Schadenfreude (2020)

About this game

Schadenfreude is a trick-taking game for 3-5 players. The game ends when any player has scored more than 40 points, and the winner is the closest to 40 without going over. The card distribution includes some ranks of negative value, is a "must follow" game, and does not include any trump suits. The winner of a trick is the person who played the second highest card of the lead suit. That player collects their card and any cards which did not follow suit into a score pile. However, a player can have at most one card of each rank in their score pile. If they would collect a second, both cards are instead discarded. At the end of a hand, a player scores an amount of points equal to the sum of the ranks of the cards they have collected.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 3 to 5.
• Rules load. At 1.7/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.