Trick-taking games have been around for centuries, and they continue to inspire new designs. Everyone has their own idea of what makes for a great trick-taking game, but mine was shaped by growing up in Germany playing Skat and, especially, Doppelkopf. Those games use mechanisms that still appear in modern games, yet designers keep finding new ways to create new twists on them. So in this article, I want to look at the trick-taking mechanisms I find most interesting, why they work, and how modern trick-takers have changed them while keeping the characteristics that make the genre so long-lasting.
Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/08/25/magic-tricks-what-makes-trick-taking-games-great-topic-discussion/
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- Enemy Anemone review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/10/14/enemy-anemone-saturday-review/
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- Rascally Rabbits review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/06/27/rascally-rabbits-saturday-review/
- Cat in the Box review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/08/23/cat-in-the-box-digital-eyes/
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