How well can you play the same cards as someone else?

In the first round of LOOP, each player receives a hand of eleven cards from a deck of three suits, with each suit having cards numbered 1-15. They each choose two cards to set aside face down.

The lead player starts the first trick by laying down a single card, a pair of the same number, or two or more consecutive cards of the same suit. The next players in turn must play a higher matching combination of cards or pass, although a player who passes can re-enter the trick later. Once everyone passes, the player who won the trick leads again. (Note that all played cards stay in front of who played them.)

If a player lays down an 8, whether alone or in combination, everyone else must pass, then this player leads a new trick. If a player runs out of cards, they score points based on how many players still have cards in hand, and play continues until all but one player goes out.

The last player then takes over a player’s seat: first in a two-player game, second in a three-player game, and first or second in a four-player game (with the third player then taking the other option). After moving to their new locations, players then take the eleven cards in front of them, discard two, then play the round again. If the player in the fourth seat can do better than fourth, they score points — lots of points if they come in first. Along the same lines, if the player in the first seat does poorly, they lose points.

If a player has set aside an 8 in their two cards, they can declare “どんでん” (donden = revolution) by revealing the card on their turn. Now 1s are the high cards and 15s the low ones for the remainder of the round.

Play multiple rounds until a player has reached the point threshold, which is based on the player count.

The game is played with chips instead of cards, and these chips are kept behind a player’s screen. One side of the chip shows the suit and rank, and the other side shows the time: past, present, or future. Each chip is unique in the game.

Players follow suit as in a normal trick-taking game, but when chips with the same suit and rank are played, they become trump and are resolved based on their time phase; the earliest phase wins the trick, with the latter one earning half a trick.

After fifteen tricks, the player with the highest score wins.

In Shinjuku, a strategic network-building and pick-up-and-deliver board game, you build stores in Tokyo and the rail lines to connect them so that you can build the most successful shopping/rail conglomerate.

Every turn, new customers will arrive on the map looking to purchase one of four different goods. On your turn, you choose two different actions from: (a) build a store, (b) expand your rail, (c) upgrade to a department store, (d) draw cards as income, or (e) move customers along the rail to stores.

You start with a hand of four location cards and draw a new card each turn. The build, upgrade and move actions require that you play a matching location card from your hand. Cards in your hand that match locations where you have previously built a store are wild and can be used to match any location.

The game ends one round after the last customer has been placed, and victory goes to the player who acquires the most sets of customers.