the Feather deck
(b) Swap exactly two cards from your hand with two cards from the Train
(c) In either order, draw one card from the Feather deck and swap one card from your hand with one card from the Train

Important: Hands are limited to six cards; you cannot draw a seventh card. If your first draw brings your hand to six cards, you cannot draw a second card; to complete your turn, you must swap a card from your hand with the Train.

After you have completed both of the steps above, play passes clockwise to the next player.

Building a Plume

Assemble plumes by playing Feather cards in rows from top to bottom, matching cards of identical colors from row to row. Cards placed in the top row of a plume are scored as negative points, while cards placed in lower rows are scored as positive points. Once a lower row of cards is started in a plume, Feather cards can no longer be added to higher rows in that plume. You may begin a new plume at any time before replenishing your hand. Plumes containing only one card are always scored as negative (see Scoring).

Rules for building plumes:

1. Number of Cards in a Row: The top row of each plume may contain as many cards as you want. The following rows in a plume must contain one less card than the row immediately above it. For example, if a plume has a top row of four cards, the next row must have exactly three cards, the row below that exactly two cards, and so on.

2. Colors in a Row: The top row of a plume may include any number of feather colors. Those colors determine which feather colors may be placed in the row below it; that is, a row may include only colors from the row above it. For example, if the top row of a plume includes feathers that are red, blue, orange, and yellow, then only red, blue, orange, or yellow cards may be placed in the following row. Colors may be duplicated within a row.

3. Locking a Row: Once another row is started, the row above it is locked. Feather cards cannot be added to a locked row, and a lower row cannot be started without meeting the minimum card requirement of the current one.

Completing a Peacock

A Peacock is complete when its plume tapers down from a locked two-card row to a locked single-card row. The Feather card placed in the bottom row must still obey all rules for building the plume, but should be played face down; the image on the reverse side of the card locks the bottom row and completes the Peacock, which allows it to score bonus points at the end of the game (see Scoring)!

Ending the Game

When the Peahen card is drawn from the deck, play immediately ends and scoring begins.

Scoring

All plumes score points, even if they are not completed Peacocks.
Flip all cards in the bottom rows of completed Peacocks face up. Cards in the top row of a plume are worth negative points. All remaining cards in the plume are worth positive points. To calculate the total score of a plume, add up the values of cards in the top row, then subtract that value from the sum of all the cards below it.

Peacock Bonus Points: Completed Peacocks (those whose plumes go all the way down to a single card in the bottom row) score 1 bonus point for each card used to build them. Incomplete Peacocks do not score bonus points.

Your score is equal to the total point value of your plumes plus any Peacock bonus points. The player with the highest score at the end of the game wins! If scores are tied, the tied player who completed the most Peacocks wins. If players are still tied, the victory is shared.

Credits

Game Design: Brendan Hansen
Game Development: Alex Cutler, Matt Fantastic, Chris Leder, and Ray Wehrs
Illustrations: Echo Chernik
Graphic Design: Echo Chernik, Lazarus Chernik, and Andy Hepworth
Editor: John Michael Arnaud
Special thanks to Ken Franklin, Maya Polan, Spencer McElmurry, and Ken Hahn
©2020 Compound Fun, Inc. All rights reserved.