Designed by Rüdiger Dorn for Rio Grande Games, Gargon was released in 2001 and appears to be out of print now. It is a card game played with a custom deck of 102 cards. I picked up this game a few years back from Minotaur Games for the hefty sum of $7.
Upon opening the box you are presented with two stacks of cards and a rule page. My first impression of this game was to fall in love with the art and the cards. The art showcases beautifully rich colours and fantastic creatures. The cards are sturdy and have a crosshatched texture, making them sit nicely atop one another and not swing too much. They are slightly smaller than the standard playing card, but the quality of the material makes them easier to hold
There are six suits in the Gargon deck, Red (phoenixes), Purple (gargoyles), Grey (dragons), Blue (pegasi), Yellow (manticores) and Green (faeries). Each card offers a full card piece of art, a number from zero to fifteen and a series of 'amulets' from zero to five on a single card. These numbers and amulets are repeated in each corner like a standard playing card, making them read easily.
The game requires 3-5 players, and means it. The game does not offer ways of reducing numbers of players, and that is a big drawback for me. However I could easily see adding another set to the game to make it accommodate more. The rule page offers a great overview, telling the story behind the game as well as the way to play.
The rules are laid out in a very easy to follow fashion, and the game itself is quite simple. You are attempting to capture the most amulets by defeating your opponent's cards. The lower the number on the card, the more amulets it is worth. The higher the number, the more power the card has. Cards of one suit cannot attack cards of another. Whoever captures a suit's zero number card doubles their points from that suit in the scoring round.
Play passes by allowing players to lay down one to three cards in various combinations. Once each player has followed the trend of the starting player by laying down a combination of cards, all cards are flipped and battles take place. All cards of a certain suit are compared to each other, with the highest card winning the battle and being acquired by the winning player for their scoring pile. Each player who lost a card then draws a card to replenish their hand.
The most tedious part of this game is scoring. One must count up the amulets they have won, by counting the amulets upon the cards. You also have to factor in who got the most of each suit, as they get bonus cards, and who got the zeroes, as that doubles your score for that suit. While only simple addition (and possible multiplication), it takes a fair amount of time for all the players to do this, and makes the game feel like a complicated method of getting you to practice math.
Gameplay is quick, though the game can last up to an hour. If a player experiences analysis paralysis it can bog the game down quickly. But as a light friendly game it is certainly a winner.
All in all I enjoy Gargon: the Amulet of Power and will certainly keep it in my collection for the years to come.
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