Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude: The trick-taking game where you have to finish second!

Welcome to Schadenfreude Castle, where one person’s misfortune is another’s joy! Can you climb to the top without falling off the ramparts?

In Schadenfreude, you play as unscrupulous courtiers, willing to do anything to climb the castle’s social ladder. This trick-taking game turns conventional rules on their head: here, the second-highest card wins the trick! And the first person to reach 40 points loses the game—the winner is the player with the highest score who stays under the limit!

How do you play Schadenfreude?

In each trick, one player leads with a card, and the others follow suit if possible. The trick goes to whoever plays the second-highest card in that suit: that player collects their card along with all the cards that didn’t follow suit, and places them in their score pile. Watch out for duplicates: if you collect a second card of the same value, both are immediately discarded. At the end of each round, you tally the total value of your pile. As soon as a player exceeds 40 points, the game ends: the winner is the player whose score is closest to 40 without exceeding it.

Why fall in love with Schadenfreude?

• A bold twist that turns the conventions of trick-taking games on their head
• The guilty pleasure of pushing your rivals past 40 points
• A darkly humorous world with delightfully twisted humor
• A dilemma with every card: play it safe or deliver the fatal blow?

Content:

• 50 cards
• 5 score markers
• 5 help cards
• 1 scoreboard
• the game rules