Announcing Crest!

Join the trials, and fight for the right to ascend the perilous mountains above

2-5 Players | 30-40min | Age 14+

Game Design: S J Macdonald
Art: Louis Gennart

Long before the age of men, dragons ruled these skies, hoarding their treasures in the clefts above. Every year adventurers would come from near and far for a chance to ascend the perilous heights. But not just anyone could make the climb. Each hopeful hero would first need to prove their worth in a series of trials. It is here we find ourselves once more, at the foot of the mountain. Join the clans, and pick your battles well. And most importantly, beware the dragon’s bite!

A game of Crest is played over 3 Rounds. Each Round, players aim to play out their hand of Cards to not only influence which Clans ascend the mountain’s crest, but also to avoid losing as much Honour as possible with the Clans. At the end of each Round, the Crest will be assessed, along with each player’s loyalties to the Clans. Pick the wrong side, and suffer the consequences. After 3 Rounds, the player who has the most remaining Honour will be declared the winner!

What makes Crest stand out?

Crest is a new trick-taking card game from Sam Macdonald for 2-5 players. It's a game that doesn't take itself too seriously, with lots of laugh out loud moments, outplays, and opportunities to "shoot the moon"!

There are two major gameplay twists:

The game is played over 3 rounds. Every card that wins a trick "ascends the crest" and is out of rotation for the rest of the game! This adds a small deduction element to later rounds. Some suits become more or less safe based on what has previously won.
Players don't play out their whole hand. The cards left in your hand at the end of the round could lose you honour OR could make other players lose honour. This creates a lot of tension and occasionally gives good incentive to win tricks, even though it is mostly a trick-avoidance game (like Hearts, Rebel Princess or Seas of Strife).

A number of the cards in the deck have special powers, meaning that clever hand management can make the difference over being dealt a "good" or "bad" hand!