13: The Plus-Minus Card Game

Game Review

reviewed by Brad Freeman


Designed by Thomas Stone
Economy Enterprises 29 White Oak Lane, Waterbury, CT 06705
Released: 1985
Price: $3.25
Complexity: Beginner
Solitaire Suitability: None
*

13 is a card game designed for two to six players aged ten to adult. It consists of 54 cards, differing slightly from normal playing cards, a little red-and-blue box, and a leaflet of rules. The components are the approximate quality of those free decks of cards the airlines used to give away.

Play proceeds as follows: Seven cards are dealt to each player. The player on the dealer's right leads with any black card, and each player plays either a black (positive number) or red (negative number) card until the running total reaches either 0 or 13, and the trick is won. When that happens, the winning player is awarded all the cards in the trick. The trick is set aside, and this player starts a new trick. The hand ends when one player is out of cards, and the player who went out first wins extra points.

Players then receive points for the tricks they have won, and the first player to score 500 points wins. How you win a trick affects your score. Winning with a black card is better.

As might be guessed, I was somewhat underwhelmed by 13. The time it took for one player to reach 500 points was more than enough time for my playtesters to become bored with the game. Last minute turnarounds are possible, but the outcome of a given hand is pretty much determined when the cards are dealt. My main complaint was simply that there was nothing to recommend the game over other card games which could be played with a standard deck of cards.

Although 13 is targeted at ages ten to adult, I think anyone OVER the age of ten would find the game quickly forgettable. My suggestion would be to spend the $ 3.2 5 on a copy of Hoyle and a deck of playing cards, and receive a lot more for the money.

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© Copyright 1986 by Dana Lombardy.
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