Tricky Kids Card Game Review

Jim Gamer
Sep 29
4 min read

Tricky Kids

WBG Score: 7.5

Player Count: 2-6

You’ll like this if you like: Trick-takers with a twist!

This is a review copy. See our review policy here

I love trick-taking games. And there seem to be so many coming our recently. We have covered a lot here. So, to stand out in the cluttered word of trick-taking card games, you need a twist. And most do. So, the question here is what twist does Tricky Kids bring, and is it any fun? Well, lets get it to the table and find out.

How To Set Up Tricky Kids

Shuffle the main deck and deal each player nine cards. The deck is made up of three suits, but all cards have blank when it comes to numerical value. Say what now? I know. More on that soon. Lay out seven score markers in a row, left to right. Each player will look at their cards and discard two of them, leaving each player with seven cards. Give each player a marker, and then each player will write onto their cards with their marker a figure from zero to 21. The total of their seven cards cannot exceed 21. It can be below if they wish, but that would be a waste. If you gave one card the score of 21, the rest would have to be zero. You could give the cards any score you want, just stick to these restrictions. The game plays over three rounds. You are now ready to play. However, you can if you wish add in the the Tricky cards. Shuffle the Tricky rule card deck and turn one card face up each round. It will add a new rule for each round. At the end of the round, discard that card, and draw a new rule for the next round.

How To Play Tricky Kids

One player will now spin one of the pens. The player the pen points at becomes the first player. They can now play any card from their hand. Each other player in clockwise order must now follow suit, meaning they play a card of the same colour from their hand. If they cannot follow suit as they do not have the same colour card in their hand, they can play any card they want. The player who plays the highest numbered card in the lead suit wins that trick. Ties cancel each other out, and the next highest card under these in the lead suit takes the win!

The winning player takes the score marker for that round. This means the points available for each trick vary greatly! In this case, for round one, if yellow was the lead trick, it would be worth three points, pink two, and blue two. Whereas in round two, yellow drops to one and blue jumps to four. The winning player circles the colour they scored with that round, so they don't forget. Each player takes the card they played and places it face up in front of them. The winning player then plays the next card from their hand, starting the next trick.

After the seventh trick, all players check that their played cards do not total over 21. If they do, they lose all points they gained that round. If this occurs in round two, they must also discard a score token from round one. And if it happens in round three, they are disqualified from the game entirely!

After each round, collect all cards, shuffle them up, deal another nine cards to each player and place our seven new score tokens. After three rounds, the game ends, and players tally up their score tokens. Most points wins!

Is It Fun? Tricky Kids Card Game Review

Tricky Kids doesn’t just throw you into another trick-taking game with new suits and a quirky backstory. No, this one hands you a marker and says, “Go on then, make the game your own.” Writing the numbers onto your blank cards is great fun, and feels strangely naughty. Like you’re scribbling on something you shouldn’t! But it also sets the tone for the game brilliantly. You’re building your hand before the round even begins based on the score markers available that round, and the colour of cards in your hand. And from that moment you’re invested. It’s unpredictable, playful, and that’s where the fun lives.

Who May Like It

If you’re already into trick-taking, but feel like you’ve seen it all before, this is the kind of twist that keeps the genre alive. It’s part strategy puzzle, part chaos engine, and it rewards players who enjoy adapting on the fly. Families and casual groups will get a lot out of the silliness too, especially when someone inevitably busts over 21 and loses everything, to the table’s delight. And if you’re the kind of gamer who likes your cards to have a little personality (and doesn’t mind that personality being literally your handwriting), you’ll find Tricky Kids hits the sweet spot.

Who May Not Like It

If you’re a trick-taking purist, look away now. There’s no polished, tightly balanced hierarchy of suits here. Instead, it’s messy, unpredictable, and occasionally cruel. Some players will hate the randomness of the shifting rules, or the brutal punishment of going over 21. And yes, if the thought of marking up your cards makes you break out in hives, this is going to be a hard pass. Tricky Kids is all about embracing the chaos. I you’re not up for that, it might not be your game. But it does suit younger players, who enjoy the novelty, control, and naughtiness of writing on the cards.

Pros

Brilliantly inventive write-your-own-cards twist
Every round feels different thanks to the shifting score values
Fast, light, and always entertaining
Optional Tricky rule cards add replayability and silliness

Cons

Chaos and luck can outweigh strategy
Harsh penalties for busting past 21
Traditionalists may find it too loose and swingy
Writing on cards isn’t for everyone

Tricky Kids is exactly what a modern trick-taking game should be: fast, chaotic, and full of “I can’t believe that just happened” moments. The freedom of creating your own hand, the constant swing of the scoring system, and the threat of losing it all in a heartbeat make it equal parts clever and ridiculous. It’s not for the serious-minded, but if you’re after something fresh that’ll have your group laughing, groaning, and scribbling away, Tricky Kids more than delivers.